J.S.D. Student Profiles

Maria Alejandra joined the JSD program at Cornell Law School in 2021. Maria is from Colombia and specializes in human rights and public international law. She obtained her LL.M with Distinction at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 2020. She also holds an LLB and a BA in International Relations from Universidad del Norte (Colombia).

Before joining Cornell, Maria was an associate and practiced law at a law firm for three years. She held different research positions in which she conducted projects in human rights, transitional justice, peace, and post-conflict studies. Maria received the Young Researcher Fellowship from the Colombian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation in 2017. During this fellowship, she explored the role of the land restitution jurisdiction on the evolution of property rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Colombia. She is currently a member of a tight-knit foundation where she provides legal counsel to communities in northern rural Colombia.

Her current research explores the relationship between case law, human rights, and climate change. She seeks to unfold the hidden effects of climate litigation in the plight of climate change, especially how a human rights-based approach to climate litigation has reshaped climate NGOs’ behavior and their impact on the international arena.

Publications

• Judgment No. C-1008/2010 of the Constitutional Court of Colombia and its Foundation in the Lex Mercatoria (Coauthor) (in Spanish) in ‘Derecho Internacional Privado’, Jhon Tito (Ed), Ediciones Uninorte (2020). This article was also published in IUS ET VERITAS. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, p. 30-42, 2019. http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/iusetveritas/article/view/20738/20508
• Reconceptualising Property in Transition to Peace: The Role of the Land Restitution Jurisdiction in the Caribbean Coast of Colombia (Coauthor) (in Spanish) Latin American Law Review, Universidad de los Andes, p. 83-122, 2018. https://revistas.uniandes.edu.co/doi/pdf/10.29263/lar01.2018.04
• Dynamics of the Colombian Armed Conflict and its Environmental Impact. (in Spanish) Actualidad Jurídica Journal, 7th ed., p. 10-25, 2015. http://www.uninorte.edu.co/documents/10162/fad166e2-c684-4483-a466-03cb659cb0b7

Awards & Fellowships

Cornell Law School Graduate Fellowship (2021)

COLFUTURO’s Scholarship-Loan Program Beneficiary to study the LLM at the LSE (2019)

Silver Medal for Academic Excellence (BA in International Relations) (September 2016)

Silver Medal for Academic Excellence (LLB) Universidad del Norte (March 2016)

Latin America Scholarships: Undergraduate Students – Santander Universities Award. Exchange Program at Tecnologico de Monterrey, campus Monterrey, Mexico (Fall 2015)

First National Competition of Academic Writings in Honor of Professor Luis Alberto Gomez Araujo. First Place (May 2015)

Research interests

International Law & Climate Change

International Human Rights Law

Public International Law

Transitional Justice

Peace & Conflict Studies

Contact Information

maa335@cornell.edu

Daniel Haefke joined the J.S.D. program at Cornell Law School in 2020. He specializes in comparative constitutional law and his dissertation explores the German constitutional fixation on dignity.

Daniel obtained his LL.M. at Cornell Law School as a nominated candidate (tuition-waived nomination by the Humboldt University of Berlin). He previously studied law at the Humboldt University in Berlin where he passed the First State Examination. Before joining Cornell Law School, Daniel worked as a research assistant at White & Case LLP and as a tutor at Humboldt University. As a law student, he worked with the Refugee Law Clinic e.V. as a pro bono legal advisor for refugees and migrants.

Dissertation Topic

Daniel’s dissertation analyses the German fixation on the notion of human dignity in its constitutional self-understanding and discourse from a comparative perspective.

Dissertation Committee

Mitchel Lasser (chair)

Research Interests

• Constitutionalism
• Comparative law
• Comparative constitutional law
• Comparative politics
• State theory
• Nationalism studies
• Critical theory

Contact Information

• Email: dh624@cornell.edu

Zhenni Li joined the J.S.D. program at Cornell Law School in August 2018. Zhenni is from China and she specializes in public international law. During the J.S.D. Program, Zhenni completed the Judicial Fellowship Program at the International Court of Justice as a Judicial Fellow for H.E. Judge XUE Hanqin in The Hague, the Netherlands (Sep. 2020 – Aug. 2021). She received the Berger Summer Fellowship for her participation in the 71st Session of the United Nations International Law Commission (29 April to 7 June and 8 July to 9 Aug. 2019) in Geneva, Switzerland as a research assistant for H.E. Dr. HUANG Huikang. She has also worked as a teaching assistant for Professor Muna Ndulo and Professor Elizabeth Brundige. Before joining the J.S.D. Program, Zhenni was an Assistant Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands (Aug. 2017–Aug. 2018). She clerked for the then Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng at the Constitutional Court of South Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa (Jan. 2017–June 2017). She also worked as a legal intern at the Trial Chambers of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands (Oct. 2016–Dec. 2016).

Dissertation Topic

A Theory of International Constitutionalism

Dissertation Committee

Muna B. Ndulo (Chair)

Jens David Ohlin

Aziz F. Rana

Publications

“System Criminality and International Responsibility: Back to Canonical Questions”, Wisconsin International Law Journal, 36 no. 3 (2019)

“International Intertemporal Law”, California Western International Law Journal, 48 no. 2 (2018)

Research Interests

• Public international law
• Constitutional law theory
• Legal theory and jurisprudence
• International relations theory
• Political theory

Education

• J.S.D. candidate, Cornell Law School
• LL.M. in advanced studies of public international law, Leiden Law School, 2016
• LL.M., Cornell Law School, 2015
• LL.B., Wuhan University School of Law, 2014

Contact Information

Email: zl463@cornel.edu

Santiago Mollis is a J.S.D. candidate from Argentina, specializing in philosophy of criminal law and political theory. Santiago obtained his LL.M. at Cornell Law as a Fulbright-Argentine Ministry of Education scholar.

He also holds a law degree from Universidad de San Andrés (Magna Cum Laude). Before joining Cornell, Santiago clerked for the Public Prosecutor’s Office within the Federal Criminal Appellate Court in Buenos Aires. He also served as a teaching assistant at the Universidad de Palermo. Santiago has served on the editorial boards of several law journals in Argentina.

Contact Information

• Email: sm2688@cornell.edu
• Phone: (607) 351-5863

Research Interests

• Philosophy of Criminal Law
• Philosophy of Punishment
• Restorative Justice
• Political Theory

Awards and Fellowships

• Cornell Graduate Legal Studies Law Fellowship (2018)
• CALI Excellence for the Future Award in the Cornell Research Colloquium (fall, 2017)
• Cornell Graduate Legal Studies Merit Based Fellowship (2017–18)
• Fulbright – Argentine Ministry of Education Foreign Student Masters and Ph.D. Scholarship (2017–18)

Cesar is a Cornell Law School J.S.D. candidate from Colombia specializing in criminal procedure, criminal law, comparative law, philosophy of law and legal anthropology.

Before attending Cornell, Cesar worked as a lawyer in the law firm Miguel Cordoba Abogados S.A.S. Prior to his appointment at the firm, he aided for one years as a legislative assistant in the Colombian Congress. He also served as a clinical professor and as adjunct professor of evidence in the criminal procedure at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.

Cesar obtained his LL.M. from Cornell Law School in 2019. In 2018, he served as the LL.M. Representative for the Mock Trial Association, the Alternative Dispute Resolution association and the National Lawyers Guild, Cornell Law Chapter. Cesar obtained his Bachelor of Law from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota. He obtained an excellence award for his thesis “Abbreviate Criminal Procedure in Colombia: A Possibility to Prosecute Minor Crimes.”

Publications

• Daniel Medina Garcia, Sylvana Peña Saffon & Cesar Ramirez Salazar, Suggestions and Opinions, Regarding the Principle of Discretionary Prosecution in Colombia, 103, Derecho Penal y Criminologia Externado, 109, 109-43, (2017)
• Cesar Ramirez, The lack of protection of the judges in Colombia, (Nov. 19, 2015), https://www.las2orillas.co/la-desproteccion-de-los-jueces-en-colombia/ .
• Cesar Ramirez, Opinion: A pill for memory, a tribute to Professor Alfonso Reyes Echandia (Nov. 18, 2015), http://forojaveriano.blogspot.com/2015/11/pildora-para-la-memoria.html
• Cesar Ramirez, Clinical teaching in the United States, (2019) https: //forojaveriano.wixsite.com /foro / clinicas-juridicas

Awards and Fellowships

• Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Thesis Excellence Award 2016
• Cornell Law School Merit Based Fellowship 2018-2019

Education

• J.S.D. Candidate, Cornell Law School
• LL.M. Cornell Law School, Class of 2019
• LL.B. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Class of 2016

Teaching Experience

• Adjunct Professor of Evidence in the Criminal Procedure 2017 (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana)
• Clinical Professor of Criminal Procedure 2017-2018 (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana)

Contact Information

Email: csr227@cornell.edu

Ana Ruival joined the J.S.D. program in 2019. She specializes in antitrust law in digital platform markets. Ana obtained her LL.M. at Cornell Law as a Fulbright scholar.

Ana holds a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina and a master’s in Law and Economics from Torcuato Di Tella University. Before joining Cornell Law School, Ana worked in the Argentinean Competition Commission as an analyst specializing in complex cases mainly in telecommunication markets. She also worked as an analyst in CIPPEC, one of Argentina’s most renowned think tanks that specializes in the implementation of public policies. As a J.S.D. student, Ana received the Berger Summer Fellowship to contribute with the World Bank’s Digital Development Program in projects related to competition in digital platforms markets, and telecommunication policy in developing economies.

Kai Wang, from China, is a J.S.D. candidate at Cornell Law School. His research interests include data privacy law, tort law, international criminal law, comparative law, and empirical legal studies. He is interested in researching how international legal instruments can be elaborated to further develop a more comprehensive legal framework for handling data.

He earned his LL.B. from Shanghai University and his LL.M. from Cornell Law School. Prior to his doctoral studies, he was an intern for legal affairs at the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED). He currently serves as an editor of the Cornell International Law Journal.