Professor Panos Merkouris

Chair on Interpretation & Dispute Settlement in International Law

Panos Merkouris is Professor of International Law at the University of Groningen. He holds a Chair on Interpretation & Dispute Settlement in International Law. Prof. Merkouris holds an LLB from the University of Athens, 2 LLMs on International Law from the University of Athens and UCL respectively, and a PhD from Queen Mary, University of London. He has taught as guest lecturer at UCL, Queen Mary, University of Athens, University of Thrace and Universidad Externado de Colombia.

Dr Sotirios-Ioannis Lekkas

Postdoctoral Researcher

Sotirios is postdoctoral researcher for the project. His research focuses on the content and evolution of rules of interpretation in international law. Prior to this position, Sotirios worked as a judicial fellow at the International Court of Justice and as a tutor in public international law for the Faculty of Law of the University of Oxford. Sotirios holds a DPhil in Law from the University of Oxford. He has studied law in Athens and London (UCL), where he was awarded the Schwarzenberger Prize in International Law by the University of London. He is a member of the Bar in Athens, Greece (non-practicing).

Marina Fortuna LLM

PhD Researcher

Marina Fortuna is currently a PhD student at the University of Groningen. She obtained her LLB degree from Babes-Bolyai University and her LLM degree in Public International Law from the University of Groningen.

During her undergraduate studies she developed an interest in public international law and human rights law. To see how international law works in practice, she completed an internship at the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and participated in the International European Human Rights Moot Court Competition and Telders International Law Moot Court Competition.

Marina’s area of interest and research includes customary international law, the law of state immunity, state responsibility and international dispute settlement.

Nina Mileva LLM

PhD Researcher

Nina is a PhD candidate of the TRICI-Law research project, performing her research within Work Package 1 (WP1). WP1 concerns the interpretability of customary international law (CIL) in theory, and examines the theoretical validity of customary law being open to interpretation. Within WP1, Nina will explore international legal theory in order to provide answers as to whether and why doctrine allows or disallows the possibility of interpretation of CIL. In addition to this, she will also look at domestic legal theory and practice in order to see how customary rules are interpreted domestically and whether these practices may inform the interpretation of CIL.

Tatiana Spijk-Belanova

Project Assistant

Mrs Tatiana Spijk-Belanova LL.M, Projects Assistant at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen, who is supporting professor Merkouris with the management of the TRICI-Law project. Tatiana has worked for the Faculty of Law since 2012 as Centre Administrator of the Groningen Centre of Energy Law and since 1 May 2018 has started working as a Project Assistant at the Research Office of the Faculty. She has ample administrative and organisational experience and she will be the first point of contact for project management and administration related queries.

Konrad Turnbull

Student Assistant

Konrad holds a B.S. in Digital Filmmaking from Shepherd University. After graduation, he held an eclectic range of jobs from a whitewater raft guide to a wine importer until finally discovering his passion for law. Konrad is currently in his final year of his LLB in International and European Law at the University of Groningen and will be completing his LLM in International Comparative Law at George Washington Law in December of 2020.