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Prof. Dr. Jelena Bäumler

21335 Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C11.218
Fon +49.4131.677-1165, jelena.baeumler@leuphana.de
Professor, Public Law, European Law and International Law, in particular Sustainability Law
Associated member, Center for European and International Law
Associated member, Leuphana Center for Cooperative Security (LCCS)

Table of contents for this page

Vita

Professorship of Public and International Law with a focus on Sustainability, Institute of Sustainability Governance, Leuphana University. Before joining Leuphana, she has worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Rostock. She was a visiting Professor at the University of Western Cape (Cape Town, South Africa), the Centre for Global Governance Studies (Leuven, Belgien), China-EU School of Law (Beijing, China) and at New Zealand Centre for Environmental Law (Auckland, New Zealand). She is a fully qualified lawyer in Germany, as the best candidate in her round of examination and regularly advises states in international proceedings, especially before the International Court of Justice. Her fields of research include trade and environment, sustainability, public international law and environmental law.

Projects

  1. Leuphana Law Lab für Nachhaltigkeitstransformation
    Jelena Bäumler (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Practical Project

  2. Research Consortium ‘Sustainability governance of global value chains’
    Jens Newig (Project manager, academic) , Andrea Lenschow (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Franca Bülow (Coordination) , Barbara Ehbauer (Project staff) , Jelto Makris (Project staff) , Jelena Bäumler (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Elke Schüßler (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Stefan Schaltegger (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Patrick Velte (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Frank Teuteberg (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Alexander Schall (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Martin Franz (Project manager, academic) , Christian Busse (Project manager, academic) , Jann Lay (Project manager, academic) , Henrike Jost (Project staff) , Kathleen Evers (Project staff) , Nora Große (Project staff) , Finn Jonas Bongert (Project staff) , Sofyia Pohurskyy (Project staff) , Frederik Kamphues (Project staff) , Philip Verfürth (Project staff) , Satwant Dahiya (Project staff) , Jia Zuo (Project staff) , Frauke Steglich (Project staff) , Saumya Satishbhai Raval (Project staff)
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    Project: Research

  3. Masterprogramm ILGSPD
    Anja Soltau (Project manager, academic) , Jelena Bäumler (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Teaching

  4. Disruptive Power Projections
    Jelena Bäumler (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Other

View all projects

Publications

Books and anthologies

  1. European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2024
    Jelena Bäumler (Editor) , Christina Binder (Editor) , Marc Bungenberg (Editor) , Markus Krajewski (Editor) , Giesela Rühl (Editor) , Christian J. Tams (Editor) , Andreas R. Ziegler (Editor) , Jörg Terhechte (Editor) , 2025 Cham , 600 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

  2. European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2023
    Jelena Bäumler (Editor) , Christina Binder (Editor) , Marc Bungenberg (Editor) , Markus Krajewski (Editor) , Giesela Rühl (Editor) , Christian J. Tams (Editor) , Andreas R. Ziegler (Editor) , Jörg Terhechte (Editor) , 2024 Cham , 489 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

  3. European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2022
    Jelena Bäumler (Editor) , Christina Binder (Editor) , Marc Bungenberg (Editor) , Markus Krajewski (Editor) , Giesela Rühl (Editor) , Christian J. Tams (Editor) , Andreas R. Ziegler (Editor) , Jörg Terhechte (Editor) , 2023 Cham , 581 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

  4. European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2021
    Jelena Bäumler (Editor) , Christina Binder (Editor) , Marc Bungenberg (Editor) , Markus Krajewski (Editor) , Giesela Rühl (Editor) , Christian J. Tams (Editor) , Andreas R. Ziegler (Editor) , Jörg Terhechte (Editor) , 2022 Cham , 369 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

  5. Das Schädigungsverbot im Völkerrecht: Eine Untersuchung anhand des Umwelt-, Welthandels- und Finanzvölkerrechts = The @no harm principle in public international law
    Jelena Bäumler (Author) , 2017 1 ed. Berlin, Heidelberg , 379 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research

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Journal contributions

  1. From Free Markets to Market Shaping: What the EU–U. S. Trade Deal and the ACCTS Reveal About Post-Neoliberal Trade Governance
    Jelena Bäumler (Author) , Kathleen Evers (Author) , 01.01.2026 , in: Transatlantic Law Journal, 2026, 1 , p. 13-21 , 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  2. Das Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS): Weg in die Zukunft?
    Jelena Bäumler (Author) , 01.08.2025 , in: Klima und Recht - KlimR, 2025, 8 , p. 232-240 , 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Transfer › peer-review

  3. Preface
    Jelena Bäumler (Author) , Christina Binder (Author) , Marc Bungenberg (Author) , Markus Krajewski (Author) , Giesela Rühl (Author) , Christian J. Tams (Author) , Andreas R. Ziegler (Author) , Jörg Philipp Terhechte (Author) , 01.01.2025 , in: European Yearbook of International Economic Law, 15 , p. v-x , 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Other (editorial matter etc.) › Research

  4. Das deutsche Verwaltungsrecht nach dem Klimagutachten des IGH
    Jelena Bäumler (Author) , 01.01.2025 , in: Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht, 2025, 18 , 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Other (editorial matter etc.) › Transfer

  5. Ivano Alogna, Christine Bakker, Jean-Pierre Gauci (eds). Climate Change Litigation: Global Perspectives. Leiden: Brill Nijhoff, 2021. Pp. 543. ISBN: 9789004447608.
    Jelena Bäumler (Author) , 04.09.2024 , in: European Journal of International Law, 35, 3 , p. 763-771 , 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Critical reviews › Transfer

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Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

  1. § 22 Level Playing Field and Sustainable Development
    Jelena Bäumler (Author) , 05.04.2024 Baden Baden , p. 359-380 , 22 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Transfer

  2. Wirtschaftsvölkerrechtlicher Rahmen
    Jelena Bäumler (Author) , 01.01.2023 München , p. 34-44 , 11 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions in collection of commentaries › Research

  3. Recht und Nachhaltigkeit
    Thomas Schomerus (Author) , Jelena Bäumler (Author) , Ivo Appel (Author) , Axel Halfmeier (Author) , 01.01.2022 Baden-Baden , p. 63-88 , 26 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Article in conference proceedings › Research

  4. Editorial
    Jelena Bäumler (Author) , Christina Binder (Author) , Marc Bungenberg (Author) , Markus Krajewski (Author) , Giesela Rühl (Author) , Christian J. Tams (Author) , Andreas R. Ziegler (Author) , Jörg Terhechte (Author) , 01.01.2022 , p. v-ix , 4 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Other › Research

  5. Education and Training
    Jelena Bäumler (Author) , Thomas Schomerus (Author) , 23.03.2021 Cheltenham , p. 284-301 , 18 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Activities

Press / Media

  1. Left Behind : How the Omnibus Package Fails Vulnerable Workers from Informal Economies
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  2. Klimaabkommen können eben doch funktionieren
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  3. Handelsabkommen für das Klima? : Zum „Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability“ (ACCTS)
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  4. Da war es nur noch eine
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  5. Wer ist schuld?
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

View all press/media coverage

Courses

International Sustainability Law
Jelena Bäumler
This course explores the relationship between international law and sustainability through a question that runs through every session: as sustainability reshapes international law, is it giving rise to a new legal imaginary, a shared understanding of the world, the purposes of international law, and the forms of legal intervention considered possible and legitimate, and can such an imaginary do real legal work?
It begins with sustainable development and its transformation from a political idea into a concept of legal significance, from the Stockholm Conference to the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals and their reception by courts and tribunals. Particular attention is paid to sustainable development as a compromise capable of reconciling interests of the Global North and South without resolving the tensions between them. This development also raises a more fundamental question about how law is made and named: through the distinction between rules and principles and the deliberate choice of language in legal texts, the course examines why some normative ideas acquire legal force while others remain aspirational.
The course then turns to the three branches of international law central to sustainability, namely environmental, human rights, and economic law. Each rests on a different legal imaginary, reflecting different understandings of what law should protect, how states, individuals, markets, and the environment relate to one another, and how law can shape behaviour and produce change. The course examines what each field contributes to sustainability governance, where its limits lie, and whether these fragmented legal worlds can genuinely be brought together. Mechanisms of integration, in particular systemic integration under Article 31(3)(c) VCLT, provide a testing ground for whether interpretation can reconcile competing regimes or ultimately leaves unresolved the question of which regime prevails.
Having tested the law as it stands, the course asks whether a more transformative sustainability imaginary is taking legal form. Recent advisory opinions of the ICJ, ITLOS, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, together with other instruments are examined for signs that environmental, human rights, and economic concerns are increasingly being understood together rather than apart. The course then turns to pathfinder agreements such as ACCTS and the BBNJ Agreement, where sustainability is translated into concrete legal norms and institutional arrangements. It concludes with de-fossilisation as a test case for what international sustainability law, and the emerging imaginary underpinning it, can actually achieve, and where further legal development is needed to realise its transformative potential.
Next appointment:
Tuesday, 2026-10-13 at 16:00
Room: C 40.704 Seminarraum
Ph. D. Colloquium (Law)
Jelena Bäumler, Lars Berster, Johanna Croon-Gestefeld, Jens Gerlach Burchardi, Axel Halfmeier, Till Holterhus, Suzan Denise Hüttemann, Alexander Schall, Valentin Schatz, Claus-Thomas Schomerus, Alexander Stark, Jörg Terhechte
Im Kolloquium stellen Promovierende ihre Forschungsvorhaben vor.
Next appointment:
Lectures for this semester ended.
Security, Power and Law in the 21st Century
Jelena Bäumler, Valentin Schatz, Angar Verma
This lecture series explores the relationship between international law, security, and power in the 21st century. As states increasingly perceive a wide range of developments as security challenges, and as geopolitical power relations continue to evolve, the triangular relationship between international law, security, and power calls for its rethinking. To this end, the lecture series examines, across different fields of international law, how changing understandings of security and shifting power relations shape the development and application of international law; it also explores how international law influences – and can influence – security and power.

Bringing together scholars and practitioners, the lecture series covers topics including collective and regional peace and security, peacemaking, maritime security, international criminal accountability, international trade and investment, counter-terrorism, and environmental security.
Next appointment:
Wednesday, 2026-10-14 at 16:00
Room: C HS 4