Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz
Junior Professor,
Junior professorship of Public Law, European Law and Public International Law, in particular Environmental Law and the Law of the Sea
Institute of Sustainability Governance
Associated member, Center for European and International Law
Associated member, Leuphana Center for Cooperative Security (LCCS)
Institute of Sustainability Governance
Associated member, Center for European and International Law
Associated member, Leuphana Center for Cooperative Security (LCCS)
Vita
Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz has been Junior Professor at the School of Sustainability and the Institute of Sustainability Governance (INSUGO) since September 2022. Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz is also an associate member of Leuphana Law School and the Leuphana Center for European and International Law (CEIL).
Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz is a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, member of the Board of Directors of the International Foundation for the Law of the Sea (IFLOS), and German delegate at the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Protection of People at Sea.
Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz's research focuses on international, European and domestic environmental law and the law of the sea. You can find his current list of publications and presentations here.
Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz attaches particular importance to knowledge and science transfer. As part of his research focus, he advises NGOs (e.g., in the field of marine environmental law, sustainable fisheries or civil search and rescue), governmental authorities (e.g., in the field of offshore wind energy or environmentally sound shipping) and think tanks (e.g., on hybrid threats to maritime security) and regularly prepares legal opinions and expert reports.
Click here to visit the pages of the Junior Professorship for Public Law, European Law and Public International Law, in particular Environmental Law and the Law of the Sea.
Curriculum vitae
- June 2025 – today: Junior Professor (W1 with Tenure Track to W2) of Public Law, European Law and Public International Law, in particular Environmental Law and the Law of the Sea, Leuphana University of Lüneburg
- September 2022 – June 2025: Junior Professor (W1 with Tenure Track to W2) of Public Law and European Law with a Focus on Sustainability, Leuphana University of Lüneburg
- 2021 – 2022: Post-Doctoral Researcher, Faculty of Law, University of Hamburg
- 2020 – 2022: Legal Clerk, Hanseatic Higher Regional Court, 2nd State Examination
- 2021: Doctoral degree (Dr. iur., topic of thesis: "Access to Fisheries within National Jurisdiction") from the Faculty of Law, University of Hamburg (summa cum laude)
- 2018 – 2021: Research Associate and Ph.D. Researcher, Chair of the International Law of the Sea and International Environmental Law, Public International Law and Public Law (Prof. Alexander Proelß) & Institute for the Law of the Sea and Maritime Law, University of Hamburg
- April 2017 and March 2018: Visiting Researcher, University of Adelaide, Australia
- December 2016 – February 2017: Visiting Researcher, Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law
- 2016 – 2018: Research Associate and Ph.D. Researcher, Chair of Public Law, Public International Law and European Union Law (Prof. Alexander Proelß), University of Trier
- 2012 – 2013: ERASMUS Programme, University of Dundee, Scotland
- 2010 – 2016: Undergraduate Studies in Law, University of Passau, 1st State Examination
Publications
Books and anthologies
- Workshop on impacts of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement on fisheries and aquaculture in the EU: Part I: Legal aspects
Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Alexander Proelss (Author) , 2021 Brüssel , 72 p.Research output: Books and anthologies › Compendium/lecture notes › Transfer
- Rechtliche Vorgaben zum Umgang mit Schiffsabwasser: Völker-, unions- und nationalrechtliche Anforderungen an Einleitungen von Scrubber-Abwasser, Ballastwasser und häuslichem Abwasser durch Schiffe
Alexander Proelss (Author) , Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , 2019 Dessau-Roßlau , 129 p.Research output: Books and anthologies › Compendium/lecture notes › Transfer
Journal contributions
- International regulation of commercially exploited sharks: challenging the notion of shark “bycatch” in tuna RFMOs
Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Daniel Kachelriess (Author) , 01.03.2026 , in: International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 26, 1 , p. 1-18 , 18 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research
- Leugnung des Existenzrechts Israels: Zur Verfassungsmäßigkeit einer potenziellen Verschärfung des § 130 StGB
Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Alice Bertram (Author) , Emma Bartmann (Author) , 01.12.2025 , in: Recht und Politik , 11 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research
- Die unionsrechtliche Regulierung von Hafenauffangeinrichtungen für Schiffsabfälle durch die PRF-Richtlinie
Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Laura Wanner (Author) , 01.01.2025 , in: Natur und Recht, 47, 1 , p. 13-19 , 7 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Rechtsrahmen und Zuständigkeit für die Überwachung der Vorwäsche im Rahmen von Anlage II des MARPOL-Übereinkommens
Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Johannes Ipsen (Author) , 01.01.2025 , in: Zeitschrift für das Recht der Transportwirtschaft, 2025, 6 , p. 202-208 , 6 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research
- Rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen der Einleitung von häuslichem Schiffsabwasser in der Arktis und Antarktis
Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Johannes Ipsen (Author) , 01.01.2025 , in: Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, 23, 4 , p. 409-426 , 18 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research
Contributions to collected editions/anthologies
- Decolonizing RFMOs: The Case of The United Kingdom’s IOTC Membership on Behalf of the Chagos Archipelago
Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , 14.10.2024 London , p. 17-33 , 17 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review
- Artikel 9 Umweltziele
Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Miriam Köster (Author) , 01.01.2024 1 ed. München , p. 165-174 , 10 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions in collection of commentaries › Research
- Planung/Zulassung von Energieanlagen Seeanlagengesetz (Rn 1-17) Einführung
Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Emma Bartmann (Author) , 01.01.2024 MünchenResearch output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions in collection of commentaries › Research
- Seeanlagengesetz (SeeAnlG)
Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Emma Bartmann (Author) , 01.01.2024 1 ed. Baden-BadenResearch output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions in collection of commentaries › Research
- §§ 9 -13 WindSeeG (Zentrale Voruntersuchung von Flächen)
Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Emma Bartmann (Author) , 01.09.2023 MünchenResearch output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions in collection of commentaries › Research
Activities
-
“Legal Implications of the Designation of Area-Based Management Tools under the BBNJ Agreement in High Seas Areas above Extended Continental Shelves of Coastal States”
Valentin J. Schatz (Speaker) , Alice Bertram (Speaker)
Activity: Conference Presentations › Research
-
Opinion on the Conformity of the European Union’s Position with the UNFSA concerning the Conservation and Management of North Atlantic Shortfin Mako Shark at ICCAT
Mercedes Rosello (Reviewer) , Valentin J. Schatz (Reviewer) , Eva van der Marel (Reviewer)
Activity: Academic Consultant › Transfer
Prizes
-
Promotionspreis 2020-2022
Valentin J. Schatz (Recipient) ,Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research
Courses
⌄
The sea is often described as a “lawless” frontier of human society as most of it lies beyond the sovereignty of individual States. While this description is incorrect from a legal perspective, it is true that the realities of human activities at sea render people particularly vulnerable to harm. The nature of these activities, the circumstances under which they are undertaken, and the legal framework governing conduct in ocean space pose significant challenges to the prescription, enforcement and adjudication of laws that aim to protect humans. Against this background, this seminar will explore the role of law – particularly international law – in the protection of humans at sea, which may be classified as an aspect of social sustainability.
The content of the course will at least partially draw on the programme of work of the newly established International Law Association (ILA) Committee on “Protection of People at Sea” (https://www.ila-hq.org/en_GB/committees/protection-of-people-at-sea), of which Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz is a member.
To quote from the mandate of the Committee:
“The protection of people at sea has long escaped the attention of international lawyers, notwithstanding the intrinsic international character of the sea and the different nationalities of the people to be found on board vessels and platforms. While death, abuse, and excessive use of force have always been common at sea, it is only in the last 15 years that the often systematic violations of fundamental human rights at sea have attracted the attention of stakeholders and the general public. Intergovernmental organisations, civil society, and the media have started documenting abuses, ranging from slavery and forced labour in the field of fisheries, to overly long detention in police operations, to breaches of the right to seek asylum of maritime migrants, up to the lack of rescue for people in distress at sea. […] Confronted with this picture, it has become evident that international law, as it is currently interpreted and applied by States and international organizations, does not effectively protect people at sea. Apart from lack of political will and limited resources, a major obstacle in ensuring protection has been due to the fact that people at sea fall at the intersection of two branches of international law, which have, so far, rarely been combined: the law of the sea and international human rights law. […] In the emerging field of international law for the protection of people at sea, there are still many unresolved questions. Given the fact that most of the sea does not fall under the sovereignty of any State, which is the State or States that bear the obligation to ensure protection of people at sea? Do these duties vary depending on the maritime zones, the activity, the flag, or other circumstances? What is the exact content of these duties? What protection should be afforded to people at sea? What action (positive/negative, preventive/follow up, individual or collaborative) is required? What avenues are there for enforcing these duties? What duties, if any, do non-State actors bear? Who should enforce them?”
Unlike the Committee, however, this seminar will explore these issues not from the perspective of highly specialized legal experts, but in a manner that is suitable for students without a legal background. This means that we will also be interested in political and factual contexts as well as empirical studies or examples. Some examples and stories are drawn from the book “The Outlaw Ocean” written by Ian Urbina in 2019 (https://www.theoutlawocean.com/the-outlaw-ocean-by-ian-urbina/).
The content of the course will at least partially draw on the programme of work of the newly established International Law Association (ILA) Committee on “Protection of People at Sea” (https://www.ila-hq.org/en_GB/committees/protection-of-people-at-sea), of which Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz is a member.
To quote from the mandate of the Committee:
“The protection of people at sea has long escaped the attention of international lawyers, notwithstanding the intrinsic international character of the sea and the different nationalities of the people to be found on board vessels and platforms. While death, abuse, and excessive use of force have always been common at sea, it is only in the last 15 years that the often systematic violations of fundamental human rights at sea have attracted the attention of stakeholders and the general public. Intergovernmental organisations, civil society, and the media have started documenting abuses, ranging from slavery and forced labour in the field of fisheries, to overly long detention in police operations, to breaches of the right to seek asylum of maritime migrants, up to the lack of rescue for people in distress at sea. […] Confronted with this picture, it has become evident that international law, as it is currently interpreted and applied by States and international organizations, does not effectively protect people at sea. Apart from lack of political will and limited resources, a major obstacle in ensuring protection has been due to the fact that people at sea fall at the intersection of two branches of international law, which have, so far, rarely been combined: the law of the sea and international human rights law. […] In the emerging field of international law for the protection of people at sea, there are still many unresolved questions. Given the fact that most of the sea does not fall under the sovereignty of any State, which is the State or States that bear the obligation to ensure protection of people at sea? Do these duties vary depending on the maritime zones, the activity, the flag, or other circumstances? What is the exact content of these duties? What protection should be afforded to people at sea? What action (positive/negative, preventive/follow up, individual or collaborative) is required? What avenues are there for enforcing these duties? What duties, if any, do non-State actors bear? Who should enforce them?”
Unlike the Committee, however, this seminar will explore these issues not from the perspective of highly specialized legal experts, but in a manner that is suitable for students without a legal background. This means that we will also be interested in political and factual contexts as well as empirical studies or examples. Some examples and stories are drawn from the book “The Outlaw Ocean” written by Ian Urbina in 2019 (https://www.theoutlawocean.com/the-outlaw-ocean-by-ian-urbina/).
⌄
Im Kolloquium stellen Promovierende ihre Forschungsvorhaben vor.
⌄
Who owns the Moon? Or Antarctica? Can Denmark cede territorial sovereignty over Greenland to the United States of America? The law of which State applies on board of a civilian airplane? Are the high seas a lawless space? Who can exploit the resources of the North Pole? Which laws govern shipping through the Arctic Ocean once it has become ice-free? What does it mean to ‘decolonize’ territory formerly controlled by a colonial power? Can an upstream State stop the flow of a river and monopolize its waters? Is it possible to create new States on artificial islands in the world’s oceans? What happens to island States threatened by sea-level rise? How can States protect nature through area-based management tools such as protected areas?
These are just some of the questions that we will ask in this course, which explores the many ways in which humanity (and in particular the international community of States) has regulated spaces through public international law. It begins by providing a general introduction to the functioning of public international law (German: Völkerrecht), meaning the law that applies between States and other subjects of international law. Thereafter, this course analyzes how the international legal regime regulates various physical spaces and their relationships with human societies through general and specific rules, instruments (in particular treaties) and institutions (in particular international organizations): territory; oceans and the seabed; rivers, aquifers and lakes; airspace; outer space (including the Moon); and the Polar regions (Arctic and Antarctica). While these spaces (and environment, ecosystems and resources found therein) are a physical reality, the way the law conceptualizes and regulates them is largely a social construct of human civilization (power, interests, economics, culture, religion, etc.). Legal notions such as ‘sovereignty’, ‘borders’, ‘jurisdiction’ (i.e. the lawful power of States to prescribe, enforce and adjudicate law in a certain space or over a person or thing) or ‘marine protected areas’ are excellent examples of such ‘normative spatialities’.
The objective of this course is to examine spatial perspectives on international law – asking not only ‘how’ but also ‘why’ the international legal regime has developed this way (and what the future might bring in the contemporary world order). It does so through a primarily ‘traditional’ (i.e. positivist) doctrinal approach. However, the seminar will also occasionally make reference to critical perspectives and approaches informed by the social sciences, such as Legal Geography and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL).
These are just some of the questions that this seminar seeks to address. It begins by providing a general introduction to the functioning of public international law (German: Völkerrecht), meaning the law that applies between States and other subjects of international law. Thereafter, this seminar analyzes how the international legal regime regulates various physical spaces and their relationships with human societies through general and specific rules, instruments (in particular treaties) and institutions (in particular international organizations): territory, oceans, rivers and lakes, airspace, outer space, and ecosystems. While these spaces (and environment, ecosystems and resources found therein) are a physical reality, the way the law perceives and regulates them is largely a construct of human civilization (power, interests, economics, culture, religion, etc.). Legal notions such as ‘sovereignty’, ‘borders’, ‘jurisdiction’ (i.e. the lawful power of States to prescribe, enforce and adjudicate law in a certain space or over a person or thing) and ‘military occupation’ are excellent examples of such ‘normative spatialities’.
The objective of this seminar is to examine spatial perspectives on international law – asking not only ‘how’ but also ‘why’ the international legal regime has developed this way (and what the future might bring in the contemporary world order). It does so through a primarily ‘traditional’ (i.e. positivist) doctrinal approach. However, the seminar will also occasionally make reference to critical perspectives and approaches informed by the social sciences, such as Legal Geography and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL).
These are just some of the questions that we will ask in this course, which explores the many ways in which humanity (and in particular the international community of States) has regulated spaces through public international law. It begins by providing a general introduction to the functioning of public international law (German: Völkerrecht), meaning the law that applies between States and other subjects of international law. Thereafter, this course analyzes how the international legal regime regulates various physical spaces and their relationships with human societies through general and specific rules, instruments (in particular treaties) and institutions (in particular international organizations): territory; oceans and the seabed; rivers, aquifers and lakes; airspace; outer space (including the Moon); and the Polar regions (Arctic and Antarctica). While these spaces (and environment, ecosystems and resources found therein) are a physical reality, the way the law conceptualizes and regulates them is largely a social construct of human civilization (power, interests, economics, culture, religion, etc.). Legal notions such as ‘sovereignty’, ‘borders’, ‘jurisdiction’ (i.e. the lawful power of States to prescribe, enforce and adjudicate law in a certain space or over a person or thing) or ‘marine protected areas’ are excellent examples of such ‘normative spatialities’.
The objective of this course is to examine spatial perspectives on international law – asking not only ‘how’ but also ‘why’ the international legal regime has developed this way (and what the future might bring in the contemporary world order). It does so through a primarily ‘traditional’ (i.e. positivist) doctrinal approach. However, the seminar will also occasionally make reference to critical perspectives and approaches informed by the social sciences, such as Legal Geography and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL).
These are just some of the questions that this seminar seeks to address. It begins by providing a general introduction to the functioning of public international law (German: Völkerrecht), meaning the law that applies between States and other subjects of international law. Thereafter, this seminar analyzes how the international legal regime regulates various physical spaces and their relationships with human societies through general and specific rules, instruments (in particular treaties) and institutions (in particular international organizations): territory, oceans, rivers and lakes, airspace, outer space, and ecosystems. While these spaces (and environment, ecosystems and resources found therein) are a physical reality, the way the law perceives and regulates them is largely a construct of human civilization (power, interests, economics, culture, religion, etc.). Legal notions such as ‘sovereignty’, ‘borders’, ‘jurisdiction’ (i.e. the lawful power of States to prescribe, enforce and adjudicate law in a certain space or over a person or thing) and ‘military occupation’ are excellent examples of such ‘normative spatialities’.
The objective of this seminar is to examine spatial perspectives on international law – asking not only ‘how’ but also ‘why’ the international legal regime has developed this way (and what the future might bring in the contemporary world order). It does so through a primarily ‘traditional’ (i.e. positivist) doctrinal approach. However, the seminar will also occasionally make reference to critical perspectives and approaches informed by the social sciences, such as Legal Geography and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL).