This ‘interview’, prepared posthumously with original material from Judge Antonio Cassese, traces the origins of his academic and professional career. It further attempts to shed some light on Antonio Cassese's multifaceted contributions to the fields of human rights, self-determination, and international criminal law. In particular, it attempts to show in his own words the passion and rigour with which Judge Cassese approached the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as well as its seminal first steps, which marked a resurgence of international criminal justice and paved the way for a host of contemporary international criminal institutions.

This article is a journey through the life of Antonio Cassese, a giant of international law, no doubt one of the most prominent international lawyers of the twentieth century, and the ‘architect of international criminal justice’. From his first steps in the academic community in Pisa in the early 1960s to his well-known contributions as first president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, he became a prolific author and editor of seminal books and commentaries on international law and international criminal law, as well as founder of groundbreaking law journals.