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Silvia Steininger

LL.M., M.A., Research Fellow

steininger@mpil.de

Main Fields of Research:

Interdisciplinary Approaches to International Law | Law of International Organizations | International Courts | Human Rights | Investment Law and Arbitration | Political Theory

Academic Career:

CURRENT POSITIONS

Research Fellow for Armin von Bogdandy at the MPIL (2016 - )

  • Dissertation on the topic "Dynamics of Resilience: Regional Human Rights Regimes in Times of Backlash"
  • Project management and coordination of the project on International Public Authority
  • Individual research project on the role of human rights in investment law and arbitration
  • Founder and co-organizer of the discussion group Theory Talks
  • Affiliated researcher at the Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders" at Goethe University Frankfurt

Lecturer at Karlshochschule International Karlsruhe (2020 - )

Lecturer at Université Catholique de Lille (2019 - )

EDUCATION

PhD student at the Law Faculty of the Goethe University Frankfurt (2019 - )

Master of Laws (LL.M cum laude) at the University of Amsterdam in International and European Law: Public International Law (2015 - 2016)

Master of Arts (M.A.) at the University of Heidelberg: Political Science with a minor in Public Law (2014 - 2017)

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) at the University of Heidelberg: Political Science with a minor in Public Law (2011 - 2014)

RESEARCH STAYS

Masaryk University, Judicial Studies Institute, Brno (03 - 05/2023)

Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law, Department for International Dispute Resolution, Luxemburg (2/2023)

Hertie School, Centre for Fundamental Rights, Berlin (06 - 08/2022)

iCourts, The Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre of Excellence for International Courts, Copenhagen (08 - 09/2021)

Council of Europe, Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg (10 - 12/2018)

EUI, European University Institute, Florence (07/2016)

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES

Graduate Research Assistant for Prof. Deirdre Curtin, Amsterdam Center for European Law and Governance, Amsterdam (2015 - 2016)

Intern at the German Embassy Bulgaria, Political Department, Sofia (02 - 04/2015)

Graduate Research Assistant and Tutor at the Chair for International Relations and Foreign Policy, Prof. Sebastian Harnisch & Prof. Peter Schlotter, University of Heidelberg (2013 - 2015)

Research Assistant for Dr. Matthias Goldmann, Department of Armin von Bogdandy, MPIL, Heidelberg (2012 - 2016)

Intern at the European Parliament, MEP Csaba Sògor, Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, Brussels (04 - 06/2011)

Volunteer in Romania in the "kulturweit" program, cultural volunteer service by the German Commission for UNESCO and the Federal Foreign Office, High School for Fine Arts in Miercurea Ciuc/Csikszereda and Goethe Institute Bucharest, Romania (2010 - 2011)

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Recent Publications

  • Investment and Human Rights in the Shadow of the Pandemic: Recent Developments in 2020. In: Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy 2020, Lisa E. Sachs, Lise J. Johnson, Jesse Coleman (eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2022, 1-21. Available online at OUP Investment Claims
  • Against the Masters of War: The Overlooked Functions of Conflict Litigation by International Courts. In: Law & Contemporary Problems 84, 95-122 (2021) (zusammen mit Nicole Deitelhoff). Available at L&CP (Open Access)
  • The Role of Human Rights in Investment Law and Arbitration. State Obligations, Corporate Responsibility and Community Empowerment. In: The Cambridge Companion to Business and Human Rights Law, Ilias Bantekas, Michael Ashley Stein (eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021, 406-421. Available at CUP
  • With or Without You: Suspension, Expulsion, and the Limits of Membership Sanctions in Regional Human Rights Regimes. In: Heidelberg Journal of International Law/Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht 81 (2), 533-566 (2021). Available at HJIL/ZaöRV (Open Access)
  • Who Turned Multinational Corporations into Bearers of Human Rights? On the Creation of Corporate 'Human' Rights in International Law. In: Contingency in International Law. On the Possibility of Different Legal Histories, Ingo Venzke, Kevin Jon Heller (eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2021, 281-296 (zusammen mit Jochen von Bernstorff).
  • Democracy and Financial Order: Legal Perspectives. Beiträge zum ausländischen öffentlichen Recht und Völkerrecht, Bd. 273. Beiträge zum ausländischen öffentlichen Recht und Völkerrecht, Bd. 273. Springer, Heidelberg, 2018, 227 p. . Available at Springer
  • Parting ways or lashing back? Withdrawals, backlash and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In: International Journal of Law in Context 14(2), 237 -257 (2018). Available at International Journal of Law in Context
  • What's Human Rights Got To Do With It? An Empirical Analysis of Human Rights References in Investment Arbitration. In: Leiden Journal of International Law 31(1), 33-58 (2018). Available at LJIL
  • A Discourse Theoretical Approach to Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Towards a Democratic Financial Order. In: German Law Journal 17(5), 709-746 (2016). Available at GLJ
  • Democracy and Financial Order: Legal Perspectives. In: German Law Journal 17(5), 705-906 (2016). Available at GLJ

Blogposts

Working Papers

  • Investment and Human Rights in the Shadow of the Pandemic: Recent Developments in 2020. Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law & International Law (MPIL) Research Paper No. 2021-04, 2021. Available at SSRN
  • The Role of Human Rights in Investment Law and Arbitration: State Obligations, Corporate Responsibility, and Community Empowerment. MPIL Research Paper Series No. 2020-16, 2020. Available at SSRN
  • Who Turned Multinational Corporations into Bearers of Human Rights? On the Creation of Corporate “Human” Rights in International Law. MPIL Research Paper Series No. 2018-25, 2018 (with Jochen von Bernstorff). Available at SSRN
  • Parting Ways or Lashing Back? Withdrawal, Backlash and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. MPIL Research Paper Series No. 2018-01, 2018 (with Ximena Soley). Available at SSRN

Media

    Vortrag bei der Montagskonferenz, Universität Heidelberg

    Mit dem Laden des Videos akzeptieren Sie die Datenschutzerklärung von Youtube.

Further Publications

  • Buchbesprechung: Aust, Helmut Philipp, Esra Demir-Gürsel: The European Court of Human Rights. Current Challenges in Historical Perspectives, Cheltenham, 2021. In: Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie, 42, 110-120, 2022. Available at Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie
  • Buchbesprechung: Wiener, Antje: Contestation and Constitution of Norms in Global International Relations, Cambridge University Press, 2018. In: International Journal of Constitutional Law, 19 (1), 363-367, 2021. Available at ICON
  • Buchbesprechung: Ranjan, Prabash: India and Bilateral Investment Treaties. Refusal, Acceptance, Backlash, Oxford, 2019. In: European Yearbook of International Economic Law, 10, 1-6, 2021. Available at Springer

Presentations

24 Jun 2021

How to Communicate Human Rights in Times of Backlash? Communication Practices of the European and Inter-American Human Rights Regimes

HRRC Annual Conference 2021 "Human Rights and Democracy"

Connecticut/Baden-Württemberg Human Rights Research Consortium

21 Jun 2021

Menschenrechte in der Praxis. Die Arbeit von Amnesty International

Montagskonferenz des Institut für Übersetzen und Dolmetschen

Universität Heidelberg

Available on Youtube

08 Jun 2021

Talking to Strangers ? Outreach and Communication Practices of the ECHR

Conference "The Influence, Legacy and Future of the European Court of Human Rights in the International Legal Order"

ESIL IG on International Courts and Tribunals & ESIL IG on Human Rights

07 Apr 2021

Can Courts Communicate? Communication Practices of the European and Inter-American Human Rights Regimes in an Age of Backlash

Lunch seminar at iCourts, Danish National Research Foundation's Centre of Excellence for International Courts

Copenhagen

15 Feb 2021

IACtHR - Advisory Opinion OC 26/20

Referentenbesprechung

Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht

18 Jan 2021

An Overview of Recent Inter-State Cases at the ECtHR

Referentenbesprechung

Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht

20 Jul 2020

Backlash against the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights? Withdrawal of the Optional Declaration by Rwanda, Tanzania, Benin, and Cote d'Ivoire

Referentenbesprechung

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

20 Jun 2020

We are all in this together? Die Auswirkungen der Corona-Krise auf die weltweite Situation der Menschenrechte

Regional meeting Südwest

Amnesty International Germany

27 Apr 2020

Derogation von Menschenrechtsverträgen in Zeiten der Corona-Pandemie

Referentenbesprechung

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

20 Jan 2020

Burning Down the House? An Update on the UNCITRAL ISDS Reform Process

Referentenbesprechung

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

03 Dec 2019

Retirada o Expulsión - Una Perspectiva Comparada

Iberoamerican Colloquium "Denuncia de los Tratados Internacionales de Derechos Humanos"

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

27 Sep 2019

Die Verteidigung europäischer Werte durch den Europarat: Herausforderungen und Chancen

Open Science Night Heidelberg

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

22 Jul 2019

Recent Developments at the ECtHR: First Advisory Opinion and Infringement Proceeding

Referentenbesprechung

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

02 Jul 2019

Harder, better, faster, stronger: Conceptualizing the institutional resilience of international courts

Presentation at ICON-S Annual Conference 2019

Santiago de Chile

11 Jun 2019

The Iron Bank Will Have Its Due: The Legal Regulation of Sovereign Debt and Foreign Investment in a Game of Thrones

Conference „Power, Law and Justice in a Game of Thrones“

University of Durham

13 May 2019

Was sind Normen? Eine Betrachtung aus interdisziplinärer Perspektive

Masterclass with Professor Christoph Möllers

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

11 May 2019

(I Can’t Live) With or Without You – Sanctioning Defiant State Parties in Regional Human Rights Regimes

Workshop "Loyal Cooperation within the ECHR System"

University of Liverpool

11 Apr 2019

(I Can’t Live) With or Without You: Sanctioning Defiant State Parties in Regional Human Rights Regimes

ECPR Joint Session "Judicial Authority Under Pressure: Politicisation and Backlash against Courts in the Age of Populism"

Universitè Catholique de Louvain

07 Jan 2019

Winter is Coming - The Ruxit and the European Human Rights System

Referentenbesprechung

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

22 Nov 2018

Human Rights Courts Under Pressure: Backlash and Resilience in the European and Inter-American Human Rights System

11. Annual Conference of the Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders"

University of Frankfurt

16 Nov 2018

Teorías Marxistas del Derecho Internacional y el Constitucionalismo Transformador en América Latina

Coloquio Iberoamericano "Constitucionalismo Transformador en Àmerica Latina: Aproximaciones Críticas"

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

02 Nov 2018

Resistencia y Resiliencia en el Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos

Conference "A 40 años de la Corte IDH: Una mirada desde Europa"

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

31 Oct 2018

Human Rights Courts Under Attack: On the Institutional Resilience of Regional Human Rights Regimes

Poster presentation in the context of the meeting of the MPI Board of Trustees

27 Sep 2018

Challenging the Authority of Human Rights Courts: Understanding the Institutional Resilience of the ECtHR

Wissenschaftlicher Kongress der Deutschen Vereinigung für Politische Wissenschaft

University of Frankfurt

20 Sep 2018

Marxist Approaches to International Law

Theory Talks

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

19 Jul 2018

Regionale Menschenrechtsgerichte als evasive courts?

Workshop "Judicial Conflict Evasion"

University of Tübingen

26 Jun 2018

Challenging the Authority of Human Rights Courts

Presentation at ICON-S Annual Conference 2018

Hong Kong

16 Jun 2018

Who Turned Multinational Corporations into Bearers of Human Rights? On Corporate 'Human' Rights in International Investment Protection

Paper presentation at Conference "Contingency in the Course of International Law: How International Law Could Have Been"

Amsterdam Center for International Law

26 Mar 2018

The Right to a Healthy Environment - International and Regional Perspectives

Referentenbesprechung

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

01 Mar 2018

Parting Ways or Lashing Back? Withdrawals, Backlash and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Paper presentation at the ESIL Research Forum 2018 "International Law in Times of Disorder and Contestation"

Hebrew University Jerusalem

08 Jan 2018

Von Mauritius bis Marokko, von Nigeria nach Wien - Aktuelle Entwicklungen im Investitionsschutzrecht

Referentenbesprechung

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

06 Nov 2017

The New Kid in Town: The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor's Office

Referentenbesprechung

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

21 Sep 2017

Menschenrechte in Investititionsschiedsverfahren: Auf der Suche nach Legitimität?

Workshop "Internationale öffentliche Gewalt"

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

09 Sep 2017

Inter-American Lessons on Backlash

ECPR General Conference, Panel "The Challenging and Challenged Authority of International Courts"

Oslo

20 Mar 2017

What’s Human Rights Got To Do With It? An Empirical Analysis of Human Rights References in Investment Arbitration

Workshop "Authority in International Dispute Settlement"

Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge

20 Feb 2017

Romania: Rule of Law in Crisis?

Referentenbesprechung

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

24 Jun 2016

A Discourse Theoretical Approach to Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Towards a Democratic Financial Order

"Ziemlich beste Freunde - Das spannungsreiche Verhältnis von Demokratie und Kapitalismus", Fachtagung der Deutschen Vereinigung für Politische Wissenschaft (DVPW)

Darmstadt

Teaching

winter semester 2021/22

Introduction to Public International Law

Karlshochschule International University Karlsruhe (wöchentlich, 36h insgesamt)

winter semester 2021/22

Die gerichtliche Kommunikation mit der Öffentlichkeit: Potentiale und Risiken

EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, VL Medienverfassungsgericht Dr. Matthias Goldmann (9. Februar 2022)

summer semester 2021

Fundamentals of Human Rights Law

Université Catholique de Lille (24h from January to March 2020)

winter semester 2020/21

Introduction to Public International Law

Karlshochschule International University (36h from September to January)

summer semester 2020

Kamingespräch zum Europarat/EGMR System

Universität Freiburg, Podcast im Rahmen der Vorlesung "Grundrechtsschutz in Europa" von PD Dr. Paulina Starski (21.05.2020)

summer semester 2020

Fundamentals of Human Rights Law

Université Catholique de Lille (24h from January to March 2020)

winter semester 2019/20

Introduction to International Courts and Tribunals

University of Mannheim (27. September 2019

summer semester 2019

Populism and International Law

MPIL Heidelberg, Frankfurt Colloquium (12. Juni 2019)

summer semester 2019

Fundamentals of Human Rights Law

Université Catholique de Lille (Intensive course - 24 hours in March 2019)

winter semester 2018/19

Menschenrechte in der Praxis - die Geschichte von Amnesty International

Universität Heidelberg (16. Januar 2019)

winter semester 2018/19

Introduction to International Courts and Tribunals: Proliferation and Backlash

Universität Mannheim (24. September 2018)

winter semester 2017/18

The Rise and Fall of International Courts and Tribunals: On Authority, Proliferation, and Backlash

MPIL Heidelberg, ITLOS Program (22. November 2017)

winter semester 2017/18

The Rise and Fall of International Courts and Tribunals: On Authority, Proliferation, and Backlash

University of Mannheim (9. October 2017)

summer semester 2015

Realism and Institutionalism as Theories of Conflict and Cooperation: New Research and Case Studies (Graduate Teaching Assistant to Prof. Peter Schlotter)

University of Heidelberg (weekly)

winter semester 2014/15

Introduction to International Relations (Tutorial)

University of Heidelberg (weekly)

winter semester 2013/14

Introduction to International Relations (Tutorial)

University of Heidelberg (weekly)

Honours

Fellowship

Re:constitution Fellowship on Exchange and Analysis on the Rule of Law in Europe, Stiftung Mercator. For an individual research project "Let's Talk About the Rule of Law: Court Communication in the European Rule of Law Crisis", 15.000 Euro granted (2023)

Grant

Proposal for PI-Project Armin von Bogdandy "On the Contestation, Disintegration, and Resilience of international Institution" by the Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders", 20.000 Euro granted (2018-2019)

Study scholarship from the Rosa-Luxemburg Stiftung in the "Lux like" program for highly gifted students from a non-academic background (2011-2017)

Memberships

Professional memberships:

  • Deutsche Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft (DVPW)
  • International Society of Public Law (ICON.S)
  • European Society of International Law (ESIL)
  • European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR)

Voluntary service

Miscellaneous

Languages

German (native), English (C2), Spanish (B2), Romanian (A2), Hungarian (A2)

Service

  • Member of the library council (2019 - )
  • Member of the selection committee for the "Max Planck-Cambridge Prize for International Law" (2020 - )

Organisation of Conferences, Seminars, and Panels

  • Workshop "The End of IPA? Contestation, Crisis, and Resilience in International Institutions" (together with Armin von Bogdandy und Matthias Goldmann), 28-29. November 2019, MPI Heidelberg
  • Panel "What Doesn't Kill It Makes It Stronger? The Resilience of the Inter-American Human Rights System in an Age of Backlash" (together with Ximena Soley) Annual Conference ICON-S 2019, Santiago de Chile
  • Panel "The Authoritarian Pushback and the Resilience of International Institutions (together with Matthias Goldmann und Pedro Villarreal) Annual Conference ICON-S 2018, Hongkong
  • Workshop "Internationale öffentliche Gewalt" (together with Armin von Bogdandy und Matthias Goldmann), 20.-21. September 2017, MPI Heidelberg
  • Tagung "Democracy and Financial Order: Legal Perspectives" (zusammen mit Matthias Goldmann und Franz Ebert), 02.-03. September 2015, Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders" Frankfurt
  • Max Planck Masterclass in International Law 2014 with Professor Martti Koskenniemi (together with Dana Schmalz), 29. April - 02. May 2014, MPI Heidelberg

Peer Review

  • OUP (textbook)
  • Brill (monograph)
  • Leiden Journal of International Law
  • Journal of International Dispute Settlement
  • Journal of International Economic Law
  • Law & Social Inquiry
  • Governance
  • Erasmus Law Review
  • Croatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy
  • Peace Human Rights Governance
  • Göttingen Journal of International Law

Media

  • Statement on the role of expropriation in human rights and ISDS, VerfassungsPod #1: Deutsche Wohnen & Co. Enteignen, Verfassungsblog Podcast (19. September 2021)
  • Media interview "Wenn Investoren auf ihre Menschen­rechte pochen", Republik Magazin (1. September 2021)
  • Profil on the German scientific temporal employement law, Rhein-Neckar Zeitung (25. Juni 2021)
  • ​​​​​​​TV interview on Human Rights Day 2020, "Amnesty International Rhein-Neckar", RON TV
  • Annual Conflict Barometer of HIIK e.V: Regional head of working group for Central Asia (2014 - 2016), regional head of working group for  Balkan (2015 - 2016), annual overview of ICJ and ICC activities (2016 - 2018)
  • Press interview Deutsche Welle "Konfliktpotential des Balkans bleibt hoch" (06. März 2017) englische Version
  • Several national and international radio interviews

Political Education

I am a regular lecturer and working group leader in education events and courses on the topic of human rights, for instance presentations for the general public, in universities, education institutions, and schools.