The fifth annual Rule of Law Day will be held at the University of Helsinki's Main Building on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, from 9.00 to 12.00. The event will be conducted in English and can also be followed online.
Rule of Law Day is a free event open to everyone. It brings together leading international and Finnish experts on development cooperation and the rule of law from the public sector, civil society organisations and academia to discuss successes and challenges in efforts to strengthen the rule of law. Participants can register for the event on the .
Each year, as part of Rule of Law Day, the University of Helsinki's Rule of Law Centre and the Leo Mechelin Foundation award the Leo Mechelin Medal to a distinguished advocate of the rule of law. The programme also includes the recipient's Leo Mechelin Keynote Lecture.
The 2026 Leo Mechelin Keynote Lecturer is Lauri Mälksoo, Professor of International Law at the University of Tartu. Previous recipients include Professor Emeritus Kaarlo Tuori (2022), Professor James A. Robinson, Nobel laureate in economic sciences (2023), Professor Alina Mungiu-Pippidi (2024), and Academician of Science and Professor Emeritus Martti Koskenniemi (2025).
Mälksoo is a distinguished scholar of international law. His research focuses particularly on the history and theory of international law. His work has examined the relationship of the Soviet Union and Russia and international law, as well as the state continuity of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Mälksoo studied law at the University of Tartu and completed an LL.M. at Georgetown University in 1999. He received his doctorate in law from Humboldt University of Berlin in 2002 and has served as Professor of International Law at the University of Tartu since 2009.
Mälksoo has been a member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences since 2013. He is also a member of the Institut de Droit international and serves as Estonia's member of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission.
In addition to the Leo Mechelin Keynote Lecture, the Rule of Law Day panel discussion will examine the rule of law dimensions of EU enlargement.
Established within the University of Helsinki's Faculty of Law in 2021, the Rule of Law Centre supports developing countries in their efforts to strengthen the rule of law. Its activities are funded in part by development cooperation funds from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
