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4. Felicitas Benziger

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Biography

Felicitas first studied law in Germany and completed the German First State Exam and a degree in German law with specialisation in public international and EU law at Freie Universität Berlin. She furthermore holds a LLM in international law from University College London and completed her PhD (Thesis: Self-Determination of Peoples in the Context of Supranational Governance) at Middlesex University London.‍

Research Interests

Within the Law and the Inner Self project, Felicitas is responsible for research concerning international, human rights and comparative constitutional law, notably concerning the UK and Germany. Her recent work has delved extensively into the rights to freedom of thought and private life (including categories developed within this right by the European Court of Human Rights) as well as other personality rights and their re-assessment in light of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, both within the European context and in comparison with international human rights law. Her focus on European human rights law includes studies of CJEU jurisprudence on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, as well as the interaction of the legal regimes of the EU and international law.

Besides human rights law in international and regional frameworks, Felicitas’ core areas of expertise are EU, AU and public international law, self-determination of peoples (generally, I am interested in  rights protecting either the collective or individual notion of the ‘self’; the effects of different forms of governance on human rights and their development through practice, scholarship and jurisprudence and vice versa; the laws and policies of international organisations; supranational and regional integration and legal processes; and comparative law.

While mainly adopting the methodology of legal research, Felicitas likes to incorporate interdisciplinary approaches in her research from neighbouring disciplines, such as philosophy, sociology and other disciplines in the humanities. One of her personal concerns is to emphasise approaches from legal frameworks that are underrepresented in European mainstream research literature.
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Publications

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Book Chapters

	Year	Publication
	(2023)	'Minorities, Self-Determination and Secession' Felicitas Benziger (2023) 'Minorities, Self-Determination and Secession' In: Ryan D. Griffiths, Aleksandar Pavkovic, Peter Radan (eds). The Routledge Handbook of Self-Determination and Secession. London and New York: Routledge. [DOI] [Details]

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Blog

	Year	Publication
	(2024)	A Researcher’s Diary: Reflections on the Role of Field Trips in Legal Scholarship. Felicitas Benziger (2024) A Researcher’s Diary: Reflections on the Role of Field Trips in Legal Scholarship. Blog   [Details]
	(2024)	The Right to Freedom of Thought in the Tradition of Eastern European States. Felicitas Benziger (2024) The Right to Freedom of Thought in the Tradition of Eastern European States. Blog   [Details]
	(2022)	Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine is an Act of Aggression. Felicitas Benziger (2022) Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine is an Act of Aggression. Blog   [Details]
	(2022)	A Closer Look at Recent Self-Determination Issues in Eastern Europe. Felicitas Benziger (2022) A Closer Look at Recent Self-Determination Issues in Eastern Europe. Blog   [Details]
	(2020)	The New Rule of Law Mechanism: “Ideological Blackmail Tool” or Legitimate Means to Protect the EU’s Values?. Felicitas Benziger (2020) The New Rule of Law Mechanism: “Ideological Blackmail Tool” or Legitimate Means to Protect the EU’s Values?. Blog   [Details]

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Professional Activities

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Conference Contributions

	Year	Publication
	(2024)	Bridging the Gap between Neurorights and Cyberights: Introducing New Ethical and Legal Safeguards for Protecting Humans in the Digital Era, Felicitas Benziger (2024) This contribution relates to my work within my post-doctoral research, which explores the legal concept of a person's inner self and tracks its development through various stages of history and present day. The proposed paper focusses on current developments in the field of human, neuro and cyber rights concerning the inner self in law. [Oral Presentation], Bridging the Gap between Neurorights and Cyberights: Introducing New Ethical and Legal Safeguards for Protecting Humans in the Digital Era, Pisa, Italy . [Details]
	(2024)	Freedom of Thought Network, Felicitas Benziger (2024) Presentation of my research on the right to freedom of thought within the Law and the Inner Self project. [Oral Presentation], Freedom of Thought Network, online . [Details]
	(2024)	World Philosophy Congress 2024, Felicitas Benziger (2024) The LAWINSEL research team organised a panel on Law and the Inner Self. I presented my research on this topic to date (with a focus on human rights law) and chaired one of the sessions of the panel. [Other], World Philosophy Congress 2024, Rome, Italy . [Details]
	(2024)	Presentation for the Harvard Law School and Philosophy Society, Felicitas Benziger (2024) Presentation of my research within the Law and the Inner Self project. [Oral Presentation], Presentation for the Harvard Law School and Philosophy Society, online . [Details]
	(2024)	SLSA Annual Conference 2024 (Stream: Law, Machine, and Creativity), Felicitas Benziger (2024) In this paper I focus on three main questions: 1) How to define ‘inner self’ in the 21st century?; 2) In what way does Generative AI interact with the inner self in law?; 3) What consequences arise from the closer interrelation between Generative AI and a person’s inner self?. [Oral Presentation], SLSA Annual Conference 2024 (Stream: Law, Machine, and Creativity), Portsmouth, UK . [Details]
	(2024)	Radical Futures Conference 2024, Felicitas Benziger (2024) I joined a panel discussion on the topic Socio-Technical Futures and the Inner Self discussing from my background in human rights law and the inner self in law as well as the intersection law and technology. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Radical Futures Conference 2024, Cork, Ireland . [Details]
	(2022)	SLSA York 2022, Felicitas Benziger (2022) Supranationalism, Europe and Africa: Can Changing Notions of Sovereignty Provide an Opportunity to move beyond Colonial Legacies?. [Oral Presentation], SLSA York 2022, York (UK) , 06-APR-22 - 08-APR-22. [Details]
	(2021)	Research Students’ Summer Conference (RSSC) 2021, Felicitas Benziger (2021) Supranationalism and the Right to SelfDetermination of Peoples. [Oral Presentation], Research Students’ Summer Conference (RSSC) 2021, London , 23-JUN-21 - 23-JUN-21. [Details]

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Employment

	Employer	Position	From / To
	Middlesex University London	Hourly Paid Lecturer	01-SEP-21 / 01-JUL-23
	Philippe Sands	Legal Assistant/Paralegal	01-SEP-19 / 01-SEP-22

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Education

	Year	Institution	Qualification	Subject
	2023	Middlesex University London	PhD	International Law
	2018	Freie Universität Berlin	First State Exam/Law Diploma	Law
	2019	University College London	LLM	International Law

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Languages

	Language	Reading	Writing	Speaking
	Latin	Functional
	Irish	Basic	Basic	Basic
	German	Fluent	Fluent	Fluent
	Italian	Fluent	Fluent	Fluent
	Chinese	Basic	Basic	Basic
	English	Fluent	Fluent	Fluent
	Spanish	Fluent	Functional	Functional
	French	Fluent	Fluent	Functional

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Teaching Activities

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Teaching Interests

My teaching interests coincide with my research interests, but I am also passionate about combining my experiences in legal practice with my teaching by including interactive and legal clinical exercises in my sessions.