It is our great pleasure today to introduce Joanna Nicholson as an IntLawGrrls contributor. Joanna is a researcher at PluriCourts– Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo. She specialises in the fields of international criminal law and international humanitarian law. Her PhD thesis, which she defended earlier this year, is entitled “Fighters as Victims in International Criminal Law,” and explores the differences that arise in international criminal law if an alleged victim of a crime was a fighter or a person hors de combat as opposed to a civilian who was not directly participating in hostilities. Her current research focuses on the role played by precedent in ensuring the legitimacy of international criminal courts and tribunals.

Joanna received her LLB from the University of Glasgow and holds an LLM from the University of Oslo in Public International Law. She has spent a number of years working in private practice and has also worked as a public prosecutor in the Scottish courts.

Joanna’s first post will focus on the alleged attacks against peacekeepers which the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking to investigate in its recent request for authorisation to investigate the situation in Georgia. Heartfelt welcome!