Sophie Ryan
Biography
Sophie Ryan is a DPhil in Law Candidate and Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford. She researches and writes on a variety of areas, principally in public and private international law. Her doctoral research, supervised by Professor Andrew Dickinson, focuses on civil litigation for cross-border human rights abuses involving State actors.
Sophie holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (Hons I) from the University of Queensland, and a Bachelor of Civil Law (Dist) from the University of Oxford. She has also studied at the National University of Singapore (as a New Colombo Plan Fellow), Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik, the Rhodes Academy of Ocean Law and Policy, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, and the UQ Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law. Immediately prior to coming to Oxford, Sophie was a Legal Officer at the Australian Law Reform Commission. She is admitted as a Lawyer to the Supreme Court of Queensland.
Sophie has won awards for her research and writing including the 2024 Australian Yearbook of International Law/Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL) Student Paper Prize, 2024 Alice Edwards Breakthrough Researcher Award (ANZSIL), and 2022 Rhodes Academy-ICPC Submarine Cables Writing Award. She also holds a Modern Law Review Scholarship for her doctoral research.
Sophie convenes the Conflict of Laws Discussion Group and in 2021–22, coached the Oxford Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition team which won the UK National Championship. At Oxford, Sophie has taught Contract Law and Public International Law.
Currently, Sophie is a Graduate Research Resident at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights.
Publications
Journal Article
Ryan S, ‘Fundamental legal conceptions and the international law of (civil) jurisdiction’ (2024) 42(1) The Australian Year Book of International Law Online 130
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Ryan S, ‘Submarine Communication Cables and Belligerent Rights in Armed Conflict’ (2024) 38(1) Ocean Yearbook 459
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Ryan S, ‘Modern slavery and the commercial activity exception to diplomatic immunity from civil jurisdiction: the UK Supreme Court’s decision in Basfar v Wong’ (2023) 87(1) Modern Law Review 202
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Ryan S, ‘Atrocity Crimes in Xinjiang: Moving beyond Legal Labels’ (2021) 13(1) Global Responsibility to Protect 20
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Ryan S, ‘When Women Become the War Zone: the Use of Sexual Violence in Myanmar’s Military Operations’ (2020) 12(1) Global Responsibility to Protect 37
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Ryan S, ‘From Dickens to Maneri: Teachings from Fr. Paul Jackson’ [2019] Salaam: Quarterly to Promote Understanding
Ryan S, ‘Justice Delivered? The ECCC’s Verdict in Case 002/02’ (2018) 24 Australian International Law Journal 183
Ryan S and Teng B, ‘Returning the Past: The Repatriation of Cultural Property to Indigenous Peoples’ [2018] Pandora’s Box
Ryan S and others, ‘Memorial for the Respondent: 2017 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition Distinguished Briefs’ [2017] ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law
Ryan S, ‘Religious Cooperation and Harmony: A Youth Perspective’ [2013] Salaam: Quarterly to Promote Understanding
Chapter
Ryan S and Watson E, ‘Inside Law School’, Careers in Law: A Guide for Students, Graduates and Professionals (Springer Nature 2020)
Other
Ryan S, Van Geelen T and Tapley P, ‘The Moral Blameworthiness of Corporations and the Criminal Law Running Wild’ (2019) 12
Ryan S and others, ‘Third-party Funding in Asia: Arrived, and Set to Thrive’ (2018)
Report
Ryan S and Feely G, ‘Atrocity Crimes in Myanmar? Assessing Violence in the Wake of the 1 February 2021 Attempted Coup’ (Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect 2021)
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Ryan S and Karibasic M, ‘Using Universal Jurisdiction to Combat Impunity for Atrocity Crimes’ (Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect 2020)
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