Harriet Moynihan

Harriet Moynihan is an Associate Fellow in the International Law Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), where she runs research projects on the application of international law to cutting edge issues, including China’s approach to the international legal order, and how international law applies in the context of new technology.

Before joining Chatham House in 2015, Harriet was a legal adviser from 2002 at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where she advised on a wide range of public international law issues. At the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Harriet represented the United Kingdom in the Council of Europe, in bilateral and multilateral treaty negotiations, and in cases before the European Court of Human Rights. Prior to the FCO, Harriet was a competition lawyer at Clifford Chance LLP, working in the firm’s London and Singapore offices. Harriet graduated with a double first in Classics from Cambridge University and has a Masters in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University.

Harriet has published articles and papers on a variety of international law topics including state responsibility for aiding and assisting in international wrongful acts; the European Court of Human Rights’ approach to historical deaths under Article 2 ECHR; and China’s evolving approach to international dispute settlement. Harriet is a regular speaker on international law issues as part of the Queen Elizabeth Academy Leadership Programme at Chatham House, and is an ad hoc lecturer on international humanitarian law as part of Oxford University’s Diplomatic Studies Programme.

While in residence at the Bonavero Institute, Harriet will carry out research on the international human rights law implications of cyber interference aimed at influencing voters, and on the application of the principle of non-intervention in international law to cyber operations. The research will culminate in papers to be published at the end of 2019/early 2020.

Harriet Moynihan has also been appointed as Visiting Fellow of Mansfield College during her visit to Oxford.