Ph.D., European University Institute, Florence
LL.M. (Comparative, European and International Laws), European University Institute
LL.M. (Public International Law, with Distinction), London School of Economics and Political Science
LL.B. (Law and Political Science),Trinity College Dublin
Dr. Ríán Derrig is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute of the
World Maritime University. His research focuses on the history and theory of international
law, especially of US approaches to international law, and on redistribution in the law of the
sea. Ríán is currently writing a book, ‘International Law of America: The Story of the New
Haven School’, which is forthcoming with Oxford University Press. His research has been
published by the European Journal of International Law, the Journal of the History of
International Law, the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, the Irish Yearbook
of International Law, and elsewhere. He regularly publishes on widely read legal blogs such
as Opinio Juris, associated with the International Commission of Jurists; EJIL:Talk!, the blog
of the European Journal of International Law; and Verfassungsblog, a prominent forum for
debate on German and European constitutional law and politics.
Ríán has provided expert legal advice on law of the sea related topics to state delegations
participating in international treaty making processes. He has advised national
parliamentarians addressing law of the sea and ocean governance issues and has drafted
legislation on these topics. Ríán writes annually for the Irish Yearbook of International Law
as the reporting correspondent on Irish state practice on the law of the sea.
Before joining the WMU, Ríán was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Global
Constitutionalism of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. His research at the WZB focused
on the influence of changing paradigms of psychological theory on twentieth century
international law. Ríán defended his doctoral thesis, ‘Educating American Modernists: The
Origins of the New Haven School’, at the European University Institute in September 2019.
He was awarded the 2018 Young Scholar Prize of the European Society of International Law
and the 2020 Antonio Cassese Prize for his work on the New Haven School. In 2016, Ríán
was a Visiting Researcher at Yale Law School. Prior to his doctoral work, he received an
LL.M. with distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science,
specialising in public international law, and an LL.B. in law and political science from Trinity
College Dublin.
Ríán has taught and lectured on a wide range of international law topics, including on
different methodological approaches to legal and interdisciplinary research, international
human rights law, feminist legal methods, and jurisprudence and legal philosophy.
Dr. Ríán Derrig is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute of the
World Maritime University. His research focuses on the history and theory of international
law, especially of US approaches to international law, and on redistribution in the law of the
sea. Ríán is currently writing a book, ‘International Law of America: The Story of the New
Haven School’, which is forthcoming with Oxford University Press. His research has been
published by the European Journal of International Law, the Journal of the History of
International Law, the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, the Irish Yearbook
of International Law, and elsewhere. He regularly publishes on widely read legal blogs such
as Opinio Juris, associated with the International Commission of Jurists; EJIL:Talk!, the blog
of the European Journal of International Law; and Verfassungsblog, a prominent forum for
debate on German and European constitutional law and politics.
Ríán has provided expert legal advice on law of the sea related topics to state delegations
participating in international treaty making processes. He has advised national
parliamentarians addressing law of the sea and ocean governance issues and has drafted
legislation on these topics. Ríán writes annually for the Irish Yearbook of International Law
as the reporting correspondent on Irish state practice on the law of the sea.
Before joining the WMU, Ríán was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Global
Constitutionalism of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. His research at the WZB focused
on the influence of changing paradigms of psychological theory on twentieth century
international law. Ríán defended his doctoral thesis, ‘Educating American Modernists: The
Origins of the New Haven School’, at the European University Institute in September 2019.
He was awarded the 2018 Young Scholar Prize of the European Society of International Law
and the 2020 Antonio Cassese Prize for his work on the New Haven School. In 2016, Ríán
was a Visiting Researcher at Yale Law School. Prior to his doctoral work, he received an
LL.M. with distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science,
specialising in public international law, and an LL.B. in law and political science from Trinity
College Dublin.
Ríán has taught and lectured on a wide range of international law topics, including on
different methodological approaches to legal and interdisciplinary research, international
human rights law, feminist legal methods, and jurisprudence and legal philosophy.
