Team and Contact

Fatima Mehmood was a Lecturer of Laws for the University of London International Programmes taught at Universal College Lahore, Pakistan. Fatima taught modules on Public International Law, and Jurisprudence & Legal Theory. Fatima held a First Class LL.B. (Hons) from the University of London and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. Her research interests included self-determination and secession, TWAIL, and genocide studies. Her past publications included, among others, a case study of Kashmir in light of external self-determination and remedial secession, cyberwarfare and the Rome Statute, and the extraterritoriality of the non-refoulement obligation under the Refugee Convention. Fatima passed away in 2025. She was an engaged and passionate member of the Editorial Team. She will be dearly missed.

Sissy Katsoni is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Ruhr-University Bochum and a Legal Adviser at front-LEX. She is a member of Ruhr-University’s SYLFF Mikrokolleg on Forced Migration and a Convener of the ESIL Interest Group on Migration and Refugee Law. Her research interests include international refugee and human rights law, feminist legal theory, treaty interpretation and the law of international responsibility.

Her position at the blog is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the project “Expansion of the model project ‘Völkerrechtsblog’ into an Open Science Hub”. Her views, as expressed herein, do not necessarily reflect those of front-LEX.

Hannah is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Erfurt with a focus on emancipatory and authoritarian legal mobilization. Hannah’s book Arms Transfers to Non-State Actors – The Erosion of Norms in International Law emerged from a doctoral thesis at the Free University of Berlin and research stays at the University of Melbourne, McGill University and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

Hannah’s position is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the project “Expansion of the model project ‘Völkerrechtsblog’ into an Open Science Hub.”

Photo: A. Koroll

Rishiti studied law in the UK and Netherlands and holds an LLM Cum Laude in Public International Law. Her academic research centres on digital rights, gender discrimination studies, TWAIL, feminist legal scholarship, and critical approaches to International and European law. She currently works in ethics and regulation of emergent tech and human rights, privacy, and sustainable development.

Rouven Diekjobst is a PhD candidate at Ruhr-University Bochum and a Research Associate at the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV). Previously, he studied law at the University of Oxford and Ruhr-University Bochum. His research interests include international law and armed conflict and international environmental law as well as German and comparative constitutional law and theory.

Khaled studied law at the University of Potsdam and at Université Paris Nanterre. He is currently a research assistant at the Chair of European and International Law at the University of Potsdam. His research interests focus on international environmental law, the law of the sea, and procedural law of international courts and tribunals.

Polina Kulish is a research fellow and PhD candidate at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena. During her PhD project, she completed a Bluebook Traineeship at the European Commission in 2022/2023. Her research encompasses the law of international organizations, including the UN, EU, EEA, and EAEU, as well as international security law and media law. Currently, Polina is exploring the nature of member states’ compliance within international organizations. She is a former recipient of a Konrad Adenauer Foundation scholarship, and has been actively involved in moot court communities as a participant, coach, and judge.

Miriam Nomanni is a legal trainee at the Kammergericht in Berlin and a doctoral candidate in Marburg, currently working on her doctoral thesis entitled “Der Strafvollzug an Verurteilten nach dem Völkerstrafgesetzbuch”. Her fields of research include international criminal law and its tribunals as well as universal jurisdiction and the enforcement of sentences relating to international crimes.

Dani Spizzichino is PhD student supervised by Dr. Itamar Mann at the University of Haifa, faculty of law. His research focuses on ecocide law, critical theory, and socio-legal approaches to human rights law.

Christian is a doctoral student at the Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main and a member of the research field ‘Knowledge of the Production of Normativity’ as well as the working group ‘Regime Theory’ at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory. His research focuses on the intersection of the law of the sea (UNCLOS), methods of global legal history, historical international relations and comparative international law.

Hendrik is Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) and Lecturer at Goethe University Frankfurt. His research focuses on the role of norms in international and transnational relations, particularly in the fields of the use of force, the history of international law and transnational labour relations. One of his current research projects examines The Justification of War and International Order: From Past to Present (OUP 2021, together with Lothar Brock).

Anna is the first chairperson of the Völkerrechtsblog e.V. and responsible for the strategic development of the blog, its mission and vision.  She is currently working as a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law with the humanet3 research project, which is based in Berlin at the Centre for Human and Machines at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. She is a PhD candidate at Humboldt University Berlin. Her research was previously funded by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Her fields of research areas are international law and international legal theory, law and technology studies as well as Global (Internet) Governance research.

Youssef Aziz is a law clerk at the Constitutional Court of South Africa and a graduate of NYU School of Law. His research focuses on public international law, with particular emphasis on TWAIL, African and Third World approaches to international legal history, and questions of sovereignty, self-determination, and legal resistance. His work engages critically with the legacies of colonialism in international law and explores how Third World actors reshape doctrinal and institutional frameworks.

Irene is a pre-doctoral researcher at the University of Deusto and holds an LL.M. in Public International Law from Utrecht University. Her PhD research focuses on Frontex, Eurosur, and the impact that the use of new technologies for border surveillance has on human rights.

Justine is a Research Assistant in International Law and a Law Clerk (‘Rechtsreferendarin’) at the Higher Court Berlin. She studied law in Potsdam and Paris Nanterre, and holds a Master of Laws in International Law from University College London (UCL). Her fields of research include International Human Rights Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, and Fundamental Rights.

Maximilian Beyer is a PhD candidate and research assistant at the Chair of International Law at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. His fields of research include the relationship between human rights and the environment and law and media regulation.

Céline is a PhD candidate within the State Silence Research Project (ERC funded) at University College London (UCL). Her current research focuses on non-appearance in inter-state disputes before international courts. Her main fields of interest cover public international law, international adjudication, human rights, and EU law.

Davidzo Elizabeth Dhumbura is an LLD candidate with the Chair in Urban Law and Sustainability Governance, Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Her research interests include critical approaches to international law, particularly TWAIL, international environmental law, sustainability governance, and indigenous law approaches. She is also the co-chair of South Africa Branch of International Law Association (SABILA) Network for Young Scholars and Practitioners.

Philipp is a PhD Candidate at the Walther Schucking Institute for International Law and legal clerk at the Kammergericht Berlin. His research interests include international criminal justice, political theory, legal aesthetics and environmental law.

Liyu is a PhD in Law Candidate at the University of Cambridge. She is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Cambridge International Law Journal. Her fields of research include the law of state responsibility, community interests in international law and the history and theory of international law.

Andreja Friškovec holds a master’s degree in Law from the European Faculty of Law, New University, Slovenia. She is currently working as a Legal Intern at the District State Prosecutor’s Office in Maribor, Slovenia. She is also a Reporter for Oxford Reports on International Law, focusing on International Law in Domestic Courts and International Criminal Law. Furthermore, her articles have been published in legal journals in Slovenia.

Natali is a PhD candidate and research assistant at the Chair for International and Public Law at LMU Munich (Prof. Dr. Christian Walter). She studied law and specialised in International Public Law at LMU Munich. Her research interests focus on emerging technologies, International Humanitarian Law, and legal developments concerning Palestine.

Antonio is a Junior Researcher in International Human Rights Law at the T.M.C. Asser Institute in the Hague, he was previously a Research Assistant to Professor Sandesh Sivakumaran at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, he also served as a General Editor to the Cambridge International Law Journal. Antonio holds an LL.B. from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, a Certificate in Transnational Law from the Georgetown CTLS and an LL.M. in International Law from Cambridge.

Louisa Hadadi studied law with a specialization in public international and EU law at Universität Hamburg, Universidad de Chile and China-EU School of Law. Currently, she pursues an LLM in international criminal law at Universiteit van Amsterdam and Columbia Law School, which is funded by a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). She is also one of two DGVN youth observers to the upcoming session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Her research interests include critical approaches to international law, international criminal law and human rights law.

Julian received his PhD from the University of Bonn. Julian studied law in Berlin and London and held visiting positions in Cambridge (Wolfson College) and Oxford (Oxford Institute of Population Ageing). In 2026, he will be a Visiting Research Fellow at La Trobe Law School.

Isabel is a PhD candidate and research assistant at the chair for European and Public International Law at Bucerius Law School (Prof. Dr. Mehrdad Payandeh). She previously studied public international law in Göttingen, Geneva, and Cambridge (US). Her research interests include the history of international law, international and critical legal theory.

Salman Khan is a PhD candidate at LMU Munich and a researcher at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, working on the DFG-funded project “Peacekeeping in theAnthropocene: Changing Law for a Changing Climate (PeaceCLaCC) and as an assistant at theInstitute for Public Law and International Law. His thematic interests include internationalclimate and environmental law, international organizations, international peace and securityand migration.

Lea is a Research Associate and Lecturer at the Chair of European and International Law at the University of Potsdam. She also serves as Assistant to Counsel before the International Court of Justice. Her doctoral research focuses on repatriation in international law, while her broader research interests include human rights, international courts and tribunals, and the intersection of international and domestic law.

Dr. Meike Krakau is a legal clerk at the Higher Regional Court in Munich. Her research interests include international environmental law with a special focus on climate change litigation, human rights law and international adjudication.

Dr. Isabel Lischewski is a postdoctoral Research Assistant with Prof. Dr. Nora Markard at the University of Münster. Her research interests lie in global governance, critical theory, and access to justice.

Raphael Oidtmann currently serves as a parliamentary and legal advisor to the State Parliament of Hesse and holds further appointments as adjunct lecturer at Mannheim Law School, as associate researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, and as associate postgraduate (‘doctorant associé’) at the Centre Marc Bloch Berlin. In addition, he currently works on an interdisciplinary PhD project as an external PhD candidate at Goethe University Frankfurt.

His current fields of research include international (criminal) courts and tribunals with a special focus on the actorness in international relations, the interplay of pandemics and international law as well as (theoretical) questions pertaining to areas of limited statehood (including the Arctic, Antarctica, or the High Seas).

Deborah Peters is a PhD candidate at the University of Münster and a Research Associate at the Institute for International and Comparative Public Law. Her research is funded by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Among her research interests are legal disability studies, reproductive rights, state responsibility and comparative constitutional law.

Alicja is a PhD candidate and research associate at Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg and a doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. She studied social sciences in France and Singapore, and criminal law in Scotland. Her research interests include international criminal law enforcement, extraterritorial jurisdiction, and the politics of human rights.

Quazi Omar Foysal is a Doctoral Candidate at La Trobe University, Australia, where his research focuses on the evidentiary standards of the ICJ in genocide cases. He studied international law at the University of Dhaka, the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and the Université catholique de Louvain. He has previously worked as a Research Assistant to a member of the United Nations International Law Commission and contributed to an amicus curiae submission before the International Criminal Court. He is also qualified to practise before the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.

Daniela is a legal trainee at the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe. She studied law at Humboldt University Berlin and Maastricht University. As a podcast co-host, she is committed to making international law accessible to people with diverse backgrounds and levels of knowledge. Daniela is particularly interested in socio-legal perspectives and human rights law.

Muratcan Sabuncu is a PhD student in international law at the universities of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Basel. He is currently a law intern for his admission to the Istanbul Bar Association.

Theresa is studying International Relations and Law (B.A.) at the University of Erfurt. As a student assistant to Prof. Dr. Michael Riegner, she joined Völkerrechtsblog in March 2025.

Patrick is a German lawyer, specialising in international criminal law and international humanitarian law. He studied law in Munich, Paris, and London, completed his legal clerkship in Munich, and has worked, among others, at the Max Planck Institute in Freiburg, as an assistant to the United Nations International Law Commission, and in the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

Livia is a PhD candidate and lecturer at Maastricht University. She holds aMaster of Laws from the University of Trento. Her research focuses on therestitution of cultural property. She is a co-founder of the Law & PopularCulture Research Network (LPC-RN) and chair of the Centre for Heritage & ArtLaw Research Maastricht (CHARM).

Erik studied law in Heidelberg, Buenos Aires, and Glasgow. He is a research fellow and PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, where he heads the humanet3 group, an interdisciplinary research group established by three Max Planck Institutes on the human-centered digital transformation. His main research fields are platform regulation and the protection of freedom of expression as well as the right to privacy in the digital realm. Within this framework, he’s also interested in the use of AI technologies in public discourse and for mass surveillance.

Jasmin Wachau is a doctoral researcher and research fellow at the Assistant Professorship of Public International Law and International Administrative Law at the University of Erfurt. She studied international and European law in Dresden, Strasbourg, Graz and Antwerp. Her research interests include internet governance, human rights law and comparative law.

Mareike graduated with a degree in International Relations and Economics and is now studying Political Science at the University of Vienna. She has been working in Prof. Dr. Michael Riegner’s team for two years and is now employed at the Völkerrechtsblog.

Her position is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the project “Expansion of the model project ‘Völkerrechtsblog’ into an Open Science Hub.”

Carla is studying Law at Ruhr-University Bochum. As a student assistant at the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV), she joined Völkerrechtsblog in March 2025.

Her position is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the project “Expansion of the model project ‘Völkerrechtsblog’ into an Open Science Hub.”