Ms. Francoise Bouchet-Saulnier

Doctor of Law and magistrate, Francoise Bouchet-Saulnier is the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Strategy Senior Advisor for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Over the last 30 years she has served as the International Legal Director of the MSF movement, leading the MSF Intersectional Legal Department, following her years as MSF Legal Advisor and Research Director for the MSF Foundation. She has developed policies, practices and tools based onIHL, framing the rights and responsibility of MSF as an impartial humanitarian organisation engaged in humanitarian and medical actions for victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence.  She has contributed to MSF’s operational management and public positioning in all major crisis and affected countries regarding negotiation and protection of humanitarian space, right of access, and the protection of the medical mission and of civilian victims of armed conflict and mass crimes. This includes the medico-legal management of victims of violence, including sexual violence, and the legal management of attacks on hospitals and of the criminalization of humanitarian medical missions under counter-terrorism laws and practices. Bouchet-Saulnier is the author of numerous articles and books on humanitarian action, IHL, counterterrorism, international justice, and international military intervention, notably the Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law, translated to eight different languages and available online in Arabic, English, French, and Russian. She received the 2018 Henri Dunant Prize for her special contribution to development of IHL as a practical tool for civilian humanitarian action. She teaches master classes at the Paris School of International Affairs/Institute of Political Studies, the Paris Catholic Institute, and Paris Sorbonne. She is also a member of the Editorial Committee of MSF Speaking Out Case Studies.