Civitas Maxima’s Director rewarded by the Bar Association of Geneva
Yesterday, 5th of April, Alain Werner, lawyer, director and founder of Civitas Maxima, was awarded the prize “Bâtonnier Michel Halpérin for Excellence” by the Geneva Bar Association.
This prize is given in the memory of Chairman of the Bar Association Michel Halpérin, deceased in 2014. Michel Halpérin was one of the greatest lawyers of his generation: his intelligence, integrity and commitment have long inspired the community of Geneva and beyond. The previous winner of the prize was the illustrious lawyer Jean-Marie Crettaz.
This year, the jury of the prize was composed by leading personalities of the Swiss legal world including a federal judge, and 5 former Presidents of the Geneva Bar.
The president of the jury, Marc Joory, stated as he awarded the prize: “In 2012, Alain Werner had a vision – to create the NGO Civitas Maxima to ensure the best possible representation of victims of mass crimes. This vision was born from a simple observation that was as distressing as it was undeniably true: no victim of Liberia’s particularly bloody conflicts would obtain justice without the help of civil society. […] Alain Werner not only has an exemplary career – formed by many milestones – but he is also first and foremost an inexhaustible indomitable energy source, a body in perpetual motion […] Alain Werner is incandescent.”
Civitas Maxima and the Global Justice and Research Project sincerely congratulate Alain Werner for this award, which honors his career and his unwavering commitment to victims of mass crimes.
