JAMESTOWN, NY – James A. Goldston, Executive Director of the Open Society Justice Initiative in Washington, D.C., has been named the recipient of this year's Joshua Heintz Award for Humanitarian Achievement. The announcement was made at a recent ceremony as part of the International Humanitarian Law Roundtable (IHLR) at the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown, New York.
Given annually since 2010, the Heintz Award honors those who demonstrate compassion, vision, and dedication in pursuit of international humanitarian justice and is sponsored by Josh and Janice Heintz.
"We may be frustrated at times by humanity's seeming inability to apply lessons of history to avoid repeating our mistakes and challenges. Jim is one of many who are working diligently to change that," said Robert H. Jackson Center President Kristan McMahon, who presented the award at the IHLR ceremony. "I do find inspiration in gatherings such as this and in knowing just how many people are working to change that."
Goldston has led the team of lawyers and staff at the Justice Initiative for more than 20 years to advance the rule of law and rights protection worldwide through advocacy, litigation, research, and the promotion of legal capacity. A leading practitioner of international human rights and criminal law, Goldston has litigated several groundbreaking cases before the European Court of Human Rights and United Nations treaty bodies, including on issues of counterterrorism, racial discrimination, and torture.
From 2007-2008, Goldston served as coordinator of prosecutions and senior trial attorney in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He also served as legal director of the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre for three years; director general for human rights of the Mission to Bosnia-Herzegovina of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; prosecutor in the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he focused on organized crime; and attorney for Human Rights Watch.
Goldston has written widely in scholarly and popular publications about human rights, strategic litigation, and international justice. He has taught at Columbia Law School, NYU Law School, and Central European University. Goldston is a graduate of Columbia College and Harvard Law School.
“Advancing the rule of law anywhere makes a rule of law culture more possible everywhere. And amidst the dangers and disappointments, I find hope in the many expressions of courage, resistance, and yes, faith in the ability to use law to push back against arrogations of power,” Goldston said via teleconference.
“I see hope in judges who, in recent years, have not without risk defended the integrity of democratic elections in Senegal, in India, and in other places. I see hope in courts in the United States that have rejected unlawful attempts to punish law firms and university students for who they represent or what they say. I see hope in an international court of justice that has the fortitude to shine a global spotlight on grave crimes in Myanmar, Syria, and Israel and Gaza," he said.
