Among the twenty research projects recently supported by Charles University is the establishment of the University Centre for Conflict and Post-Conflict Studies at the Faculty of Law, led by Professor Veronika Bílková. This centre, unique in Central Europe, will concentrate on the legal aspects of armed conflicts and post-war reconciliation.
Professor Veronika Bílková has dedicated her professional career to international humanitarian law, the use of force in international law, and human rights. Since the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of conflict in Donbas in 2014, she has focused particularly on Eastern Europe, with a special emphasis on Ukraine. She represents the Czech Republic in the Venice Commission, an advisory body of the Council of Europe. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, she visited the country twice as a member of expert missions for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The war in Ukraine directly affects the Czech Republic and the entire Central European region. For this reason, Professor Bílková began advocating for the establishment of a research centre similar to those with a long tradition in the West countries, focusing on the legal aspects of armed conflicts and post-war reconciliation. She notes that shared historical experiences with Eastern Europe enhance understanding of the region’s dynamics.
“We have experienced totalitarian regimes and the wars of the 20th century. We have a cultural understanding of this context. For instance, Ukraine’s legal system shares roots with the Czech legal system, both belonging to the continental legal tradition and still bearing traces of Soviet-era law. I believe we can contribute with our historical experience and a deeper understanding of Central and Eastern Europe to the scientific research. However, we do not aim to position ourselves solely as regional specialists; we are also interested in conflicts in other regions.” stated Professor Bílková, who has led the Department of International Law at the Faculty of Law since 2023.
The University Research Centre competition (UNCE) has been held at Charles University since 2011. Teams that convince the University’s Science Support Programme Commission of the significance of their basic research projects receive grants for up to six years. In the latest round, twenty projects were successful, including Professor Bílková’s proposal. “It saddens me that across the entire university, only two projects led by women received support. This indicates that there are still few women in senior scientific positions,” she remarked.
The University Centre for Conflict and Post-Conflict Studies commenced operations in January 2024. Over the next five years, its team will conduct long-term, continuous legal research on selected topics related to armed conflicts, not only in Ukraine but also in the Middle East and other regions.
“We aim to examine the rules applied during armed conflicts, including international humanitarian law, human rights law, international criminal law, and domestic law. During conflicts, both the state, which is directly affected as well as other states often amend their legislation or apply it differently than in peacetime. In our context, this includes prosecuting the crime of approving aggression,” explained Professor Bílková.
“The second pillar of our project focuses on the post-conflict period, specifically on restoring the legal order in countries affected by conflict and on transitional justice—methods of addressing the legacy of armed conflict, such as prosecuting war criminals or compensating victims.”
Professor Bílková is assembling a robust team comprising researchers from the Faculty of Law and external experts from various research institutions, government agencies, and specialists with experience in international courts and organizations. “We have also reached out to academics from prestigious foreign institutions employing theoretical or methodological approaches unfamiliar in the Czech Republic. Experts from Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, and the USA have already agreed to collaborate. We hope our research centre will establish itself on the global research map in this field,” she emphasized, noting that several junior positions remain open.
“We aim to attract junior researchers not only from Prague but also from other universities in the Czech Republic and abroad. One of the project’s goals is to provide opportunities for promising new scientists at the Faculty of Law, contribute to the internationalization of the faculty environment, and reduce the degree of inbreeding (hiring one’s own graduates), which is currently significant,” concluded Professor Bílková.
Prof. JUDr. PhDr. Veronika Bílková, Ph. D., E. MA.
She graduated from the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Arts at Charles University (with a focus on political science and French), as well as the University of Cambridge, she specializes in international humanitarian and international criminal law, the use of force in international relations, the legal framework for counterterrorism, and human rights.
Since February 2023, she has served as Head of the Department of International Law at the Faculty of Law, Charles University, and is also affiliated with the Centre for International Law at the Institute of International Relations.
She represents the Czech Republic in the so-called Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and has previously worked at the Czech Ministry of Defense, in the NGO People in Need, and in the International Commission of Jurists, the international non-governmental organization, where she focused on human rights and counterterrorism, particularly in the context of Central and Eastern Europe.
She is the author of several books and dozens of articles published both in the Czech Republic and internationally.