Jump to main content

Quicklinks

Institution logo

Rosa-Lena Lauterbach

Foto: Markus Holin

Rosa-Lena Lauterbach is a doctoral Candidate at the Institute under Prof. Claus Kreß’ supervision. She studied Law at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne, passing the First State Examination in July 2021.

Ms. Lauterbach has been a research assistant at the Institute for International Peace and Security Law since March 2022. Her research is centered around the legality of sieges in International Humanitarian Law. She was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia Law School and the Lieber Institute for Law and Warfare for Spring Term 2024. In February 2026, she was a visiting lecturer at the Riga Graduate School of Law in February 2026, where she taught an introductory course on public international law. She is a visiting scholar at the Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University in May 2026.

Her research interests further include International Criminal Law, Human Rights Law, and Refugee Law. She has previously worked as an asylum consultant for refugees at a non-profit organization and as Research Associate at a Berlin-based law firm for consumer rights protection.

She is a member of the Cologne Center for Advanced Studies in International History and Law and a thematic editor with Articles of War. 

Current Research Project

Doctoral thesis under the Working Title “Siege and the International Law of Armed Conflict.”

Publications
Lectures/Events

Organization of events:

  • Planning the “Young Researchers Workshop” on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Study by the International Committee of the Red Cross on customary international humanitarian law with the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (Ruhr University Bochum): https://iipsl.jura.uni-koeln.de/yrw-2025. 

Lectures/Colloquia:

  • Presentation and discussion on a besieged armed force’s conduct on a panel concerning the overall topic of implementing International Humanitarian Law in Challenging Circumstances, at a Conference on Standards of Conduct and Accountability in Military Activities, the Role of Military Law and International Humanitarian Law, and the Importance of Preventing Armed Conflicts, organized by the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War at the ERTH Hotel, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 10-13, 2024, https://www.ismllw.org/presentations-of-speakers-abou-dhabi-2024/.
  • Hannoversche Gespräche zum Humanitären Völkerrecht, "Die Rolle der Genfer Konventionen in gegenwärtigen Krisen", a Panel Discussion on the Geneva Conventions and their role in current armed conflicts, organized by Vincent Widdig at the Leibniz University Hannover, Nov. 26, 2024.
  • “Informationsveranstaltung zum Nahostkonflikt - Israel und Palästina I Aspekte aus Geschichte und Völkerrecht“, an informative event for students on international legal and historical aspects of the conflict in the Middle East with Prof. Sabine Damir-Geilsdorf and Dr. Svenja Raube, University of Cologne, Nov. 14, 2024, https://portal.uni-koeln.de/universitaet/aktuell/veranstaltungen/detail/informationsveranstaltung-zum-nahostkonflikt-israel-und-palaestina-i-aspekte-aus-geschichte-und-voelkerrecht.
  • Talk on sieges and the starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare in international conflict law at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (Berlin), October 1, 2024.
  • Introductory lecture on international humanitarian law as part of a federal-state special course at the Federal Criminal Police Office on combating international crimes (Meckenheim), September 2024.
  • Guest lecture on International Humanitarian Law and the current hostilities in the Gaza Strip for the Rotary Club Köln Dom, Exelsior Hotel Ernst, June 3, 2024.
  • Presentation on siege as a military strategy and its boundaries according to International Humanitarian Law as part of a research stay at Columbia Law School (Columbia University, New York City), May 22, 2024.
  • Guest lecture on the protection of cultural property in times of armed conflict as part of the class on the Law of War for Commanders (LW474) at United States Military Academy in West Point, April 29, 2024.
  • Presentation on siege as a military strategy and its boundaries according to the law governing the conduct of hostilities as part of a research stay at the Lieber Institute for Law and Warfare (United States Military Academy, West Point), April 3, 2024.
  • Guest lecture on Relief Action in International Humanitarian Law for students taking part in the Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA) program, organized by the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, https://www.ifhv.de/news/guest-lecture-lauterbach, Dec. 13, 2023.
  • Guest lecture on the International Law of Armed Conflict for students in a course on “International Protection of Human Rights”, at Florida International University's Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, Nov. 13, 2023.
  • Colloquium as part of the series on International History / Cologne Lectures on Modern and Contemporary History, organized by the Historical Institute of the University of Cologne, entitled "Siege as a Method of Warfare over the Course of History?", on 30 October 2023; https://www.hsozkult.de/event/id/event-138821?title=kolloquium-internationale-geschichte-koelner-vortraege-zur-neueren-und-neuesten-geschichte&recno=2&q=klose&sort=newestPublished&fq=&total=3.
  • Guest lecture and practical exercise on the International Law of Armed Conflict with members of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr), organized by the Europäische Akademie NRW, in a Seminar on Armed Conflict titled “Dealing with an opponent whose combat methods do not correspond to your own ethical principles”, Oct. 16, 2023.

Press: 

  • Interview on the War Crime of Starvation of Civilians as a Method of Warfare (German), Völkerrechtspodcast: Rouven Diekjobst, Isabel Lischewski & Daniela Rau, #47 Hungersnot: Belagerungen und Blockaden im Lichte des humanitären Völkerrechts,Völkerrechtsblog,06.06.2025.

Participation in conferences:

  • 26th International Humanitarian Law Summer School of the German Red Cross (Strausberg), August 18-23, 2024.
  • 6th Annual Alexander C. Cushing International Law Conference at the Stockton Center of the U.S. Naval War College (Rhode Island), May 14-16, 2024.

Rosa-Lena Lauterbach

Doctoral Candidate

email

r.lauterbach(at)uni-koeln(dot)de

address

Albertus-Magnus-Platz
50923 Köln