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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

Projects

Publications

Books and anthologies

  1. 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 anthologiesCompendium/lecture notesTransfer

  2. 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 anthologiesCompendium/lecture notesTransfer

Journal contributions

  1. Review of Objections to RFMO Conservation and Management Measures under EU Law: Bloom v. Commission
    Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , 01.06.2026 , in: International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, 41, 2 , p. 472-483 , 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  3. Potential and Pitfalls of the Advisory Function of ITLOS under the BBNJ Agreement
    Alice Bertram (Author) , Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Johannes Ipsen (Author) , 01.01.2026 , in: Leiden Journal of International Law, 39, 3

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  5. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

  1. The procedure for the prompt release of vessels and crews: Pragmatic? Predictable? Passé?
    Camille Goodman (Author) , Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , 12.02.2026 , p. 330-355 , 26 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologiesChapterResearchpeer-review

  2. 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/anthologiesChapterResearchpeer-review

  3. Seeanlagengesetz (SeeAnlG)
    Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Emma Bartmann (Author) , 01.09.2024 1 ed. Baden-Baden

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologiesContributions in collection of commentariesResearch

  4. 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/anthologiesContributions in collection of commentariesResearch

  5. Planung/Zulassung von Energieanlagen Seeanlagengesetz (Rn 1-17) Einführung
    Valentin J. Schatz (Author) , Emma Bartmann (Author) , 01.01.2024 München

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologiesContributions in collection of commentariesResearch

Prizes

  1. Promotionspreis 2020-2022
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointmentsResearch

Courses

This course focuses on the relationship between global security issues
and the peaceful settlement of disputes in international law (PDS).
First, it provides an overview and understanding of the methods of PDS, which range from negotiation to the use of international institutions to recourse to binding forms of settlement such as judicial or arbitral proceedings.
Second, this course explores how PDS relates to diverse global security issues in the 21th century, while employing a broad understanding of ‘global security’ that emphasizes interlinkages between security and global challenges such as environmental protection, human rights and migration.
Next appointment:
Wednesday, 2026-10-14 at 10:15
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.
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
This seminar addresses the role, achievements and shortcomings of international law and relevant global and regional actors and institutions in achieving sustainable ocean governance. Its main focus is on the international legal framework governing the sustainable use and protection of the oceans and the international institutions established for the purpose of, or involved in, implementing these legal frameworks (for example, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Seabed Authority (ISA) or regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs)). In the media, we regularly read about the shortcomings of this legal and institutional order (such as the ongoing ‘tragedy of the commons’), with journalists writing bestselling accounts of the oceans as a “lawless frontier” and filmmakers reaching broad audiences with documentaries such as the rather activist ‘Seaspiracy’ or the more impressive ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’. Against that backdrop, this seminar aims not only to foster an understanding of ocean governance as an integrative concept – i.e., drawing from a broad legal framework – but also to diagnose the reasons for its shortfalls. Specifically, we will focus on environmental sustainability rather than all facets of what ‘sustainable’ ocean governance may entail (e.g., social sustainability, such as human rights, etc.). In essence, we will consider the legal and institutional dimension of UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (“Life below Water”), which encourages us to “[c]onserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. Where suitable, the seminar will also draw on security-related debates concerning ocean sustainability, such as in the context of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The global order of the oceans is uniquely suitable for the study of governance challenges due to its unmatched plurality of differing legal spaces (areas of full State sovereignty such as the internal waters, ‘free access’ global commons such as the high seas, internationally managed global commons such as the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction, and various spaces in between) and an unprecedented number of international organizations and bodies with a law-making competence.

The seminar begins by providing a general introduction to the main pillars and tenets of the global order of the oceans (particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as well as the concepts of ocean governance and ocean sustainability. Thereafter, the seminar analyzes specific persistent and/or contemporary challenges and recent or ongoing developments with respect to sustainable ocean governance. These topical sessions and the examples and/or case-studies examined in them highlight the importance not only of international law and institutions but also of its implementation through the prescription and enforcement of regional (for example, European) and domestic (for example, German) law.
Next appointment:
Thursday, 2026-10-15 at 10:00