Philipp Rothkirch
Research Fellow
rothkirch@mpil.de
Main Fields of Research:
Public International Law; Democracy in International Law
Academic Career:
Since May 2025: Research Fellow at MPIL in the team of Anne Peters
September 2024 - April 2025: Jessup Head Coach of the Team of Heidelberg University, supervised at MPIL
2022 - 2024: Research Assistant at MPIL in the team of Anne Peters
2020 - 2022: Student Assistant at the Chair of Public Law, Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law of Prof. Dr. Martin Borowski
2017 - 2024: Law Studies at Heidelberg University
- Specialisation: Public International Law
- Participation in the 2022 Jessup Moot Court
- 2019 - 2020: Year Abroad at University of Leeds (England)
Blogposts
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Protecting Democracy Through International Law: Guatemala’s request for an IACtHR Advisory Opinion on Democracy and Political Rights. Verfassungsblog, 16 March 2026. doi: 10.59704/f573ba6deebfa043.
Full Text
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Foreign Election Interference: A Violation of the Right to Self-Determination. Völkerrechtsblog, 16 November 2022. doi: 10.17176/20221116-095506-0.
Full Text
Presentations
10 Nov 2025
The ICJ’s UNRWA Advisory Opinion of 22 October 2025
MPIL Monday Round
22 Oct 2025
Presentation of the PhD project at the Max Planck Law PhD Workshop
Max Planck Law Annual Conference
02 Jun 2025
Guatemala’s Request for an IACtHR Advisory Opinion on Democracy and Political Rights
MPIL Monday Round
16 Dec 2024
The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on the Occupied Palestinian Territory: The Law of Cccupation and its Interplay with International Human Rights Law
Max Planck Discussion Series on the Situation in the Middle East
Teaching
Winter 2025/26
Arbeitsgemeinschaft im Völkerrecht
Topics: Immunites, Diplomatic Protection and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as well as a simulation of an oral examination. The course was given together with Laurids Hempel, Felix Herbert, Helena Kaim, Andreas Knecht und Bernadette Lumbela.
Summer 2025
Between accountability and immunity: The International Law Commission’s draft articles on immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction
Part of the MPIL International Law Colloquium at Heidelberg University. Talk and Discussion on the ILC's draft articles on immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction and the role of the ILC in international lawmaking.
Summer 2025
Arbeitsgemeinschaft im Völkerrecht
Topics: Immunites, Diplomatic Protection and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as well as a simulation of an oral examination. The course was given together with Laurids Hempel, Felix Herbert, Annika Knauer, Andreas Knecht and Leon Seidl.
Winter 2024/25
Jessup Moot Court
Head Coach of the Jessup Team of Heidelberg University.
Honours
2019-2024: Scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes)
Jessup 2025: Coach of the German National Champion. Memorial Awards won by the 2025 Heidelberg Jessup Team include: Richard R. Baxter Award for Best Applicant Memorial (Second Place), Alona E. Evans Award for Best Team Memorials at International Rounds (Fourth Place), M. Cherif Bassiouni Award for Best Team Memorials (Sixth Place) and Best Memorial (Overall) at German National Rounds. The Baxter Memorial can be found here.
