In 2024, the René Cassin Foundation – International Institute of Human Rights is organizing the first edition of the Jacques Ribs Prize for Human Rights. The aim of the prize is to reward an outstanding personal or collective initiative, action or work in the field of human rights and refugee law, in the spirit of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the Geneva Convention of 1951. The prize is awarded in memory of Jacques Ribs, who devoted his life to the defense of human rights.
Award ceremony
The award will be presented at a ceremony on December 13, 2024.
JACQUES RIBS
1925-2022
“belongs by vocation and path to the long line of great republican jurists who have served the cause of freedom in our country so well”, as Robert Badinter put it in an interview with the Association Droit et Démocratie in 2009.
A doctor of law, Mr Ribs was a barrister at the Paris Court of Appeal and a member of the Conseil de l’Ordre, before being appointed Conseiller d’Etat and serving on a number of independent administrative authorities.
A tireless defender of human rights, he was an energetic, determined and courageous president of Droit et démocratie, a circle of jurists founded in 1966, and from 1999 of the association France Terre d’asile, which he represented on the Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme. He was also a member of the honorary committee of the René Cassin Foundation.
His legacy is a testimony to the generosity of a man of conviction and a committed jurist.
Jury members
Vincent BERGER
Former jurisconsult of the European Court of Human Rights
Vincent Berger has spent most of his career with the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights, which he joined in 1978. He served as Section Registrar before becoming the Court’s Jurisconsult. Since 2013, he has been a barrister at the Paris Court of Appeal.
Emmanuel DECAUX
Chairman of the René Cassin Foundation
Emmanuel Decaux is Professor Emeritus at the University of Paris-Panthéon-Assas. He was a member of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Human Rights
, and Chairman of the Disappearances Committee
. He was also Vice-President of the CNCDH.
Jean-Marie DELARUE
Former Controller General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty
Member of the Conseil d’Etat (hon). Jean-Marie Delarue was Director of Public Liberties and Legal Affairs at the French Ministry of the Interior, before chairing the Commission de suivi de la détention and becoming Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté. He was also Chairman of the CNCDH.
Martine DENIS-LINTON
Former President of the French National Court of Asylum
Martine Denis-Linton is a member of the Conseil d’Etat (hon.), and a former Chief of Staff of the Garde des Sceaux (1981-1985). She was appointed President of the Cour nationale du droit d’asile in 2009. Since 2015, she has been President of the Disciplinary Board of the French Pharmacists’ Association.
Nicole QUESTIAUX
Former Minister of National Solidarity
Nicole Questiaux is Honorary Section President of the Conseil d’État. She was a member of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Human Rights before becoming Minister of National Solidarity in 1981. She was President of the CNCDH and a member of the Comité nationalconsultatif d’éthique. Nicole Questiaux was also a member of the board of France Terre d’asile.
Pinar SELEK
Lecturer and researcher
Sociologist, storyteller and activist Pinar Selek had to leave Turkey in 2011 to settle in France, where she has been granted academic asylum. She defended a doctoral thesis in political science on Turkish social movements. Since 2022, she has been a member of the Migration and Society research laboratory (URMIS) attached to the Université Côte d’Azur.
