A.M.M. (Audrey) Fino

Lecturer

Telephone:

E-mail:

a.m.m.fino rug.nl

Education

2019-now University of Groningen, Faculty of Law, PhD researcher on Limiting Freedom of Expression in the Quest for International Justice. Promotors: Professors J. Morijn and C. Fournet; Expected defence, autumn 2024

1997-1998 University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam School of International Relations, Masters in International and European Relations. Specialization, Public International Law

1989-1995 University of Malta, Doctor of Laws

1989-1993 University of Malta, Diploma of Notary Public

1992 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Certificate of Recognition, US Law and Politics

Professional Experience

2019-now Lecturer and PhD researcher, University of Groningen, Faculty of Law, Groningen, the Netherlands

Teach classes of 50-100 Bachelor and Masters students in public international, humanitarian and human rights law;
Supervise and review an average of 10 LL. B theses and 5 LL.M. theses;
Coordinate the LL.M. International Humanitarian Law course;
Coach students in the Frits Kalshoven International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competitions;
Set up and run a law clinic in international humanitarian law;
Organise the annual Avril McDonald public lecture in international humanitarian law;
Member, Board of Examiners, LL.B and LL.M theses;
Research hate speech and incitement in international criminal, humanitarian and human rights law.

2021-2022 Senior Legal Advisor, Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (Supreme Court Chamber)

Provide procedural and substantive international criminal and humanitarian law advice and assistance to appeal judges;
Draft, review and research appeals briefs;
Draft sections of the judgment;
Assist in the overall co-ordination and management of the preparatory document and judgment drafting;
Review and comment on the work of more junior attorneys;
Personal advisor to one judge of the Supreme Court Chamber.

2019-2022 Lecturer, University of Malta, Msida, Malta

Give master classes in International Criminal and Humanitarian Law to about 30 LL.M. students;
Member, Board of Examiners of LL.M theses.

2019-2020 Legal Officer, REDRESS, the Hague, the Netherlands

Provide advisory legal services in writing and make representations at high-level meetings e.g. at EU institutions and Assembly of State Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC);
Draft amicus curiae briefs before the ICC’s appeals chamber e.g. in the Gaddafi case and Afghanistan situation;
Advise on the drafting of and consult with states on the Draft Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in investigating and prosecuting International Crimes, the Hague, January 2020;
Provide case support to domestic lawyers e.g. in Uganda and Chad in national international crimes proceedings;
Participate in discussions within Eurojust on universal jurisdiction cases and rights of victims of international crime;
Successfully managed an EU project on rights of victims in detention in 6 EU countries and drew up EU-wide legal and policy recommendations;
The positions REDRESS advocated for in both the Gaddafi case and the Afghanistan situation were ultimately adopted by the ICC’s Appeals Chamber.

2018-2019 Legal Adviser, Advocates Abroad, remote online work

Advise refugees applying for EU asylum protection in Greece;
Prepare applicants for interviews with European Asylum Support Office and national migration authorities;
Draft submissions on appeals from national administrative decisions.

2016-2017 Legal Officer (Appeals Chamber), International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the Hague, the Netherlands

Provide procedural and substantive international criminal and humanitarian law advice and assistance to judges;
Draft, review and research decisions and judgments on appeal;
Assist in the overall co-ordination and management of the preparatory document and judgment drafting;
Attend appeal hearings and assist in any matters that arise;
Research and draft the section on humanitarian law in the Prlić et al. Appeal Judgment, the last and largest ICTY multi-appellant case;
Assist the Chambers Focal Point for Training in planning and organizing professional development workshops;
Supervise and review the work of 5 associate legal officers;
Successfully liaised with 5 appellant judges’ legal officers on the novel aspects of the humanitarian law sections of the Prlić et al. Appeal Judgment to reach a consensus and avoid dissenting opinions in the final judgment.

2011-2014 Human Rights Officer, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Research and Right to Development Branch (OHCHR), Geneva, Switzerland

Provide strategic and technical advice to OHCHR field offices;
Analyse information and draft recommendations on preventive measures to combat discrimination;
Provide secretarial support to the Human Rights Council and other mechanisms;
Research and draft briefing notes, reports and speeches for the High Commissioner on issues related to discrimination;
Organize and plan capacity-building activities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia;
Liaise and co-operate with other international organizations, governments, and national protective mechanisms;
Supervise junior colleagues in Geneva and in field offices;
In September 2011, organized a workshop on drafting and implementing national action plans against racial discrimination for the Commonwealth of Independent States in St. Petersburg, Russia, establishing OHCHR’s first collaboration with it.

2007-2011 Legal Officer (Trial Chamber), ICTY, the Hague, the Netherlands

Provide specialized procedural and substantive international criminal law advice to Pre-Trial and Trial judges;
Draft and review over 200 decisions and 3 multi-accused judgments, including sections on the law and criminal responsibility;
Attend court sittings and assist judges on the legal and factual issues that arise;
Report regularly on the status of the case to the Presiding Judge and Senior Legal Officer;
Assist in the overall co-ordination and management of trials and judgment-drafting;
Primary liaison for the parties (including 7 defence teams), Registry and the Trial Chamber of the largest multi-accused trial, the Popović et al. trial;
Pre-trial co-ordinator on the Gotovina et al. case;
Team leader of the Stanišić and Župljanin trial team;
Solely responsible for the motion activity of the Popović et al. trial, which included assigning drafting tasks to team members, and reviewing and co-ordinating the approach and substantive content of each draft with the drafters, senior legal officer, and the judges;
Solely responsible for the drafting of 4 legal and factual sections of the Popović et al. judgment and the individual criminal responsibility of 1 accused which were not challenged on appeal.

Other Professional Experience

2001–2006 Legal Counsel, Avery Dennison Corporation, Leiden, the Netherlands.

1999-2000 Immigration Lawyer, Migration Bureau, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

1996–1997 Member, National Commission for the Advancement of Women, Valletta, Malta; Deputy Umpire, Social Security Tribunal, Valletta, Malta; Corporate Lawyer, Austrian Raiffeisen Malta Bank plc, Sliema, Malta; Director, Employment & Training Corporation, Valletta, Malta; Director, Interprint Limited, Valletta, Malta.

1995-1997 National Commission for the Advancement of Women, Sub-Committee on Legal Reform: Member, Valletta, Malta.

1994-1997 Attorney, Sciriha, Attard-Montalto, Galea & Associates, Valletta, Malta.

Publications

The Sound and Taste of Atrocity Crime, From Cambodia in the 1970s to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s in 'The Sights, Sounds and Sensibilities of Atrocity Prosecutions,' (eds) M. Drumbl and C. Fournet (forthcoming 2024, Brill)

A Critique of the UN Strategy and Guidance on 'Hate Speech,' Some Legal Considerations, Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights (forthcoming December 2023)

Judgment Drafting in International Criminal Law: International Criminal Practice Project,’ (American Bar Association 2023) contributor

The Seselj Appeal Judgment: A Commentary in 'Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals,' (eds) A. Klip and S Freeland (Intersentia 2023)

Legal Consistency in the ICC jurisprudence: A Brief Critique of the ICC's Response to Recommendations on the Jurisprudence made in the Independent Expert Review Report, OpinioJuris Blog (8 November 2021)

The Human Rights Case against President Trump: Sanctioning Incitement to Violence, HumanRightsHere Blog (20 April 2021).

Muzzling the Press: When does the Law Justify Reporting Restrictions? Contempt Cases against Journalists at the ICTY and beyond, in (eds) C. Stahn, C. Agius, S. Brammertz and C. Rohan 'Legacies of the International Criminal Tribunal for the FormerYugoslavia: A Multidisciplinary Account' OUP 2020)

Defining Hate Speech, A Seemingly Elusive Task, 18 Journal of International Criminal Justice 1 (June 2020)

The Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in the 1990s,'LL.D. thesis (manuscript), (University of Malta, 1995)

Presentations and Conferences

What do Gender, Hate Speech and International Criminal Law have to do with the UDHR? Presentation and panelist at the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research's Toogdag, June 2023

Gendered Hate Speech and Gender-Based Incitement in International Human Rights and Criminal Law. Lecture at the International Criminal Court, July 2022

Identifying Customary International Law in the Practice of International Criminal Tribunals: a Judicial Perspective. Presentation at a joint research seminar RUG and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on 'The Construction of International Law,' October 2022

The Sound and Taste of Atrocity Crimes - Witnesses' and Perpetrators' Perspectives in International Courtrooms. Presentation at a conference on 'The Sights, Sounds and Sensibilities of Atrocity Prosecutions,' University of Exeter, UK and the School of Law, Washington and Lee University, USA, October 2022

Hate Speech and Free Speech in International Human Rights Law, presentation at the Netherlands Network for Human Rights' Doctoral Research Forum, February 2021

Advocacy and Incitement in International Human Rights Law: Synergies with International Criminal Law, presentation at a conference on ‘’Hate Propaganda at International Criminal Tribunals’’, Northumbria University, February 2020

Sanctioning Hate Speech as a Measure to Prevent Genocide: Balancing Rights, presentation and panel discussant at the book launch ‘’The Prevention of Gross Human Rights Violations Under International Human Rights Law’’, N. van der Have, Asser Institute, June 2018

Hate Crime and Hate Speech-Emerging Standards and Challenges, OHCHR, trainings to national authorities in Minsk, Belarus, June 2013; in Kiev, Ukraine, May 2013; in Geneva, Switzerland, March and April 2013; in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, 2011

Professional Affiliations and Certifications

International Humanitarian and Criminal Law Platform, representative of the University of Groningen

Netherlands International Law Clinicians Network, Founding Member

International Criminal Law Standards for Practitioners, American Bar Association, International Criminal Law Section, Member of the Council of Experts

Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research, Member

International Bar Association, Member

Malta Chamber of Advocates, Member

Investigative Interview Skills Certificate, Institute for International Criminal Investigations, October 2017

Language Skills Spoken Written

Maltese mother tongue mother tongue

English excellent excellent

Dutch (NTT Staatsexamen II) good good

French good good

Italian good good

Arabic, German, Latin basic basic

Last modified:

31 August 2023 5.17 p.m.