Rate My Professor Samuel Woldemariam

Dr Samuel Woldemariam is a Lecturer in the School of Law and Justice within the College of Human and Social Futures at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He earned his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Adama University in Ethiopia in 2012, receiving the gold medal for the highest cumulative GPA in the School of Humanities and Law. He then obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of St. Thomas in the USA in 2015, followed by a Doctor of Philosophy in Law from the University of Newcastle in July 2021. From 2012 to 2015, he worked as a Legal Officer in the International Legal Affairs Directorate General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia. In this role, he negotiated and drafted bilateral treaties and memoranda of understanding, prepared explanatory notes for treaty ratification, drafted legal memoranda for proceedings before foreign courts and international bodies like the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, served as a delegate to international conventions including sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council and African Union summits, and contributed to drafting proclamations, regulations, and directives on international treaties and foreign service matters.

Appointed as a Lecturer upon completing his PhD, Dr Woldemariam has provided casual teaching during his candidature and now engages in research supervision. His academic interests focus on public international law and international human rights law, including the exhaustion of local remedies in human rights litigation, diplomatic privileges and immunities, forced human displacement and development, refugees, and the United Nations system. Notable publications include "Forced Human Displacement, the Third World, and International Law: A TWAIL Perspective" (2019, Melbourne Journal of International Law), "Legislating recognition and protection of climate-displaced persons" (2020), "Internally displaced persons in the IGAD region: The need for a legal regime" (2020), "A Centenary of Multilateral Response to Forced Human Displacement: Legacies, Limitations and the Future" (2024), and "Securitisation of Refugee Protection: The Judiciary's Role in the Protection of the Rights of Refugees Attorney General v. Kituo Cha Sheria & 7 others" (2024, Refugee Survey Quarterly). He has authored several articles for The Conversation on international law topics. Awards include the College Highly Commended Award from the College of Human and Social Futures (2022) and the Best Thesis Award from Newcastle Law School (2022). Dr Woldemariam has led and participated in grants totaling $32,005, such as the CHSF Pilot Research Scheme projects on refugee legal literacy and Australia's migration health requirements.