ProfessorChristian Riffel

Chris is editor of the WTO TRIPS Commentary (Brill) and Associate Editor of the New Zealand Yearbook of International Law. He did his PhD under the supervision of Prof Thomas Cottier and authored 'Protection Against Unfair Competition in the WTO TRIPS Agreement' (Brill 2016). He is a main contributor to the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law and has published in leading international law journals, such as EJIL, ICLQ, German Law Journal, JIEL, European Law Review, Legal Issues of Economic Integration, and the Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law. In addition, Chris is on the indicative list of suitable arbitrators for EU trade agreements and was WTI Advisor to the EU in the negotiations for a trade agreement with New Zealand. He is the Regional Advisor for the Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law and Co-Chair of the International Economic Law Interest Group of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law. Chris was also a member of the ILA Committee on Rule of Law and International Investment Law until its conclusion in 2024.

Before joining UC, he was a postgraduate worker at the University of Edinburgh. Chris studied law at the University of Heidelberg, where he minored in environmental studies, Anglo-American and French law, and attended the summer course in public international law at The Hague Academy of International Law. He did his master’s degree at the Europa-Institut of Saarland University; his master’s thesis won the Hans-Werner Osthoff prize for excellent academic writing. Chris worked as a legal clerk for Baker McKenzie in Caracas, Venezuela, as well as in the German Embassy in Santiago de Chile. He is fluent in English, German, and Spanish.

Chris serves as the Honorary Consul of Germany in the South Island.