Skip to content
UÇKHistory and Memory

Analytical profile · Researchers · Witnesses in court proceedings

Paul R. Williams

Paul R. Williams is an American international lawyer, co-founder of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) and a professor at American University. In 1999 he was legal adviser to the Kosovo Albanian delegation at Rambouillet. In September 2025 he testified as a defence witness for Hashim Thaçi.

Living person — personal information is deliberately limited.

Source basis

Prishtina Insight court reporting and the official PILPG biography.

Williams worked as an attorney-adviser at the US State Department and in 1995 co-founded PILPG, which provides pro bono legal assistance to parties in peace negotiations. At Rambouillet he advised the Kosovo Albanian delegation [1] [2].

On 18–19 September 2025 he testified for Thaçi's defence. According to court reporting, he said the KLA had no proper military command structure, that Thaçi could not decide without the approval of the zone commanders and that at Rambouillet he was squeezed between the demands of Madeleine Albright, Adem Demaçi and the commanders; in his words it became "crystal clear" that the zone commanders had to be part of the process [2].

Photographs

French château with turrets and a flower garden in front.
The Château de Rambouillet in France, the venue of the Kosovo talks in February 1999. Photograph taken in 2021.Photo: Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer) · 2021-09-04 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Civilian and military officials seated around a conference table.
NATO Secretary General Javier Solana meets US Secretary of Defense William Cohen at the Pentagon on 15 March 1999. They discussed NATO's reaction should Yugoslavia refuse to sign the peace agreement worked out in Rambouillet.Photo: Robert D. Ward · 1999-03-15 · Domen publik (Public domain)

Sources

  1. [1]Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG). Dr. Paul R. Williams — Biography. https://www.publicinternationallawandpolicygroup.org/dr-paul-r-williams-bio. Accessed 2026-09-18.
  2. [2]Prishtina Insight (BIRN Kosovo). Hashim Thaci 'Lacked Decision-Making Authority' During Kosovo War: Trial Witness. 2025-09-18. https://prishtinainsight.com/hashim-thaci-lacked-decision-making-authority-during-kosovo-war-trial-witness/. Accessed 2026-09-18.

Editorial status: Awaiting verificationDrafted from the cited sources; not yet fully reviewed by the editors.

Last reviewed:

Report an inaccuracy