Biography
Christiane Ahlborn is Assistant Professor of Public International Law. Dr. Ahlborn is a general international lawyer with research interests and expertise in diverse areas of international law. Those areas include the law of international responsibility, the law of treaties, the law of international organizations, theories of international law, international human rights law, international refugee law, and international law & technologies (cyberspace, AI, and nuclear). At Trinity's School of Law, she teaches modules and supervises students in Public International Law, the Law of International Organizations, and Refugee and Immigration Law.
Dr. Ahlborn has published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as the European Journal of International Law, the Leiden Journal of International Law, and the International Organizations Law Review. She is on the Editorial Board of the newly established Arab Yearbook of Public and Private International Law, and she was previously a Submissions Editor for the Harvard International Law Journal. She is a Co-Chair of the United Nations (UN) Law Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association (ILA), a former member of the ILA Study Group on UN Sanctions, and former Co-Rapporteur of the ILA Study Group on Responsibility of International Organizations. She is also a member of the Coordinating Committee of the International Organizations Interest Group of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) and the Steering Committee of the Trinity Centre for Post-Conflict Justice.
Before joining Trinity, Dr. Ahlborn worked as a Legal Officer (Public International Law and Treaty Law) in the Office of Legal Affairs of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). She also served as Legal Officer in the Codification Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs in New York, facilitating the work of the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the UN General Assembly and the International Law Commission (ILC). In addition, she had academic positions at the Vienna School of International Studies and the University of Amsterdam where she was a member of the 'Project on Shared Responsibility in International Law' (SHARES). She also has practice experience with Human Rights Watch, the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She holds a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Amsterdam, an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, and an MIS in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID).
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Christiane Ahlborn, Regulating Business and Human Rights through Soft and Hard Law: Lessons from International Nuclear Law, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 57, (2), 2024, p411 - 467
Christiane Ahlborn and Michael A Becker, Protecting Irish Constitutional Identity on the International Plane: Costello v Government of Ireland", Irish Supreme Court Review, 6, 2024, p81 - 112
Christiane Ahlborn, The Meaning of Codification and Progressive Development in the International Law Commission's Mandate - Time for a Review?, Max Planck Journal of United Nations Law, 27, 2024, p1 - 49
Christiane Ahlborn, Syria's 'social media war' (since 2011), Cyber Law Toolkit, 2023
Christiane Ahlborn, Hate speech in Myanmar (since early 2010s), Cyber Law Toolkit, 2023
Christiane Ahlborn, Hate speech in India (since 2017), Cyber Law Toolkit, 2023
Christiane Ahlborn, Scenario 19: Hate speech, Cyber Law Toolkit, 2023
Arab Journal of Public & Private International Law, Brill, 2023
Christiane Ahlborn, The Concept of an International Organization in International Law. By LORENZO GASBARRI, British Yearbook of International Law, 2023, p1 - 4
Christiane Ahlborn, The Rule of Law and Good Governance at the United Nations during the COVID-19 Pandemic, International Organizations Law Review, 18, (3), 2021, p397--422
Andre Nollkaemper, Jean d'Aspremont, Christiane Ahlborn, Berenice Boutin, Nataša Nedeski, Ilias Plakokefalos, collaboration of Dov Jacobs, Guiding Principles on Shared Responsibility in International Law, European Journal of International Law, 31, (1), 2020, p15--72
Christiane Ahlborn, The Allocation of International Responsibility between International Organizations and Their Member States: A Case of Indirect Responsibility?, European Journal of International Law, 31, (2), 2020, p755--770
Kai P Purnhagen, Josephine Van Zeben, Christiane Ahlborn, Peter Oosterveer, Beyond Food Safety - EU Food Information Standards as a Facilitator of Political Consumerism and International Law Enforcement Mechanism, European Law Review, 2020
United Nations, Seventy Years of the International Law Commission - Drawing a Balance for the Future, Brill, 2020
Christiane Ahlborn, Frieden durch Recht - 70 Jahre Völkerrechtskommission, Vereinte Nationen, 66, (4), 2018, p173 - 178
Arab Organization for Industrialization and others v. Westland Helicopters Ltd, Swiss Federal Supreme Court (First Civil Court), 19 July 1988, 80 ILR 652 in, editor(s)Cedric Ryngaert, Ige Dekker, Ramses Wessel, and Jan Wouters , Case Law on International Organizations: Text and Commentary , Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press, 2016, pp277 - 285, [Christiane Ahlborn]
Westland Helicopters Ltd v. Arab Organization for Industrialization, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, State of Qatar, Arab Republic of Egypt and Arab British Helicopter Company, Arbitration, 5 March 1984, 80 ILR 600 in, editor(s)Cedric Ryngaert, Ige Dekker, Ramses Wessel, and Jan Wouters , Case Law on International Organizations: Text and Commentary, Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press, 2016, pp268 - 276, [Christiane Ahlborn]
Christiane Ahlborn, The EU and Foreign Investment - Exclusive Competence, Shared Responsibility?, KLRI Journal of Law and Legislation, 6, 2015, p5 - 51
Remedies against International Organizations " A Relational Account of International Responsibility in, editor(s)Dan Sarooshi , Remedies and Responsibility for the Actions of International Organizations. Hague Academy of International Law, 2014, Martinus Nijhoff, 2014, pp525 - 576, [Christiane Ahlborn]
Christiane Ahlborn, International Organizations - Disobeying the Security Council: Countermeasures Against Wrongful Sanctions by Antonios Tzanakopoulos. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. xiii+243 pp. Hardcover: £70.00., Asian Journal of International Law, 3, (1), 2013, p196--198
Christiane Ahlborn, To Share or Not to Share? The Allocation of Responsibility between International Organizations and their Member States, Die Friedenswarte - Journal of International Peace and Organization, 88, 2013, p45 - 75
Christiane Ahlborn, Frédéric Dopagne, Les contre-mesures des organisations internationales, Louvain-la-Neuve: Anthemis Bibliothèque de l'Institut des hautes études internationales de Paris (collection dirigée par Jean Combacau et Joe Verhoeven), 2010, ISBN: 9782874552526, 488 pp., € 95,20., Leiden Journal of International Law, 26, (1), 2013, p223--229
Christiane Ahlborn, The Use of Analogies in Drafting the Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations An Appraisal of the `Copy-Paste Approach', International Organizations Law Review, 9, (1), 2012, p53--66
Christiane Ahlborn, The Rules of International Organizations and the Law of International Responsibility, International Organizations Law Review, 8, (2), 2011, p397--482
Christiane Ahlborn, The Normative Erosion of International Refugee Protection through UN Security Council Practice, Leiden Journal of International Law, 24, (4), 2011, p1009--1027
Christiane Ahlborn, The Development of International Refugee Protection through the Practice of the UN Security Council, Graduate Institute Publications, 2010
Eine deutsche Wasser-Außenpolitik? Möglichkeiten und Grenzen eines ressortübergreifenden Beitrags zu den Millenniumentwicklungszielen in, editor(s)Alexander Brand and Arne Niemann , Interessen und Handlungsspielräume in der deutschen und europäischen Außenpolitik, Dresden, TUD Press, 2007, pp85 - 110, [Christiane Ahlborn, Alexandre Callegaro and Susanne Ozegowski]
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Christiane Ahlborn, Challenges to Human Rights Protection in the Digital Age, Protection of human rights in the context of digitalisation, Trinity College Dublin, 27 February 2024, 2024, European Law Students Association
Christiane Ahlborn, Lifting the Corporate Veil: The Responsibility of International Organizations and their Member States, University of Vienna, 2024
Christiane Ahlborn, 'Scenario 19: Hate Speech', Faculti, 2024, -
Christiane Ahlborn, Establishing an International Organization to Regulate Artificial Intelligence, University of Vienna, 2024
Christiane Ahlborn, The Evolution of the Role of the International Law Commission, 34th Informal Meeting of Legal Advisers to the United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee, New York City, 2024
Christiane Ahlborn, The Next 75 Years: Modern Threats, Conference on '75 years of Geneva Conventions - A Time to Reaffirm Commitments to the Rules of War', Dublin, 2024
Christiane Ahlborn, Immunity of Foreign Officials: the State of Play, London Conference on International Law, London, 2024
Christiane Ahlborn, Inter-State Reparations before International Courts and Tribunals (ICTs), Online, 2024, American Society of International Law International Courts and Tribunals Interest Group
Christiane Ahlborn, Towards a Theory on the International Legal Personality of Companies, Decoding the Rights of Companies in the Technocene, Lund University, 4-5 December 2023, 2023
Christiane Ahlborn, European and International Implications of Costello v. Ireland, Treaty Ratification, Investor State Arbitration, and Constitutional Identity: Implications of Costello v Government of Ireland [2022] IESC 44, 10 May 2023, 2023, Trinity Centre for Constitutional Governance (TriCON)
Christiane Ahlborn, Assessing the Legal Personality & Obligations of International Courts, International Law Weekend, New York, 21 October 2023, 2023, American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA)
Christiane Ahlborn, Settlement of disputes to which international organisations are parties, Workshop at the University of Vienna, 16 November 2023, 2023
Christiane Ahlborn, From Contractualism to Constitutionalism: Translating Theories on IGO Powers into Practice, Symposium on the Evolution of IGOs: Initiatives and Enhanced Responsibilities, Geneva, 28-29 July, 2022, University of Geneva
Christiane Ahlborn, International Organizations in the Digital Age, International Law Weekend, New York, 29 October, 2021, American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA)
Christiane Ahlborn, Three Models of International Law-Making by Expertise, Workshop on 'International Organizations' Action in Times of COVID-19: Law-making by expertise and soft law', Stockholm, 8 September, 2021, European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group on International Organizations
Christiane Ahlborn, Digital Sovereignty: On How to Use a Double-edged Sword to Shape Norms in Cyberspace, 2020 Conference on Cyber Norms: `Moving Forward: Fragmentation, Polarization and Hybridity in Cyberspace, The Hague, 10-20 November, 2020
Christiane Ahlborn and Bart Smit Duijzentkunst, Part I: 70 Years of the International Law Commission: Drawing a Balance for the Future, EJIL:Talk!, 2018
Christiane Ahlborn and Bart Smit Duijzentkunst, Part II: 70 Years of the International Law Commission: Drawing a Balance for the Future, Opinio Juris, 2018
Christiane Ahlborn, Responsibility of International Organizations: Essays in Memory of Sir Ian Brownlie by MAURIZIO RAGAZZI [Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, 2013, 470pp, ISBN: 978-90-04-25607-1, £129.21 (h/bk)], International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 65, (4), 2016, p973--975
Christiane Ahlborn, The Relationship between UN Sanctions and Autonomous Sanctions, International Law Weekend, New York , 7 November, 2015, American Branch of the International Law Association (ILA)
Christiane Ahlborn, International Law Meets International Relations: Diverging Perspectives on International Organizations?, Interdisciplinary Seminar (IDS) Lecture, Vienna, 21 October, 2014, Vienna School of International Studies
Christiane Ahlborn, To Share or Not to Share? The Allocation of Responsibility between International Organizations and their Member States, New Directions in International Responsibility: Seminar on the Responsibility of International Organizations, Bergen, 17 October, 2013, University of Bergen
Christiane Ahlborn, Adjudicating Somali Piracy Cases - German Courts in a Double Bind, Cambridge International Law Journal Blog, 2013
Christiane Ahlborn and Daniel Bradlow, Final Report of the Study Group on the Responsibility of International Organizations, Geneva, International Law Association, 2012
Christiane Ahlborn, Joint Responsibility in International Law: Revisiting the Oil Platforms Case - A Comment on Bruno Simma's SHARES Lecture, SHARES Blog, 2012
Christiane Ahlborn, UNESCO Approves Palestinian Membership Bid: A Case for US Countermeasures?, EJIL:Talk!, 2011
Christiane Ahlborn and James Headen Pfitzer, Transparency and Public Participation in WTO Dispute Settlement, Bergen, Center for International Environmental Law, 2009
Recognition
Representations
Member of the American Society of International Law
Memberships
American Society of International Law
European Society of International Law
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), German Section
Deutsche Vereinigung für Internationales Recht (DVIR)/German Branch of the International Law Association
American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA)
Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA)