Dr Samuel Woldemariam

Dr. Samuel Berhanu Woldemariam is a lawyer trained in civil and common law jurisdictions. Samuel was born and raised in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, a beautiful and rapidly growing city whose name literally translates to English as "New Flower". He completed his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree at Adama University, Ethiopia in 2012 and was awarded a gold medal for scoring the highest cumulative GPA from among students in the School of Humanities and Law. In 2015, Samuel received a scholarship to join a Master of Laws (LLM) program at the University of St. Thomas in downtown Minneapolis, USA. Upon completing the program, he received a further scholarship to join the JD program at the same university and studied various common law subjects for a semester before withdrawing to pursue a PhD research at the University of Newcastle Law School, Australia. Samuel completed his doctoral program in July 2021 and was appointed as a Lecturer in Law at the University of Newcastle.

Professional Experience

Between 2012-2015, Samuel worked as a diplomat and legal officer at the International Legal Affairs Directorate of the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry. The Directorate provided legal advice to the Ministry and other branches of the government on domestic and international legal issues. The professional experience at the Foreign Ministry consolidated Samuel's interest in public international law and international relations as it provided exposure and insights to the practical outworking of diplomacy, law, bureaucracy and politics. Among other activities, Samuel's role involved:

• Negotiating and drafting bilateral treaties and memoranda of understanding between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) and other States;
• Preparing explanatory notes on treaties and taking part in the ratification of treaties;
• Drafting legal memoranda on suits involving the FDRE before foreign national courts and international bodies such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights;
• Serving as a delegate to several international conventions, including a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and multiple African Union summits;
• Drafting Proclamations, Regulations, and Directives for the FDRE on International Treaties Making Procedure, Handling of Diplomatic and Consular Pouches, Foreign Service Employees Administration, Foreign Service Training Institute Establishment and the Appointment of Honorary Consulates;
• Providing legal opinions on various domestic and international law issues; and
• Taking part in the preparation of human rights reports and organizing seminars on international law topics.

Samuel also has an extensive experience in rendering research assistance to academics during the course of his Masters and PhD studies. He further provided casual teaching during his PhD candidature. 

Research Expertise

Samuel's research interest focuses on public international law and international human right law issues. Current research projects include the evaluation of the principle of the exhaustion of local remedied in human rights litigation; diplomatic privileges and immunities; forced displacement and development; and refugees and United Nations system. Samuel's PhD research, titled "Forced Human Displacement, the State and International Law: A Critical Look from the South", evaluated the international legal framework governing forced displacement, a prominent challenge that the international community continues to face today. The unique contribution of the project relates to the approach it used to place the phenomenon of forced displacement in the context of North-South relations in the international community. The research consolidated knowledge from a broad range of disciplines to reveal the Eurocentric disposition of policies, laws and institutions adopted to deal with the phenomenon and implication these has had on Third World countries. The research argued that the lasting solution to the phenomenon of forced displacement is to be found in redirecting international effort towards a preventive engagement understood in the sense of addressing the root-causes of forced displacement as opposed to interfering with the movement displaced people.

Samuel writes comments and op-eds on topical issues in international law and international relations. These articles can be accessed at The Conversation and Australian Outlook.