Prof. Kai Ambos, Ph.D., Ph.D. (hon. causae)
Chair of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, Comparative Law, International Criminal Law, and International Law Director of the Research Center for Latin American Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure (CEDPAL) Judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, The Hague Amicus curiae to the Colombian Special Jurisdiction for Peace (under the KSC)Career:
| 1984–1990 | Studied law and political science in Freiburg, Oxford (United Kingdom), and Munich |
| 1990 | First State Examination in Law in Munich, Bavaria |
| 1991–2003 | Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Freiburg im Breisgau |
| 1992 | Ph.D. in Munich |
| 1994 | Second State Examination in Law in Freiburg im Breisgau |
| 2001 | Habilitation in Munich; awarded the venia legendi in criminal law, criminal procedure, criminology, comparative law, and international law |
| since May 2003 | Chair of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Comparative Law, International Criminal Law, and International Law at the Georg-August University of Göttingen |
| since 2003 | Head of the Department of Foreign and International Criminal Law at the Institute of Criminal Sciences |
| 2006–2014 | Master’s Program Coordinator at the Faculty of Law, University of Göttingen |
| 2006–2017 | Judge at the Göttingen Regional Court (seconded to the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court from January to September 2015) |
| 2008–2010 | Dean of Academic Affairs at the Faculty of Law, University of Göttingen |
| Winter Semester 2011/2012 | Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| Nov. 2013 | Awarded an honorary doctorate by the Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana in Iquitos, Peru |
| since 12/2013 | Director of the Research Center for Latin American Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure (CEDPAL) at Georg-August University of Göttingen |
| since 02/2017 | Judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) |
| 12/2017 | Adviser (amicus curiae) to the Colombian Special Jurisdiction for Peace |
| 2018–2025 | Executive Director of the Institute for Criminal Sciences |
| 09/2018 | Awarded the “Orden Carlos Lemos Simmonds” prize for his commitment to the Colombian peace process |
| 11/2020 | Recipient of the Lower Saxony Science Prize |
| since 05/2021 | External Member and Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon, Portugal |
| 2023/2024 | Fellowship at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin; unfortunately, the fellowship could not be accepted |
| since 12/2023 | Member of the DFG Review Board for Legal Sciences for the 2024–2028 term |
| 03/2026 | |
| Additional Roles | Life Fellow at Clare Hall College, University of Cambridge, and List Counsel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) |
Research and Publications
| Main Areas of Research: | Criminal law and criminal procedure, comparative law, and international criminal law with a particular focus on Latin America, Portugal, Spain, and Eastern Europe |
| Publications | Numerous publications in German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese |
| Selected Works |
Treatise on International Criminal Law, three volumes, OUP 2013–2016, 2nd edition 2021–2026 European Criminal Law, CUP 2018 International Criminal Law, 5th edition, Beck 2018 Rome Statute of the ICC, A Commentary, 4th ed. 2022, Editor |
| Editorial Roles | Editor-in-Chief of the Criminal Law Forum |
| Editorial Boards | Member of the editorial boards of numerous German and international academic journals, including: Goltdammer’s Archiv für Strafrecht, International Criminal Law Review, Journal of Criminal Law, L’Indice Penale, Revista Penal, Revista Portuguesa de Ciência Criminal, Zeitschrift für internationale Strafrechtswissenschaft, ELTE Law Journal and Age of Human Rights Journal |
| Visiting Professorships | Visiting professorships at numerous universities in Europe, Latin America, and Asia, including in Verona and Trento (Italy), at Renmin University in Beijing (China), in Valparaíso (Chile), and at the Federal University of Paraná in Curitiba (Brazil) |
For further information, please refer to the following documents: Short Biography