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Mr. Michael Becker

Assistant Professor (Law)
      
Profile Photo

Mr. Michael Becker

Assistant Professor (Law)

 beckerma@tcd.ie

 


Michael A Becker is Assistant Professor of International Human Rights Law. With a broad background in public international law and human rights, Mike's research interests include international courts and tribunals, fact-finding bodies and commissions of inquiry, the law of the sea, and the relationship between international law and global politics (including the role of human rights in foreign policy). At Trinity, Mike delivers modules in Public International Law and International Human Rights Law. He also serves as Dissertation Director of the LLM programme. Mike's scholarship has appeared in leading international law journals, including the European Journal of International Law, the American Journal of International Law, the Journal of International Dispute Settlement, and the Harvard International Law Journal. He also serves as a correspondent for the Irish Yearbook of International Law. As a law student, Mike served as Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Journal of International Law. Mike holds a law degree from Yale Law School and a B.A. in Political Science and French from Amherst College. Prior to entering academia, Mike served as an Associate Legal Officer at the International Court of Justice in The Hague from 2010 to 2014. He was previously in private practice at the law firms Allen & Overy LLP in London and Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler LLP in New York City. He has also been a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Sidney H. Stein (S.D.N.Y) in U.S. Federal Court. Mike is a qualified New York attorney and remains admitted to practice.
  American Foreign Policy   Fact-FInding   International COurt of JUstice   International Courts and Tribunals   International Criminal Law   International Human Rights   International Law   Law of the Sea   Public International Law   United Nations
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
French Fluent Medium Medium
Details Date From Date To
Member, European Society of International Law
Member, American Society of International Law
Michael A Becker, Crisis in Gaza: South Africa v Israel at the International Court of Justice (or the Unbearable Lightness of Provisional Measures), Melbourne Journal of International Law, 25, (2), 2025, p1-59 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Michael A Becker, Recent Developments in Reliance Upon Third-Party Fact-Finding at the International Court of Justice, Leiden Journal of International Law, 38, 2025, p1-24 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Michael A. Becker, Art. IX Reservations to the Genocide Convention Are Here To Stay: A Response to Diamond, Opinio Juris, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Michael A. Becker, Introductory Note to Legal Consequences Arising From the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (Advisory Opinion) (I.C.J.), International Legal Materials, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Christiane Ahlborn and Michael A Becker, Protecting Irish Constitutional Identity on the International Plane: Costello v Government of Ireland, Irish Supreme Court Review, 6, 2024, p81 - 112, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Michael A Becker and Cecily Rose, The Return of Not-Quite "Phantom Experts"? The ICJ Meets with IPCC Scientists, Verfassungsblog, 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Michael A Becker, Developments in the International Adjudication of Human Rights Disputes, 6th Global Legal Forum: Global Legal Trends and Future Challenges on Human Rights, Seoul, South Korea (and online), 17 November 2023, 2023, Legal Research Institute of Korea Unversity, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Michael A Becker, Pay No Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain: The Role of Civil Society and Other Actors in Decisions to Litigate at the International Court of Justice, Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, 26, (1), 2023, p90 - 107, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Michael A Becker, Ireland and International Law 2020, Irish Yearbook of International Law, 15, 2023, p113 - 141, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Michael A Becker, Challenging Some Baseline Assumptions About the Evolution of International Commissions of Inquiry, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 55, (3), 2022, p559 - 629, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
  

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Michael A. Becker, The Rohingya Case Gets a Hearing A Look Ahead at the Oral Proceedings in The Gambia v Myanmar at the ICJ, Verfassungsblog, 2026, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Michael A Becker, 'Judges Behaving Badly? Plagiarism and Ethics at International Courts', Called to the Bar: International Law Over Drinks, 2025, -, Broadcast, PUBLISHED
Michael A Becker, Questions from the Bench: Dialogue between Judges and Counsel at the International Court of Justice, Sixth Scottish Conference on International Law: The ICJ at 80, Glasgow, Scotland, 8-9 September 2025, 2025, Conference Paper, PRESENTED
Michael A Becker, Ireland and International Law 2021-22, Irish Yearbook of International Law, 16, 2025, p1-28 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Michael A Becker, 'Episode 23: Unhappy New Year! Genocide in the Courtroom', EJIL: The Podcast!, 2024, -, Broadcast, PUBLISHED
Michael A Becker, 'Justice Update: All you need to know about ICJ Advisory Opinions', Asymmetrical haircuts: your international justice podcast, 2024, -, Broadcast, PUBLISHED
Michael A Becker, 'ESIL Roundtable: Taking Stock: A Roundtable Discussion on the Public Hearing in the ICJ Climate Change Advisory Proceedings', European Society of International Law, 2024, -, Broadcast, PUBLISHED
Michael A Becker, Desperate Times, Desperate (Provisional) Measures Rafah and South Africa"s Latest Action at the ICJ, Verfassungsblog, 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
MA Becker, 'Justice Update Palestine and Israel at the ICJ', Asymmetrical Haircuts : the international justice podcast, 13 January 2023, 2023, -, Broadcast, PUBLISHED
Michael A Becker, The International Court of Justice and Accountability for Mass Violations of Human Rights, International Justice Program (Human Rights Watch), 16 June 2023, 2023, Human Rights Watch, Invited Talk, PRESENTED

  


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Award Date
WM Tapp PhD Studentship (Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge) 2014-17
Ambrose Gherini Prize (Yale Law School) 2004
Edward D Robbins Prize (Yale Law School) 2004