Written by: Xhezair Zaganjori
A few days ago, on February 8, 2026, the renowned German professor Jochen Abr. Frowein, a constitutionalist and prominent expert in international law, passed away at the age of 91. He was also a very good friend of the Albanians. His funeral took place on February 26, 2026, through a funeral ceremony held in the city of Heidelberg, where, in addition to family members and long-time collaborators of the Max Planck Institute, leaders and representatives of central German institutions, academics, personalities from scientific and public life, and others also attended.
Jochen Frowein was born in 1934 in Berlin. In the 50s he studied law in Germany and the USA, and in 1960 he received his doctorate from the University of Bonn. Seven years later he was awarded the title of professor at the same university. In 1962 he began working as a researcher at the renowned Max Planck Institute for Constitutional and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany. From 1981 to 2002, he was director of the institute, and from 2002 until his death (February 2026), he was its director emeritus.
In addition to working at the institute as an expert or as a leader, he has also continuously given lecture courses at many universities in Germany, France, the USA and Britain, such as Heidelberg, Bonn, Bielefeld, Bochum, Berlin, Pantheon-Assas Paris II/Paris, “Robert Schuman”/Strasbourg, Michigan/Ann Arbor, Georgetown/Washington, Harvard/Massachusetts, Oxford and others.
In addition to his engagement at the institute and as a lecturer at various universities, as a prominent lawyer he has simultaneously performed, at different times, other important tasks inside and outside Germany, such as: member of the German Delegation and advisor to former Chancellor Willi Brand in the conclusion of the "Moscow and Warsaw Treaties", which paved the way for the so-called Ost Politik (70s); Member of the Vedel Group (1971-1972) to evaluate the institutional framework of the European Union (then the European Community); Vice-President and Member of the Federal Scientific Council; Member of the Consultative Council for International Law at the German Foreign Ministry; Member and Vice-President of the Human Rights Commission of the Council of Europe (1973 - 1993); President of the German Association of International Law; President of the Association of German Public Law Pedagogues; Member of the Institute of International Law/Washington; Vice-President of the International Commission of Jurists/Geneva; Representative of the German Government on many cases presented in various national and international courts, especially in the Constitutional Court/Karlsruhe, the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Justice or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; Expert of the European Parliament; Member of the Court of Arbitration of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS); and others… There are also dozens of official evaluations and scientific titles awarded to Prof. Frowein by various institutions and universities in Germany, and beyond.
Through the above commitments, among the most direct and poignant contributions of Prof. Jochen Frowein can be mentioned: Frowein's thesis in the framework of former Chancellor Willy Brand's talks in Moscow and Warsaw to officially treat East Germany as a "de facto regime", which would subsequently serve as a successful challenge to overcome traditional orthodox policies in the East-West dialogue; Drafting the critical report of the Vetel Group on the need to strengthen the independence and citizen representation in the main institutions of the European Union, especially in the Parliament; commitment to creating a more sustainable jurisprudence of the Human Rights Commission in Strasbourg; organizing work within the institute to assist in the drafting of such important international documents as the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Third Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Vienna Conventions on the Law of Treaties, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and others; Commitment to the drafting and publication by the Max Planck Institute of two Encyclopedias of International Law; election by the European Union in 2000 to the Group of the “Three Wise Men” (together with former Finnish President Matti Ahtisaari and former Spanish Commissioner and Foreign Minister Marcelino Oreja) to assess possible measures against Austria due to the inclusion in the governing coalition of an extreme right-wing political force, which was thought to pose a risk of “… undermining common European values…”; Representation in the Constitutional Court of the interests of the German Parliament and Government regarding the participation of the Bundeswehr in international military operations (1994 - it was about the engagement in Bosnia, which was also their first official participation after the Second World War); Creation of the circle of Constitutional Courts of Central and Eastern Europe that would cooperate with the Max - Planck Institute on various issues related to the implementation of the fundamental principles of democracy and the rule of law and others. Of course, the work of Professor Frowein has also materialized in endless publications of books, commentaries, scientific articles and others, mainly focused on the fields of Constitutional Law, International Law, European Law and Human Rights.
Professor Frowein has also had contacts with Albania and Albanians. Since the restoration of diplomatic relations with Germany in the late 1980s and onwards, he created the opportunity for young lawyers from Albania and Kosovo to conduct scientific research and continuously specialize at the Max Planck Institute. On the other hand, he himself has been to Tirana and Prishtina several times to participate in important scientific activities organized by the respective Constitutional Courts. At the request of President Rugova and the engagement of the LDK Central Office in Stuttgart, headed by Mr. Hafiz Gagica, in 1998 the distinguished professor and patriot Fehmi Agani came several times to the Max Planck/Heidelberg Institute. On these occasions, under the guidance of Prof. Frowein, important issues related to the prospects for resolving the Kosovo problem were discussed in a close circle with experts from the institute, with the main focus on its independence. Through these meetings, Mr. Agani won the sympathy and maximum appreciation of Mr. Frowein and other experts of the Institute. Only a year later, it was precisely Prof. Frowein who, through the mediation of the German embassy in Skopje, would send a special and very touching letter, to be read at the funeral of the great patriot Fehmi Agani, cruelly killed by Serbian paramilitary forces in early May 1999. In the same year, Prof. Frowein agreed to be not only an external advisor to the official Kosovo delegation at the Rambouillet Conference, but as a well-known academic with unquestionable national and international authority, he seriously engaged in defending NATO's intervention in Kosovo in the written press of the time and in television statements. Among other things, in the well-known newspaper Neuen Zurischer Zeitung, speaking about Kosovo, he would point out that “… since 1945, international law has developed greatly…. As such, it now protects not only the sovereignty of the state, but also individual rights from massive and systematic violations of human rights… Therefore, humanitarian intervention should today also be considered as a constitutional characteristic of the universal legal system…”.
The same thing would be done by Prof. Frowein in 2010, when, as a representative of Albania, he would defend the Kosovo case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, regarding the compliance with international law of the declaration of its independence on February 17, 2008. It can be easily concluded that the final decision of this court has almost completely accepted the theses and central ideas presented before it by Prof. Frowein in the written and oral phase of this trial. Among other things, he would clearly state that “… The Declaration of Independence was not made by temporary institutions, but in essence it is simply the full expression of the sovereign will of the people of Kosovo, a ‘Pouvoir constituent’ of it…”. Prof. Frowein was a great jurist, with unquestionable scientific authority. He was also a visionary European, a professor par excellence and an exemplary family man. Above all, Frowein had a big heart and was very humane and very fair to everyone.
With his death, I think that Albanians have also lost a good and devoted friend, who promoted and defended their legitimate rights and interests with dedication, love, and professionalism.
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