Robin Geiss

Robin Geiss (born November 8, 1974) is a German international law scholar who has been serving as the Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research since 2021.^[1] Previously, Geiss held various academic appointments and has advised several international organizations, including the United Nations, NATO, and the World Health Organization.^[2]

Early life and education[]

Geiss has studied law at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Kiel (Ph.D. 2003) and at the New York University (LL.M. 2004).^[2] He is a former scholar of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung),^[2] Germany's largest, oldest and most prestigious scholarship foundation.

Career[]

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Geiss as Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research in February 2021.^[1] Previously, Mr. Geiss was Professor of International Law and Security and Director of the Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security (GCILS) at the University of Glasgow. Moreover, he worked as Director of the Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security and as the Swiss Chair of International Humanitarian Law at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. Geiss is also a Visiting Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po in Paris.^[1]

Geiss' previous academic positions include, Visiting Professor for the University of Vienna (2017), Distinguished Guest Professor for the Institute for International Peace and Armed Conflict at Ruhr University Bochum (2016), and Visiting Fellow for the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin (2016).^[1][3] 

Between 2014 and 2017, Geiss served as Research Project Director for the Collaborative Research Center at the Freie Universität Berlin, and as Professor of Public International and European Law at the University of Potsdam from 2011 to 2013.^[1]

Geiss was one of the international experts who, under the oversight of the Tallinn-based NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, drafted the "Tallinn Manual", which investigates how international law applies to cyber warfare.^[3]

In the periods from 2004 to 2005 and 2007 to 2010, Geiss worked as Legal Adviser for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Legal Division and as ICRC delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council.^[1][4]

See also[]

• International humanitarian law
• United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research

Selected publications[]

Books

• Geiss, Robin; Melzer, Nils; Gasser, H.-P. (2020). International Humanitarian Law: An Introduction (original: Humanitäres Völkerrecht: Eine Einführung) (in German). Zurich: Schulthess Verlag. ISBN 9783725581665.
• Geiss, R.; Petrig, A. (2011). Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea: The Legal Framework for Counter-Piracy Operations in Somalia and the Gulf of Aden. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199609529.

Journal articles

• Geiss, R.; Lahmann, H. (2021). "Protection of data in armed conflict". International Law Studies. Stockton Center for International Law. (forthcoming).
• Geiss, R. (2015). "Russia's annexation of Crimea: The mills of international law grind slowly but they do grind". International Law Studies. Stockton Center for International Law. 91 (1): 425–449.
• Geiss, R. (2013). "Cyber warfare: implications for non-international armed conflicts". International Law Studies. Stockton Center for International Law. 89: 627–645.
• Geiss, R. (2010). "The conduct of hostilities in and via cyberspace". Proceedings of the American Society of International Law. 104: 371–374. doi:10.5305/procannmeetasil.104.0371.

References[]

External links[]

• Profile on the website of the University of Glasgow
• Profile on the website of the Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security
• Profile on the website of Sciences Po's Paris School of International Affairs