phd thesis
 

Title: The judicialisation of time

PhD Supervisor: Andrew Clapham

Expected completion date: 2026

This project aims to examine the role of time within the context of international adjudication. My central hypothesis posits that time, as an extra-legal concept, exerts a significant influence on the functioning of international courts and tribunals. It interferes with various stages of the judicial process, ultimately shaping its outcomes. Over the course of adjudication, time becomes an integral and judicialized element of the legal proceedings, affecting both the process and the decisions of international judicial bodies.
 

pROFILE

Maria Ioanna’s research interests center on public international law, with a particular emphasis on dispute settlement. She investigates the impact of time on the functioning of international courts and tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of International Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, investment tribunals, WTO panels, UNCLOS tribunals, human rights courts, and criminal tribunals. Her research aims to identify temporal challenges in international dispute settlement that create jurisdictional or admissibility barriers. Through this analysis, she seeks to develop a theoretical framework on the nature and role of time in international adjudication, with practical implications for its application in legal proceedings.

While pursuing her PhD, Maria Ioanna serves as a Teaching Assistant for the LL.M. in International Law program at the Graduate Institute. She is also a Research Assistant to August Reinisch, the Special Rapporteur for the International Law Commission, focusing on the topic of "Settlement of Disputes Involving International Organizations." In addition, she is a part-time Lecturer in Public International Law at ‘Erga Omnes,’ a private institute in Greece. Maria Ioanna has previously held roles as a Course Coordinator at the Global Health Center of the Geneva Graduate Institute and as a Senior Associate at Angelos Georgiadis & Associates Law Firm in Greece.
 

Research Interests
 

• Issues of Jurisdiction and Admissibility before International Courts and Tribunals
• Theoretical approaches on time in international law
• The concept of Erga Omnes (Parts) and the Admissibility of claims before International Courts and tribunals
• Settlement of Disputes Involving International Organizations
• The practical implications of the identifications of the legal nature of the optional clause of the ICJ.
   

ACADEMIC  EXPERIENCES
 

• Teaching Assisting (IHEID - LLM in International Law)
• Lecturer (Erga Omnes, Private Institution - Thessaloniki, Greece)
• Course Coordinator (Global Health Center)

OTHER WORK EXPERIENCES
 

• Senior Associate - Angelos Georgiadis and Associates