Dr Kobi Leins - About - Image by Julius Silver
Dr Kobi Leins - About - Image by Ylanite Koppens

About

Leins managed programs and teams in the areas of administrative law & justice, humanitarian law, human rights law, and disarmament with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. In 2006, Leins worked with the International Service for Human Rights in New York to advocate for the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, after which she worked for the United Nations Secretariat. In 2005, she liaised with States, scientists and stakeholders to raise awareness of, and compliance with, the Biological Weapons and Chemical Weapons Conventions. In 2004, Leins worked as a Legal Officer at the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva under the auspices of a Security Council Resolution analysing and presenting claims for environmental damage following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991, having escaped commercial law to do so. Leins also prepared a matrix for review of domestic compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, which many States adopted. Leins completed her PhD on how the use of nanotechnology enhanced or based weapons is prohibited or limited in an armed conflict.

 

Australian Institute of Company Directors, GAICD

Melbourne University Law Faculty, PhD (2020)
Recipient University of Melbourne Fay Marles Scholarship 2014-2017
Recipient James and Valerie McNiff Scholarship 2016 & 2018

Harvard Law School, Boston, USA, September 2008
Advanced negotiation

Monash University Law School (LLB), Melbourne, Australia, 2001
First Recipient of Dean’s Scholarship to intern with United Nations Compensation Commission
International Jessup Moot Competitor
Admitted to practice at the Victorian State Bar & in the Australian Federal and State jurisdictions 2003

Monash University Arts Faculty, Melbourne Australia, 2001
B.A. (first class Hons)

Freie Universität of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
B.A. in German Literature, 1999
First Class Honours: Dictatorships and Humor in East German Literature
Recipient of DAAD Scholarship to study in Berlin

National Australia Bank, Melbourne, Australia
Senior Consultant, Data Ethics, 2021-ongoing

University of Melbourne, Faculty of Engineering and IT, Melbourne, Australia
Senior Research Fellow in Digital Ethics, 2019-2021

3A Institute, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Research Fellow, 2018-2019

Vertic, building trust through verification, London, UK
Consultant, 2012-2013
Researched and analyzed States’ national legislation in compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. I left this job to commence my PhD.

United Nations, New York, United States
Legal Officer, 2007-2011
Reviewed and rewrote internal legislation and policy for the United Nations, both for the Secretariat and the field. Reviewed and responded to internal appeals and disciplinary processes. I left this job due to personal circumstances and the need to relocate to Melbourne, Australia.

International Service for Human Rights, New York, United States
Human Rights Officer, 2007
Wrote, edited and produced the Human Rights Monitor, a comprehensive review of the proceedings of key UN meetings; recruited, coordinated and supervised interns for the preparation of reports; analyzed outcomes and proceedings of other UN meetings; identified opportunities, developed strategies and made strategic recommendations for the New York office. I left this job to take up the opportunity at the United Nations.

Walter de Gruyter Inc, New York, United States
Associate Director, March 2006-2007
Restructured the New York office, facilitated system-wide changes resulting in financial turn-around of the company. I took this job having moved to New York to support my then partner. This job provided a steep learning curve and the affirmation that I had many skills of which I was unaware.

International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, Switzerland
Project Manager, Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity, 2005-2006
Researched history of 1925 Geneva Protocol; drafted model legislation; translated international disarmament treaties into national legislation, policy and operational practices; promoted national implementation of the Biological Weapons and Chemical Weapons Conventions.  I left this job to enable my partner to find a fulfilling role.

United Nations Compensation Commission, Geneva, Switzerland
Legal Officer, March 2004-2005
Analyzed and assessed complex claimant data re environmental damage sustained during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1991; presented written and oral legal analysis to an expert panel for assessment of compensation.  As the mandate of the Commission was coming to an end, I took up an amazing opportunity with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Deacons Lawyers, Melbourne, Australia
Commercial Litigation Lawyer, 2002-2004

Visiting Honorary Research Fellow (remote),  Centre for Science and Security Studies, Department of War Studies, King's College, London, 2021 -

Finalist for Australian/New Zealand Women in AI and the Law, 2021 & 2022

Advisory Board Member of Carnegie Artificial Intelligence and Equality Initiative, 2020 -

Non-Resident Fellow of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament, 2019 -

Editor of the Journal of Law and Technology, Australian National University, 2018 - 2020

Member of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences, Cambridge University Press, 2017 -

Fluent in English and German

Proficient in French

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