PhD Thesis

PhD Supervisor: Marcelo G. Kohen

Profile

Islam is a PhD candidate in International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute. His interests range from general international law to international dispute settlement, international organizations, international economic law, legal theory, and foreign policy. In his doctoral studies, Islam addresses questions concerning regime interaction before international courts and tribunals. Islam works as a legal officer at the Office of the Under Secretary General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel in New York. Previously, Islam worked as a law clerk (JF) to Judge and former President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) H.E. Abdulqawi Yusuf. Islam also worked for several years as a diplomat and legal adviser at the Foreign Ministry of Egypt where he was engaged in and advised on several key legal and politcal questions. Islam also worked as a legal assistant for the former Vice-Chair of the UN International Law Commission (ILC) and as a seconded lawyer in a specialist public international law firm in London. Islam lectured and presented on international law in several universities including New York University (NYU) Law School, King's College London (KCL), Indiana University (USA), and Cairo University (Egypt). He has several work appeared or forthcoming in leading international law journals including New York University (NYU) Journal of International Law and Politics (JILP), Bristol Law Review, (BLR), and Journal of Maritime and Territorial Studies (JMTS). Islam holds LLM from the London School of Economics (LSE), Master of Laws from Indiana University School of Law (USA), and LLB from Alexandria University (Egypt).

Research Interests
 

• Regime Interaction

• Treaty Interpretation

• International Courts and Tribunals

• Judicial Reasoning and Law-Making

• Global Governance and Regime Theory

RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS AND WORKS
 

• Attia, I., ‘The Revival of the Master: The Eternal Battle over Treaty Interpretation’ (2020 Cambridge International Law Journal CILJ Blog).
• Attia, I., Arafa, M., Bastaweesy A., ‘Arab World’s Verdict on Legal Education: The Egyptian Case between Status Quo, Assessment, And Some Hope’ (2015 Journal of Social Sciences COES&RJ-JSS).
• Attia, I., ‘Climate Change and Human Rights: The Interpretation Game and its Strategies’ (forthcoming)
• Do the United Nations' Terrorism-Related Conventions Prohibit and Suppress “Terrorism” Acts
  Committed by “Terrorists”?, Bristol Law Review (2018) 171, 194.
• Revisiting Jurisdiction of UNCLOS Part XV Tribunals over Sovereignty Disputes, 10(2) Journal of
  Maritime and Territorial Studies (2023) 5-26.
• The Revival of the Master: The Eternal Battle over Treaty Interpretation, Cambridge International
  Law Journal (CILJ) Blog (7 December 2020).
• The Protection of the Atmosphere and the Regressive Development of International Law, European
  Journal of International Law, EJILTalk! (1 November 2022)
• Arab World’s Verdict on Legal Education: The Egyptian Case between Status Quo, Assessment,
  And Some Hope, Journal of Social Sciences COES&RJ-JSS (2015).
• Attia, I., ‘The Hidden "Context" in Treaty Interpretation’ (forthcoming).
• Law of Power or Power of Law? The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Project (GERD)
  (forthcoming).
• Prosecuting International Terrorists under International Criminal Law: Assessing Lacunas and
  Reconnoitering Alternative Routes (forthcoming).

Academic Work experiences 

Teaching Experience

• Lecturer of International Humanitarian Law and Peacekeeping, Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (2018-2019)
• Lecturer of International Environmental and Transboundary Watercourses Law, Cairo University (2019)

Conferences and Talks

• New York University (NYU), JILP Annual Symposium, Paper title ‘The Judicialization of Climate Change: The Technique and Its Proliferation’ (New York, 2024)
• American Society of International Law (ASIL), The International Courts and Tribunals Interest Group (ICTIG)  Work-in-Progress Conference, Paper title ‘The Judicialization of Climate Change: The Technique and Its Proliferation’ (Chicago, 2023)
• Hertie School (in coorganization with LSE and NYU), International Human Rights Courts and Bodies at the Edge of the Climate Tipping Point, Paper title ‘Climate Change and Human Rights: The Interpretation Game and its Strategies’ (Berlin, 2021)
• King’s College London, Research Conference in Transnational Law, Presentation title ‘Prosecuting - Terrorists under International Law’ (London, 2018)
• Indiana University School of Law, Presentation title ‘Aljazeera-English Journalists’ Case in Egypt: Observations under International Human Rights Law’ (Indianapolis, 2015)
• German University in Cairo (GUC), Faculty of Law, Presentation title ‘The Politics of Humanitarian Intervention’ (Cairo, 2019)

OTHER WORK experiences 
 

• Legal Officer, Office of the United Nations Legal Counsel 
• Law Clerk (JF), International Court of Justice 
• Diplomat and Legal Adviser, Foreign Ministry of Egypt 
• Seconded Lawyer, Volterra Fietta LLP
• Legal Assistant, United Nations International Law Commission 
• Prosecutor, Ministry of Justice of Egypt

FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS AND AWARDS
 

• Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Scholarship, Geneva Graduate Institute (Switzerland, 2019)
• Chevening Scholar, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (UK, 2017)
• Distinguished International Student Lecturer, Indiana University School of Law (USA, 2016)
• Human Rights Law Overseas Externship Award, Indiana University School of Law (USA, 2016)
• Academic and Professional Distinction Award, Indiana University School of Law (USA, 2015)

Affiliations 
 

• Member of the Dean’s Global Advisory Council of Indiana University School of Law (USA)
• Member of the American Society of International Law (ASIL)
• Member of the African Society of International Law (AfSIL)
• Qualified to practice law in Egypt

Links

• LinkedIn

Email