Julian Hettihewa

Institution: Institute for Public International Law, University of Bonn

Period of stay: 23 September 2025 - 12 December 2025

Contact: 

Profile: 

Julian is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Institute for Public International Law, University of Bonn, a Visiting College Research Associate at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, and a Law Clerk at the Higher Regional Court of Cologne.

Julian studied law at Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Westminster, passing his First State Exam in Berlin in 2020. He completed his PhD on youth in international law at the Institute for Public International Law, University of Bonn, where he also worked as a Research Assistant. He was a Visiting PhD Student at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, University of Oxford, and co-led a research group on Youth Delegates to the UN General Assembly at Freie Universität Berlin as part of his doctoral research project. He has lectured at the University of Bonn and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

As part of his legal clerkship (“Referendariat”), Julian worked for the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague as well as for a law firm specialising in international criminal law, migration law, and asylum law in Bonn.

Research Area:

International Humanitarian Law

Research Title:

Searching for Youth in the Principle of Distinction

Research Outline:

During his research stay at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, Julian will examine whether the law of distinction lacks clarity, offering space for biases to the detriment of young men. Available statistics suggest that the majority of soldiers and members of armed groups are young men. However, this does not mean that all young men are combatants. Julian will investigate how notions of youth – as a social category – are utilised in armed conflict, and where precisely the law of distinction may fail to protect young men.

Publications:

Selected Publications

Articles
Potenziale der Youth Studies im Völkerrecht: Ein Plädoyer für einen wissenschaftlichen Austausch (2024) 62 Archiv des Völkerrechts 466-486

Constructing Youth as Progress: Tracing Shared Efforts of the League of Nations and the United Nations (2024) 84 Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht / Heidelberg Journal of International Law 843-863

Jurisdiction – Who speaks international law? (2022) 82 Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht / Heidelberg Journal of International Law 289-298 [with Sué González Hauck et al.]

Contributions to edited volumes
The Bornholm Declaration – another example of Germany’s support of youth participation in international organisations?, in: Stefan Talmon (ed) German Practice in International Law 2020 (Cambridge University Press 2023) 342-343 [with Stefan Talmon]

As Night Follows Day, German Condemnation Follows North Korea’s Missile Tests, in: Stefan Talmon (ed) German Practice in International Law 2019 (Cambridge University Press 2022) 366-373

Blogposts
Technical International Law: Adjudicating Gaza in The Hague, Völkerrechtsblog (16.04.2024)

Looking Behind the UN Youth Office: Considering Structural Limitations of Youth Participation After the Party, EJIL:Talk! (04.08.2022)

Why youth participation in climate change remains a struggle, Blog of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing (10.11.2021)

Navigating an Ocean of Information: Introducing Youth Delegate Search, a Database with Transformative Potential, Verfassungsblog (12.08.2021) [with Felix Schott]

Reclaiming the Voice of Youth: Pandemic Politics and Law and the Invisibility of Youth, EJIL:Talk! (03.12.2020) [with Anna Holzscheiter]

A turn to youth in international law? UN Security Council resolution 2535, Völkerrechtsblog (17.08.2020)

Book reviews
Stefan Ruppert, Recht hält jung. Zur Entstehung der Jugend aus rechtshistorischer Sicht: Deutschland im langen 19. Jahrhundert (ca. 1800-1919) (2024) forum historiae iuris 1-4

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