The Paul Reuter Fund was created in 1983 thanks to a donation made to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) by the late Paul Reuter, Honorary Professor at the University of Paris and a member of the Institut de droit international. The Fund’s purpose is twofold: to contribute financially to an undertaking in the field of international humanitarian law (such as the publication of a book), and to finance the Paul Reuter Prize.

The Paul Reuter Prize, to the value of 5,000 Swiss francs, is generally awarded every three years for a major work in the field of international humanitarian law.