Dr Andrea Longo

Dr Andrea Longo joined SOAS School of Law, Gender and Media to work as post-doctoral researcher under Prof. Irini Papanicolopulu's British Academy Global Professorship project 'Freedom of the Seas and Human Rights Protection' (GP/400339). His research aims to unpack the link between the principle of freedom of the seas and the historical slave trade, and how this contributed to today's human rights violations at sea. In addition to his work, he was awarded an Impact Acceleration Account strategic grant to raise awareness on the multiple human rights violations occurring on board fishing vessels, including forms of modern slavery.

He previously worked at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow as Research Associate for the One Ocean Hub - an international and interdisciplinary research programme working for fair and inclusive ocean governance and sustainable development - where he engaged in collaborative research on the mutually supportive interpretation of State obligations regarding climate change, marine biodiversity and human rights. During his time with the Hub he focused on the Advisory Opinion proceedings on climate change obligations before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, contributing to drafting two legal notes for the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

He obtained his PhD in June 2023 from the University of Milan-Bicocca, jointly with the University of Cote d’Azur in Nice. His thesis investigated the legal mechanisms to enhance the protection of people on board industrial fishing vessels, exploring the interplay between the law of the sea and human rights law and drawing attention to the social dimension of sustainable fishing. During his PhD, he was selected to participate in the ITLOS/Nippon Foundation Capacity-building and Training Programme on Dispute Settlements under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and spent nine months at the premises of the Tribunal in Hamburg and four months as visiting researcher at the University of Cote d'Azur (2021-2022).

After obtaining his Law degree from the University of Turin (2018), he was admitted to the Bar of Turin in Italy in October 2021. Prior to moving to Law, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences with a focus on Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic from Sciences Po-Paris, campus of Menton (2014), during which he spent a year at the American University of Beirut (2013-2014).