Ms. Catherine Harwood has been a staff member of the Grotius Centre since January 2013 as a PhD Researcher. Under the co-supervision of Professor Carsten Stahn and Professor Larissa van den Herik, her doctoral research examines international commissions of inquiry established by the United Nations to investigate situations involving multiple violations of human rights, international humanitarian law (IHL) and/or international crimes, in particular their roles and functions in the international legal order.

Catherine’s teaching interests include IHL, human rights, international criminal law and transitional justice. She has taught IHL at Leiden University College and coaches the Leiden team for the Frits Kalshoven Competition on International Humanitarian Law.

Catherine graduated cum laude from Leiden University in 2012 with a LL.M. in Advanced Studies in Public International Law, with the assistance of a Rotary Vocational Scholarship and a Leiden University Excellence Scholarship. In 2009, she graduated from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, with an LL.B. (Hons) and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, and is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. Catherine previously worked as a Judges Clerk at the New Zealand Court of Appeal and was a teaching fellow and researcher at Victoria University. She has also interned at the International Criminal Court and the International Bar Association’s Programme on the ICC.