Curriculum Vitae

Education

2017-2023
Advanced Training in Management Leadership
Completion of the ‘Professional Management Programme’ of the Center for Science and Research Management (2019–2020) as well as the Planck Academy’s ‘MP Leaders Programme’ (2021–2022) and the professorial ‘FAUnext Career Programme’ (2021–2023) at the University Erlangen-Nürnberg; several participations in the Max Planck Society’s LeadNet Symposiums and in a number of training seminars organized by the Deutscher Hochschulverband, a German association of university professors and lecturers, since 2017.


2016
Ph.D. in Semitic Studies at the Institute for Semitic and Arabic Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin
Thesis: Völkerrechtliche Beziehungen zwischen Äthiopien und Italien in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts im Lichte des Vertrages von Ucciali / ውጫሌ [Public International Law & Diplomatic Relations between Ethiopia and Italy in the second half of the 19th Century in the Light of the Treaty of Ucciali / ውጫሌ]


2008
Magister Legum Europae (MLE) at the Law Faculties of L-Università ta' Malta and the Leibniz Universität Hannover
Thesis: Kompetenzverteilung im institutionellen Dreieck der EU: Gesetzgebungsverfahren dargestellt im diachronen Kontext [Division of Competences in the Institutional Triangle of the European Union: Legislative Procedures illustrated in the diachronic Context]

2005-2007
Major Studies of Law at the Leibniz Universität Hannover and legal exam in the German State of Lower Saxony 

2003-2005
Hiatus from university study courses due to the participation at the ‘Sudan Peace Project’ as well as the project ‘Judicial and Public Administration Building in Afghanistan’ at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and Inter­national Law

1997-2003
Studies of Jurisprudence, African- and Oriental Studies and Environmental Science in Mannheim, Heidelberg, Bonn as well as Cairo and Oxford

Professional Activities

since 2024
Chair for Islamic Law at Leipzig University

Since 2017
Head of the research project Scharia in genuin europäischen Settings: Konnex muslimischer Lebenspraxis zu islamischer Normativität

Since 2016
Head of the research project Konfliktregulierung in Deutschlands pluraler Gesellschaft (Conflict Regulation in Germany's Plural Society) at the Department ‘Law & Anthropology’ of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale

2021–2024
Acting Professor of Islamic Law at Leipzig University

2021–2024
Head of Junior Research Group (FAU Nachwuchsgruppenleiter, FAU-NGL) at the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. First researcher at the Law School appointed as FAU-NGL upon approval by the university’s President

2018–2024
Max Planck Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropolgy (GL). First researcher at the Institute appointed as GL by the institute’s board of directors upon approval by the Human Sciences Section of the Max Planck Society

2017
“Acting Professor of Islamic Law at the University of Münster’s Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies” at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

2012-2015
Judicial Service (Rechstreferendariat) – with two longer periods of parental leave – at the Kammergericht Berlin (Germany) on secondments to the Public Prosecutor's Office in Berlin, the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA), Committee for Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the German Parliament (Bundestag) and an international law firm

2009-2014
Research Fellow (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, Bachelor-Beauftragter & Beauftragter für die Allgemeine Berufsvorbereitung) and Project Coordinator “Horn of Africa” at the Institute for Semitic and Arabic Studies at the Department of History and Cultural Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin (2009-2014)

Lecturer for ‘Islamic Law’ and ‘Law and Society at the Horn of Africa’ at the Department of African Studies of the Institute for Asian and African Studies at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (2010-2013)

Research Fellow within the Research Project B7 – Rule of Law and Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood of the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700: “Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood”at the Rule of Law Center of the Wissenschaftszentrum für Sozialforschung  (autumn of 2012)

Visiting Lecturer at the Addis Ababa University Center for Human Rights (spring of 2012)

2003-2005
Staff member of the ‘Sudan Peace Project’ as well as the project ‘Judicial and Public Administration Building in Afghanistan’ at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and Inter­national Law, Heidelberg

1998-1999
Initiator und founding member of the Lawyer's Group of Amnesty International in Hong Kong, S.A.R. at Amnesty International’s Asian Regional Office / Hong Kong Section

1995-1996
Cultural Representative’ of the Federal Republic of Germany at the EPCOT-Center, Walt Disney World Co., Orlando, Florida / USA

Teaching

Elliesie supervises PhD candidates at the Faculty of History, Art and Oriental Studies at Leipzig University and at the law faculties at the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster. He likewise supervises BA and MA theses at the Free University Berlin, Humboldt University Berlin, and Leuphana University Lüneburg.

In addition to the intensive trainings in management leadership (see above), Elliesie successfully completed certificate programmes of academic teaching at the Dahlem Center for Academic Teaching at the Free University Berlin (2012–2014), at the Center for Teaching and Learning at the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen (2021–2022) and Augsburg University (2022) as well as on multimedia usage in academic teaching at the Centre for Multimedia and Teaching at Martin Luther University Halle–Wittenberg (2017–2018) and digital teaching at both the Innovation in Learning Institute (ILI) and the Fortbildungszentrum Hochschullehre (FBZHL) at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (2021–2022).

Elliesie’s approach to combining basic research (Grundlagenforschung) with teaching is also reflected in a cooperation agreement he drafted between the University of Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology to develop a joint MA study module on Normativität, Recht und Ethnologie (Normativity, Law, and Anthropology). After consultation with the Institute’s administration and the legal departments of the Max Planck Society in Munich and the University of Leipzig, the draft was approved in 2019. The agreement entails opportunities for research fellows from the Department of Law & Anthropology to teach at the University of Leipzig within a newly designed studies module for advanced undergraduates of law, anthropology, and oriental studies. The was implemented in the 2022/2023 academic year.

Before joining the Institute, he was nominated for the prestigious award „Ars legendi-Preis für exzellente Hochschullehre in der Studieneingangsphase 2013“ of the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (university presidents' conference) and the Stifterverband für Deutsche Wissenschaft (association for the promotion of German science and humanities).

Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Colloquium/Reading Group Sessions for PhD candidates: Theoretical and methodological views of an anthropology of Islam (together with Dominik Müller) (winter semester 2018/2019)

Addis Ababa University, College of Law and Governance
Lecture and Seminar: Transitional Justice and Peace (winter semester 2011/2012)

Berlin School for Business and Innovation
Lecture and Seminar: Islamic Banking [together with Faris Nasrallah] (winter semester 2019/2020)

Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Seminar für Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft / Seminar für Ethnologie / Juristische Fakultät
Seminar: Scharia im deutschen Kontext [together with Björn Bentlage] (summer semester 2018)
Seminar: Religiöse Paralleljustiz [jointly with Mathias Rohe (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg), Fabian Wittreck (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster) und Henning Rosenau (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg)] (winter semester 2017/2018)

Universität Leipzig, Institut für Ethnologie und Orientalisches Institut
Seminar: Uṣūl al-fiqh (summer semester 2023)
Lecture: Islamisches Recht (summer semester 2023)
Seminar: Islamisches Recht (summer semester 2023)
Colloquium: Kollquium zu Problemen der Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft (summer semester 2023)
Seminar: Islamische Normierung gottesdienstlicher Handlungen (winter semester 2022/2023)
Lecture: Islamisches Recht (winter semester 2022/2023)
Lecture: Die arabische und islamische Welt/MENA-Region (winter semester 2022/2023
Seminar: Islamisches Recht (summer semester 2022)
Colloquium: Kollquium zu Problemen der Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft (summer semester 2022)
Seminar Islamisches Familienrecht (summer semester 2022)
Lecture: Gesellschaft und Religion in der arabischen und islamischen Welt (summer semester 2022)
Course: Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten in der Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft (summer semester 2022)
Lecture: Einführung in den Islam (winter semester 2021/2022)
Lecture: Die arabische und islamische Welt/MENA-Region (winter semester 2021/2022)
Seminar: Ḥurma – Das Recht auf körperliche Unversehrtheit im Islam (winter semester 2021/2022)
Lecture: Islamisches Recht (winter semester 2021/2022)
Colloquium: Themenfelder der Regionalwissenschaften (summer semester 2021)
Seminar: Islamisches Strafrecht (summer semester 2021)
Seminar: Islamisches Recht (summer semester 2021)
Lecture: Regionale Ethnologie II: Naher und Mittlerer Osten (‚Das Horn von Afrika und Eritrea‘)
(summer semester 2018)

Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Seminar für Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft / Juristische Fakultät
Seminar: Islamischen Recht (summer semester 2017)
Seminar: Islamische Staatskonzeption und islamisch geprägte Politik (summer semester 2017)
Seminar: Grundkonzeptionen islamisch geprägten Zivil- und Handelsrechts (summer semester 2017)
Seminar: Scharia und deutsches Recht: Theorien, Terminologien und Rechtspraxis (summer semester 2017)
Colloquium: Normative Betrachtungsweisen auf beschreibende und darstellende Kunst im Islam (summer semester 2017)
Seminar: Religiöse Paralleljustiz [together with Fabian Wittreck] (summer semester 2017)

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Sprachen und Kulturen des Nahen Ostens und Ostasiens
Lecture: Islamic Finance and Banking (winter semester 2021/2022)
Seminar: Religiöse Paralleljustiz (together with Mahmoud Jaraba) (summer semester 2021)

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Zentrum für Islamische Theologie
Lecture: Die Herausforderungen des islamischen Rechts in Europa (winter semester 2016/2017)

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften
Seminar: Theorie und Praxis des Islamischen Rechts in Afrika (summer semester 2013)
Seminar: Entwicklungszusammenarbeit: Hintergründe – Kritik – Perspektiven (summer semester 2013)
Colloquium: Entwicklungszusammenarbeit: Hintergründe – Kritik – Perspektiven (winter semester 2012/2013)
Seminar: Islam und Islamisches Recht in Afrika und Asien (summer semester 2012)
Seminar: Nordafrikanische Identitäten im Wandel seit der Unabhängigkeit (winter semester 2011/2012)
Seminar: Recht und Gesellschaft am Horn von Afrika III (winter semester 2011/2012)
Lecture und Seminar: Islam und Islamisches Recht in Afrika und Asien (summer semester 2011)
Seminar: Recht und Gesellschaft am Horn von Afrika II (summer semester 2011)
Seminar: Recht und Gesellschaft am Horn von Afrika I (winter semester 2010/2011)

Freie Universität Berlin, Seminar für Semitistik und Arabistik / Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut
Lecture: Grundlagen der Semitistik und Arabistik (winter semester 2013/2014)
Lecture: Religiöse Identitäten (summer semester 2013)
Seminar: Politik, Recht und Gesellschaften der arabisch-islamisch geprägten Regionen im Umbruch
(winter semester 2012/2013)

Collquium: Studienmanagement und Berufsvorbereitung für Studierende orientalistischer Fächer
(winter semester 2012/2013)

Lecture: Grundlagen der Semitistik und Arabistik (winter semester 2012/2013)
Lecture: Religiöse Identitäten (summer semester 2012)
Lecture: Grundlagen der Semitistik und Arabistik (winter semester 2011/2012)
Lecture: Das Horn von Afrika in Geschichte und Gegenwart (summer semester 2011)
Lecture: Einführung in die Geschichte Äthiopiens (summer semester 2011)
Colloquium: Grundlagen des wissenschaftlichen Arbeitens (winter semester 2010/2011)

Organisation of Conferences and Workshops

Annual Conference of the Gesellschaft für Arabisches und Islamisches Recht (Arabic and Islamic Law Association) on Islamic Finance, Erlanger Zentrum für Islam und Recht in Europa (Erlangen Centre for Islam & Law in Europe), Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen 10-11 November 2023.

Hybrid Workshop ‘Egypt’s 100th Constitutional Anniversary’ jointly with the University of Leipzig and the Ludwig-Maximillians-Universität München, Leipzig / Munich / Cairo, 16 May 2023

Afrikanist:innentag 2023: Im/materielles Erbe neu kalibriert – Im/material heritage recalibrate at the Universität Leipzig jointly with the Volkswagenstiftung, ERC Grant, the Fachverband Afrikanistik, Gesellschaft für afrikanisches Recht und dem Wissenschaftlichen Arbeitskreis Horn von Afrika, Leipzig, 4–6. May 2023.

Workshop Series 'Weiterbildung im Umgang mit Konflikten in Deutschlands vielfältiger Gesellschaft' jointly with the the Senatsverwaltung für Justiz, Vielfalt und Antidiskriminierung, The Senate Department of Justice, Berlin 8, 15, 23, 24 November 2022.

Tagung zu Ehren des 90. Geburtstags von Prof. em. Dr. Omaia Elwan, Gesellschaft für Arabisches und Islamisches Recht jointly with the Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, 7–8 October 2022.

Islam and Law in Africa, 47th Annual Law Conference of the African Law Association jointly with the Erlangen Centre for Islam and Law in Europe at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 12-13 November 2021.

Online-Workshop ‘Sharia in the European Context’ in cooperation with the Københavns Universite, 19 March 2021

Workshop ‘Islamic Fintech und islamrechtliche Finanztransaktionspraxen’ of the Working Group 'Islamic Finance' of the Gesellschaft für Arabisches und Islamisches Recht (Arabic and Islamic Law Association) in cooperation with White & Case LLP, Düsseldorf, 21 November 2019.

„Migration und ‚Heimatrecht‘: Herausforderungen muslimisch geprägter Zuwanderung nach Deutschland“, Annual Conference of the Gesellschaft für Arabisches und Islamisches Recht (Arabic and Islamic Law Association), Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 25-26 October 2019.

Workshop "Situations of Crisis and Danger in Ethnologic Field Research" in cooperation with the Institut für Kulturanalyse, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle (Saale), 8-9 April 2019.

Workshop "Islamisches Finanzwesen und Aufsichtsrecht" of the Working Group 'Islamic Finance' of the Gesellschaft für Arabisches und Islamisches Recht (Arabic and Islamic Law Association) in cooperation with the KT-Bank AG and the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority), 11 January 2019, Frankfurt a. M.

Islam, Law, and Anthropology: Joint Conference of the Max Planck Institute, Department 'Law & Anthropology' in collaboration with the Gesellschaft für Arabisches und Islamisches Recht (Arabic and Islamic Law Association) and RIMO (Vereniging tot bestudering van het recht van de Islam en het Midden Oosten), Halle/Saale, 9-10 November 2018.

Konfliktregulierung in Deutschlands pluraler Gesellschaft. Harnack-Haus: The Confernce Venue of the Max Planck Society, Berlin, 26-27 October 2018.

Workshop "Sharia Compliance of Islamic Finance" of the Arbeitskreis (Working Group) of the Gesellschaft für Arabisches und Islamisches Recht, Berlin, 20 April 2018.

Conflict regulation in Germany's plural society: Project workshop at Erlanger Zentrum für Recht und Islam in Europa (Erlangen Centre for Islam & Law in Europe), Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, 26 February 2018.

Conflict regulation in Germany's plural society: Project workshop with cooperation partners at Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Freiburg i. Br., 29-30 November 2017.

Muslimische Alltagspragmatik und islamische Normativität in Deutschland, Workshop in Kooperation mit dem Orientalischen Institute der Universität Leipzig, Halle/Saale, 23 October 2017.

Normative Spaces in Africa: The 40th Anniversary Conference of the African Law Association in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, the Tanzanian German Centre for Eastern African Legal Studies, the Faculty of Law, Economics and Business at the Martin-Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg and the Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU) at the Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Halle/Saale, 8-9 November 2013 (funded by the Max Planck Society, DAAD and the ZEU).

Legal Transformation in North Africa and Decentralization in Africa: Annual Conference of the African Law Association in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg 4-5 November 2011 (funded by the Max Planck Society and the ZEU).

Sharia, State and the Autonomy of the Individual / Scharia, Staat und Atonomie des Einzelnen. Joint Conference of the Law Faculty of the Freie Universität Berlin, the Berlin Association of Judges on State and Islam in Germany and the Arabic and Islamic Law Association, Berlin, 21-22 October 2011 (funded by the Center for International Cooperation of the Freie Universität Berlin).

Border and Border Crossing - New Perspectives on the Horn of Africa / Grenzziehung - Grenzüberschreitung - Neue Perspektiven auf das Horn von Afrika. Annual Conference of the Academic Association ‘Horn of Africa’ in cooperation with the Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 30 September – 1 October 2011 (funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation / Zentrum Moderner Orient).

Legal Transformation in North Africa and Decentralization in Africa. Joint Conference of the African Law Association and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg, 4-5 November 2011 (funded by the Max Planck Society and the Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU) at the Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen).

Annual Conference of the African Law Association "Formal / informal Law and Economic Development in Africa / Formelles / informelles Recht und wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in Afrika", Universität Leipzig, Institut for African Studies, Leipzig, 5-7 November 2010 (funded by the GTZ und the Center for Area Studies of the Universität Leipzig).

Annual Conference of the Arabic and Islamic Law Association "Legal Transfer in, out of and within the Arabic World / Rechtstransfer in die, aus der und innerhalb der arabischen Welt", Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, 15-16 October 2010 (funded by the Center for Area Studies of the Universität Leipzig).

III International Research Colloquium on the Horn of Africa, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, 20-21 August 2010 (funded by the Center for International Cooperation and the Center for Area Studies of the Freie Universität Berlin).

5000 Years Semitohamitic Languages in Asia and Africa / 5000 Jahre semitohamitische Sprachen in Asien und Afrika, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, 22-24 July 2010 (funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).

Panel "Balance of Powers in the Constitutional Framework of States with Islamic Character: Monarchal and Republican Concepts in Comparison" on the World Congress on Middle Eastern Studies, Barcelona, 22 July 2010 (funded by the Center for International Cooperation of the Freie Universität Berlin).

II International Research Colloquium on the Horn of Africa, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, 18-19 December 2009 (funded by the Innovationsfond of the Freie Universität Berlin).

III Internationale Enno Littmann Conference (Conference on the Languages, Literatures and Cultures in Ethiopia and Eritrea), Berlin, 1-4 April 2009 (funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).

I International Research Colloquium on the Horn of Afrika, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, 12-13 June 2009 (funded by the International Office of the Freie Universität Berlin).

Conference on Administration of Justice in Africa: Effectivness, Acceptance and Assistance, Loccum, 30 November - 2 December 2007 (funded by the GTZ and the Evangelischen Akademie Loccum).

Seminar on Iranian und Islamic Law, Universität Mannheim, Mannheim 20-21 May 2005 (funded by the der European Law Students' Association and the Law Faculty of the Universität Mannheim).

Workshops on Different Forms of Decentralization, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Rumbek, 25-28 February 2005 (Prep. in Heidelberg) (funded by European Commission and the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt)).

The Shari'a in the Afghan Constitution and its Implications for the Legal Order: Family and Succession Law, Commercial Law and Trade, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg, 23-24 February 2004 (funded by European Commission and the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt)).

The Shari'a in the Afghan Constitution and its Implications for the Legal Order: Constitutional and Administrative Law, governmental System, Administration of Justice, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, 20-21 February 2004 (funded by European Commission and the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt)).

"Winterschule für Dekane und Prodekane" ("Winter School for Deans and Vice-Deans"), Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg, 12-19 February 2004 (funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Federal Foreign Office).

Seminar on Arabic and Islamic Law, Universität Mannheim, Mannheim, 3-4 May 2002 (funded by the European Law Students' Association and the Law Faculty of the Universität Mannheim).

Presentations at Conferences and Workshops

Keynote Speaker

Laudatio zu Ehren von Prof. em. Dr. Omaia Elwan, Tagung zu Ehren des 90. Geburtstags zu Ehren von Prof. em. Dr. Omaia Elwan, Universität Heidelberg, 7 October 2022

Laudatio zu Ehren von Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Mathias Rohe, M.A. zu Ehren des WGIT-Preises auf dem 27. Internationalen Kongress der Deutschen Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vorderer Orient an der Universität Osnabrück, Osnabrück, 16 September 2021.

Notions and Shapes of Islamic Law in Africa. Islam and Law in Africa, 47th Annual Law Conference of the African Law Association jointly with the Erlangen Centre for Islam and Law in Europe at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 12 November 2021.

Islamisches Schiedsverfahren (ṣulḥ) und gewohnheitsrechtliche Praktiken nahöstlicher Provenienzen. Session on ‚Interkulturelle Kompetenz‘ of the Deutsche Richterakademie [German Judicial Academy], Wustrau, 24 January 2020.

Interkulturelle Kommunikation im Gerichtssaal. Session on ‚Interkulturelle Kompetenz‘ of the Deutsche Richterakademie [German Judicial Academy], Wustrau, 23 January 2020.

Recht und Rechtsverständnisse in Afrika: Tradition versus Moderne? Bergmann-Autorenforum, Verlag für Standesamtwesen, Frankfurt a.M., 23 November 2018.

Grenzen des "Rechts" im europäischen Alltag anders betrachtet: Šarīʿa als Untersuchungsgegenstand. Gesellschaftswissenschaftliches Kolleg VI der Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes 2015/2106, 2. Kollegwoche,  Arbeitsgruppe "(State) Law and its Limits", Düsseldorf, 7 March 2016.

Staatsorganisation und verfassungsrechtliche Rahmenbedingungen in Ägypten [Organization of the State and the Constitutional Framework in Egypt].  Joint Conference "Ägypten - ein Jahr nach der Revolution: An-, Ein- und Aussichten" by the Department for International Affairs of the Mayor's Office of Stuttgart, the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, Sekem - Verein zur Förderung kultureller Entwicklung in Ägypten e.V., Yalla e.V. und der Ägyptischen Studenten Stuttgarter Hochschulen, Kursaal Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgart, 20 January 2012.

'Rule of Law' in Ägypten, dem Sudan und Südsudan [‘Rule of Law’ in Egypt, the Sudan and Southsudan. Conference "Dialog of Legal Cultures", Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, 21-22 September 2011.

Über was man sich unterhält – terra incognita? Hintergründe und Aussichten des ägyptischen Volks­begehrens [What one is talking about – terra incognita? Backgrounds and Prospects of the Egyptian People's Desire]. Lecture Series "Asien Afrika noch aktueller", Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, 10 February 2011.

Die Geburtsstunde der dritten Unabhängigkeit des Sudans? Zum südsudanesischen Referendum (Januar 2011) [The Birth of the Third Independence of the Sudan? As to the South-Sudanese Referendum (January 2011)]. Lecture Series "Asien Afrika noch aktueller", Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, 3 February 2011.

Chair or Discussant

Panel Discussion Participant: „Wege aus dem Konflikt – Der Beitrag der Religionen“, Conference of the Akademie der Diözsese Rottenburg-Stuttgart „Herausforderung Frieden: Anfragen an Christentum und Islam“, Stuttgart 19 March 2023.

Panel Discussion Participant: „Islam und internationale Politik“ of the Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung and the Institut für Zeitgeschichte, München, 28 November 2022.

Discussant on the German-Israeli Frontiers of Humanities (GISFOH) Symposium der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (AvH), jointly organised with the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (IASH), Hürth (Cologne), 7–11 November 2021.

Discussant of the Panel "Zivilgesellschaftliche Perspektive". Workshop on "Bekämpfung der Clankriminalität aus lokaler, nationaler und europäischer Perspektive", Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport, Berlin, 24 October 2019.

Chair of the Panel Discussion "Islamic Family Law in Europe and the Muslim World: challenges and possibilities". International Symposium "Islamic Family Law in Europe and the Islamic World", Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, 25-27 September 2019.

Chair of the Panel "Conceptual Notes and Studying Public Law, Sociolegal Transformation and Migration. Workshop "Migration and the Transformation of Public Law: New Directions in Sociolegal Studies and Migration Research" at the Law & Society Institute at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, 2-3 October 2017.

Chair of the Panel "Normative Spaces in the Context of Society and Cultures". The 40th Anniversary Conference of the African Law Association in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, the Tanzanian German Centre for Eastern African Legal Studies, the Faculty of Law, Economics and Business at the Martin-Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg and the Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU) at the Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen on "Normative Spaces in Africa", Halle/Saale, 8-9 November 2013.

Chair of the Panel "Legal Transformation in North Africa". Annual Conference of the African Law Association in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law on "Legal Transformation in North Africa and Decentralization in Africa", Heidelberg, 4-5 November 2011.

Chair on the International Conference "Sharia, State and the Autonomy of the Individual / Scharia, Staat und Autonomie des Einzelnen". Joint Conference of the Law Faculty of the Freie Universität Berlin, the Berlin Association of Judges on State and Islam in Germany and the Arabic and Islamic Law Association, Berlin, 21-22 October 2011.

Chair of the Panel "Islam: Freedom and Borders". Annual Conference of the Academic Association 'Horn of Africa' in cooperation with the Zentrum Moderner Orient on "Border and Border Crossing - New Perspectives on the Horn of Africa / Grenzziehung - Grenzüberschreitung - Neue Perspektiven auf das Horn von Afrika", Berlin, 30 September – 1 October 2011.

Co-Chair on the International Conference "Decision‐making on Pluralist Normative Ground". Rule of Law Center, Wissenschaftszentrum für Sozialforschung, Berlin, 17-19 May 2011.

Chair of the International Conference "Formal / Informal Law and Economic Development in Africa", Uni­versität Leipzig, Leipzig, 5-7 November 2010.

Discussant of the Panel "Balance of Powers in the Constitutional Framework of States with Islamic Character: Monarchal and Republican Concepts in Comparison". World Congress on Middle Eastern Studies, Barcelona, 19-24 July 2010.

Chair of the Panel "Law and Politics" of the XVII International Conference of Ethiopian Studies. Addis Ababa, 2-6 November 2009.

Chair of the Panel Discussion "Different Approaches of Genocide Trials in Africa", on the Conference "Administration of Justice in Africa: Effectiveness, Acceptance and Assistance" of the Evangelische Akadamie Loccum and the African Law Association. Loccum, 30 November - 2 December 2007.

Paper Presentation

Religionen als Akteure internationaler Friedensarbeit, Conference of the Akademie der Diözsese Rottenburg-Stuttgart „Herausforderung Frieden: Anfragen an Christentum und Islam“, Stuttgart 19 March 2023.

Grundlagenforschung zur Konfliktregulierung in Deutschlands pluraler Gesellschaft, Tagung 10b/23 "Recht ohne Grenzen, Justiz ohne Richter – die Welt der Schattenjustiz" der Deutschen Richterakademie [German Judicial Academy], Trier, 13–17 March 2023.

Extrajudicial Dispute Resolution in Europe: anthropological insights on the impact of religion and tradition. 4th Webinar on Comparative Procedural Law and Justice (CPLJ), Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law, 7 May 2021.

Herausforderungen an Forschungsdatenmanagement aus der Perspektive der qualitativen Sozialforschung [together with Larissa Vetters und Bettina Mann]. Forschungsdatenmanagement-Workshop 2021"FDM-Kompetenzen - Forschungdaten an den Max-Planck-Instituten, Max Planck Digital Library, Munich 5-6 May 2021.

Rechtslinguistik. Autorenworkshop des Handbuch zur deutschen Rechtsstaatsförderung, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, 7-9 November 2019.

Wie begegnet die Rechtsforschung und -praxis außergerichtlicher Konfliktregulierung nahöstlich geprägter Bevölkerungsgruppen. Annual Conference of the Gesellschaft für Arabisches und Islamisches Recht (Arabic and Islamic Law Association) "Migration und 'Heimatrecht': Herausforderungen muslimisch geprägter Zuwanderung nach Deutschland", Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 25 October 2019.

Grundlagenforschung zur Konfliktregulierung(en) in Deutschlands pluraler Gesellschaft, Tagung 8a/19 "Recht ohne Grenzen, Justiz ohne Richter – die Welt der Schattenjustiz" der Deutschen Richterakademie [German Judicial Academy], Trier, 10–15 March 2019.

Innenansichten zum Selbstverständnis und öffentlichen Auftreten zwischen Tradition und moderner Gesellschaft. Abschlusskonferenz of the EU-Project KEEAS: Kriminalitäts- und Einsatzbrennpunkte geprägt durch ethnisch abgeschottete Subkulturen, Düsseldorf, 24 September 2018.

Recht gläubig? Schächten auf dem rechts- und islamwissenschaftlichen Prüfstand muslimischer Lebenswelten in Deutschland [gemeinsam mit Sarah Armbruster], Konferenz "Recht gläubig? Kulturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf das Verhältnis von Religion und rechtlicher Normierung im Alltag" (4. Tagung der Kommission für Religiösität und Spiritualität in der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Volkskunde), Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Mainz, 13-15 September 2018.

Fluchtland Eritrea, on the lecture series "Flucht und Migration" des Max-Planck-Instituts für ethnologische Forschung, dem Verband der Migrantenorganisationen und Frauen & Mädchen International e.V., Volkspark Halle, Halle, 28 June 2018.

Legality and Applicability of Islamic Shaped Divorces in light of Europe's Rome III Regulation, Conference on "Re-formulating matrimony and post-matrimony in Islamic law: new questions and responses among Muslims in Europe", Oxford University, Oxford, 24-26 June 2018.

Islamische Normativität und alltagspragmatische Lebenswelten in Deutschland, Orientalisches Dreiländerkolloquium der Orientalischen Institute Halle, Jena und Leipzig, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, 17 November 2017.

Das Völkerrecht aus afrikanischer Perspektive [International Public Law from an African perspective], im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung „Völkerrechtskulturen“ des Walther-Schücking-Instituts für Internationales Recht an der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, 8 June 2017.

Normative Betrachtungen auf darstellende und beschreibende Kunst im Islam [Considerations on performing and (de)scriptive Art in Islam], Gastvortrag am Orientalischen Institut der Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, 17 May 2017.

Traditional Forms of Social Protection in Africa: Selected Examples from Ethiopian and Eritrean Societies. International Conference on “Law for Development: Strengthening Social Protection Systems in Africa, Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung [Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development – BMZ], Berlin 10–11 November 2016.

Komplementäre Streitbeilegung mit kultureller Konnotation: Vorstellung eines Forschungsvorhabens zur sog. „Paralleljustiz“. Tagung 35c/2016 „Recht ohne Grenzen, Justiz ohne Richter – die Welt der Schattenjustiz“ der Deutschen Richterakademie [German Judicial Academy], Wustrau, 7–10 November 2016.

Women related Customs in Tǝgrǝñña societies: A Contribution to Eritrean Customary Law, International Conference on Eritrean Studies, Hotel Asmara Palace, Asmara, 20-22 July 2016.

Šarīʿa as frame of Reference in the European Context: Ethical based Legitimation of Muslim Life Practice and Islamic Normativity, Department ‘Law and Anthropology’ at the Max Planck Institute for Anthropology, Halle (Saale), 1 March 2016.

Die nationale und internationale Rolle der Berliner Lehr- und Forschungstradition im Bereich der Äthiopistik [The national and internationale role of Berlin’s teaching and reaching tradition in the field of Eritrean and Ethiopian Studies]. Conference „Sprache, Kultur und Literatur – 50 Jahre Semitistik an der Freien Universität Berlin zu Ehren von Professor Rainer Voigt anlässlich seines 70. Geburtstags, Freie Universität Berlin, 3 July 2014.

Decentralisation of Federalism? Perceptions and Prospects in View of Horn of Africa’s latest Developments. Retreat of Yemen’s Constitutional Drafting Committee in cooperation with the Transition Support Programme of the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Berlin, 1 June 2014.

Ethiopia’s Red Terror Trials and the Question of Pardon, Parole and Forgiveness. Workshop "Negotiating Normative Spaces: Insights from and into African Judicial Encounters" of the Department "Law and Anthropology" of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, 7 November 2013.

Gewalt gegen Ungläubige im islamischen Recht [Violence against Infidel in Islamic Law]. 14th Siegener Symposium "Gewalt gegen Christen: Formen, Gründe, Hintergründe" of both the Protestand Theology and the Catholic Theology of the Universität Siegen, Siegen, 15 February 2013.

Transitional Justice and Military Rule in Egypt: Legal Insights and Political Prospects, Center for Human Rights, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, 5 April 2012.

Statehood and Constitution Building in Somalia's clan-based Islamic Society. Second Annual Conference of the Center for Area Studies of the University of Leipzig "Multiple Secularities and Global Interconnectedness", Panel 8: Vernacular Secularities and the Problem of Translatability, Leipzig 15 October 2011.

Kaiser Menelik II. und König Umberto I.: Völkerrechtliche Beziehungen zwischen Äthiopien und Italien [Emperor Mənəlik II and King Umberto I: Public International Law Relations between Ethiopia and Italy].   III. Internationales Forschungskolloquium zum Horn von Afrika, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, 20-21 August 2010.

Mass Human Rights Abuses under Jurisdiction in Africa: The Mengistu-Trials vis-à-vis further National Approaches in Africa. XVII International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa, 2-6 November 2009.

Über­seeische Verfassungsvergleichung am Beispiel der äthiopischen Verfassungsentwicklung [Constitutional Comparative Law Overseas demonstrated by the Ethiopian Constitutional Development]. Annual Con­ference of the Arbeitskreis für Überseeische Verfassungsvergleichung, Kassel, 26-28 June 2009.

Terminologischer und rechtlicher Wandel des äthiopischen Verfassungsverständnisses [Terminological and Legal Change in the Ethiopian Understanding of the ‘Supreme Law of the Land(s)‘]. I. Internationale Research Colloquium on the Horn von Afrika, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 12–13 June 2009.

The Social Construct and System in Tigre tradition: A contribution to Eritrean customary Law. III. International Enno Littmann Conference, Freie Universität Berlin in cooperation with the Deutsche Orientinstitut Beirut an the Deutschen Archäologische Institut, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, 1–4 April 2009.

Menschenrechtsschutz im westlichen Sudan (Darfur) [Protection of Human Rights in Western Sudan (Darfur)]. Conference on „Menschenrechte und Islam / Islam and Human Rights“ of the German Institute for Human Rights in cooperation with the Arabic and Islamic Law Association, Berlin, 19–20 October 2007.

Die Rolle der Vereinten Nationen und des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs in der Darfur Krise [The Role of the United Nations and the International Criminal Court in the Darfur-Crisis]. Conference „Die Reform der Vereinten Nationen – Bilanz und Perspektiven: Rolle und Funktionen der Vereinten Nationen bei der Abwehr neuer Gefährdungslagen“, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, 12–13 January 2006.

Die Auswirkungen der Beitritte auf Entscheidungsstrukturen der Europäischen Union [Effects of the Accessions on Decision Making-Structures in the European Union]. Conference on the „Werte Europas – Verfassungspartiotismus und Wertegemeinschaft in der EU?“ / “Europe’s Values – Constitutional Patriotism and Community Values in the EU“, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, 8-9 July 2005.

Friedensprozess und Verfassungsentwicklung im Sudan [Peace-Process and Constitutional Development in the Sudan]. Legal Panel of the 29th Deutschen Orientalistentages (German Congress of Oriental Studies). Martin-Luther Universität Halle Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), 20-24 September 2004.

Memberships in Academic Associations

Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the African Law Association (Gesellschaft für afrikanisches Recht/Association du Droit Africain)

Vice-Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Arabic and Islamic Law Association (Gesellschaft für Arabisches und Islamisches Recht / جمعية دراسات الشريعة الإسلامية وقوانين البلاد العربية)

Member of the Board of Trustees of the Academic Association ‘Horn of Africa' ( Wissenschaftlicher Arbeitskreis Horn von Afrika)

Member of the Board of Trustees of the Academic Association 'Orbis Aethiopicus' (ወርስ፡ኢትዮጵያ)

Founding Member of the German Islam Forum (Project of the Groeben Foundation)

Founding Member of the 'Lawyer's Group of Amnesty International, Hong Kong S.A.R.

Member of the German Oriental Society (DMG) - Islamic Studies Unit ( Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft – Sektion Islamwissenschaft)

Member of the German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation / Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vorderer Orient (DAVO)

Member of the Association for African Studies in Germany / Vereinigung für Afrikawissenschaften in Deutschland (VAD)

Member of the German Working Group of Junior International Law Scholars / Arbeitskreis junger Völkerrechtswissenschaftler/innen (AjV)

Member of the German Working for Constitutional Comparative Law Overseas / Arbeitsgemeinschaft Überseeischer Verfassungsvergleichung (AÜV)

Founding Member of the Zenith Council 'Law and State'

Memberships in University Committees

Member of the committee on "Quality Assurance in Teaching" (Kommission Qualitätssicherung in der Lehre) at the Department of History and Cultural Studies of the Freie Universität Berlin'

Constituent member of the working group on "Evaluation in Teaching" (Fachbereichsweite Lehrevaluation) at the Department of History and Cultural Studies of the Freie Universität Berlin

Coordinator of the interdisciplinary scientific programme board „Mapping and Re-Mapping the Horn of Africa” as well as the working group "Horn of Africa Studies" at the Freie Universität Berlin

Founding Member of the „Fachverband ‘klein & exzellent‘“ at the Freie Universität Berlin and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Berlin – 2009/2010

Member of the Committee for the establishment of a curriculum for the PhD programme  “Peace Federalism and Human Rights“ at Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) – 2009/2010

Member of the Appointment Committee for the Chair of Islamic Law at the Freie Universität Berlin – 2008/2009

Member of the Appointment Committee for the Chair of Islamic Law for Muslim Culture and Society in South Asia or Southeast Asia at the Freie Universität Berlin – 2008/2009

Member of the Appointment Committee for the Chair of Islam in Europe at the Freie Universität Berlin – 2008/2009

Memberships in Academic Publishing Series

Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Zeitschrift für Recht und Islam / Journal of Law and Islam [formerly GAIR-Mitteilungen], Leipzig University Press

Series-Editor of “Studien zum Horn von Afrika”, Köppe-Publishing House

Co-Editor of the Yearbook Constitution, Law, and State in the Islamic Context [Jahrbuch Verfassung, Recht und Staat im islamischen Kontext], Nomos Publishing House [since 2018]

Member of the Arabic and Islamic Law Association (Gesellschaft für Arabisches und Islamisches Recht / جمعية دراسات الشريعة الإسلامية وقوانين البلاد العربية)

Member of the Editorial Board of the Yearbook Constitution, Law, and State in the Islamic Context [Jahrbuch Verfassung, Recht und Staat im islamischen Kontext], Nomos Publishing House [until 2017]

Member of the Editorial Board of the Yearbook Constitution, Law, and State in the Islamic Context [Jahrbuch Verfassung, Recht und Staat im islamischen Kontext], Nomos Publishing House

Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal Recht in Afrika (Law in Africa · Droit en Afrique), Köppe-Publishing House

Member of the International Advisory Board of ‘Ytiopia’: International Journal on Northeast-Africa ed. by the Mekelle University (Ethiopia)

Reviewer Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, North-West University (South Africa)

Reviewer for the Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes (Austria)

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