Avv. Roberta Arnold, PhD, LLM

Roberta  Arnold Ph.D. (Bern), LL.M. (Nottingham) is specialized in International  Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law, Counter-Terrorism and  Human Rights Law.

A  previous Public Prosecutor of Canton Ticino (2015-17), she is qualified  as attorney in Switzerland (2009). Currently she is in charge of the  investigation procedures led by the Post and Telecommunications  Surveillance Service (Service PTTS) of the Federal Department of Justice  and Police. She is also a lecturer (criminal law) of the University of  Zurich and a former lecturer on “Terrorism and the Law” of the University of Lucerne.

After obtaining her PhD (summa cum laude) on “The International Criminal Court as a new instrument for repressing terrorism” (Transnational Publishers, 2004), which received the Walther Hug Prize (2005) and the Honorable Mention Award of the Francis Lieber Society of the American Society of International Law, she joined the Laws of  Armed Conflict Section (2003–5) and the Arms Control and Disarmament  Policy Section (2008–10) of the Federal Department of Defence. Between  2010-15 she worked as legal officer for the Office Federal Attorney  General’s Office (International Criminal Law Unit and Counter-terrorism  Division), and as researcher for the Chair of Strategic Studies of the  Military Academy at ETH Zurich. In this context she was the  Editor-in-chief of the Military Law and the Laws of War Review and she  participated to the “MCDC research project” led by NATO Allied Commando Transformation on the use of autonomous systems under international law.

She has been invited by various organizations and academic institutions (e.g. the ICRC, UNOG, the San Remo IIHL, TMC Asser Institute,  the universities of Stanford (USA), Bristol, Liverpool (UK), Bern,  Zurich, Webster University and Geneva Academy in Geneva, FUS in Lugano  (CH), Trieste and Università dell’Insubria (I)) to lecture and train  military and diplomatic personnel, academics and practitioners in her  areas of competence.

She  is a retired officer (rank: maj./specialist officer) of the Swiss Armed  Forces, in which she served as Military examining magistrate  (2005-2017).

Publications Participation and Awards:

Terrorism and the Law

The International Criminal Court as a new instrument for repressing terrorism” 

(Transnational Publishers, 2004)

Walther Hug Prize (2005)

Honorable Mention Award of the Francis Lieber Society

NATO Allied Commando Transformation (opens a pdf document)

Swiss Counter-Terrorism Laws: What are the Legal and Policy Challenges?

View conference on the  Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law

and Human Rights channel on YouTube