Manfred Lachs

Manfred Lachs (21 April 1914 – 14 January 1993) was a Polish diplomat and jurist who served as a Judge of the International Court of Justice and greatly influenced the development of international law after World War II.

Life Lachs was born to a Jewish family. Lachs attended the Jagiellonian University in Kraków where he earned a doctorate in Laws (1937). Right after his studies, he started working for the Consular Academy of Vienna and afterwards in the London School of Economics. Lachs was drafted in the army and throughout his military service he was advisor to the Polish government.

During the Second World War, Lachs escaped to London, and served as secretary to Ignacy Schwarzbart, who was one of the two Jewish representatives on the National Council of the Polish government-in-exile. Lachs' family, which remained in Poland, were murdered in the Holocaust.

Before his career turned toward international law, he filled many judiciary posts in the Polish government such as Poland's Foreign Affairs director of the Department of treaties and legal jurisdiction (1947–1960) and prime minister's special advisor (1960–1967). He was the first Chair of the Legal Subcommittee of the UN Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (1959–1967). During negotiations over the Paris Peace Treaties of 1947, Lachs stood for his country as a delegate. He later became a professor of international law at the University of Warsaw (1952–1993), and served as a member of the Polish delegation of the general assembly of the United Nations. It is said that Lachs' legal brilliance is what insulated him from anti-Semitic purges in Poland.

Manfred Lachs Moot Court Competition After his death, the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Competition was named in his honour by the International Institute of Space Law.