Saïd Benarbia – Director
Saïd Benarbia, a Moroccan Jurist, joined the ICJ in 2006. He has contributed to consolidating the work of the ICJ in the region and to expanding the MENA programme. Saïd studied law in Morocco, France and Switzerland. He holds a degree in International Law and International Relations from Fez University, Morocco, a Masters in Public Law from the Bourgogne University, France, and a Masters in European Law from the European Institute, Geneva. Prior to joining the ICJ, Saïd worked for the International Law and Legal Department of the International Organization for Migration.
Alice Goodenough – Legal Adviser
Alice Goodenough read Law at the Universities of Cambridge, the United Kingdom (UK), and Utrecht, the Netherlands. She also holds a Masters in International Legal Studies from New York University (USA). Before joining the ICJ in 2011, Alice qualified as a solicitor in the UK and worked with Harrison Grant Solicitors in the field of public law. She has also spent time working on issues of international law as they relate to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Giulia Soldan – Programme Officer
Giulia joined the ICJ in July 2012 as an intern for the Middle East and North Africa Programme. In January 2013 she started working as a Legal Researcher from the ICJ office in Tunis. She has been working as a Programme Officer for the MENA Programme in Geneva since September 2014. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Human Rights from the University of Padua, Italy and a Master in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva, Switzerland.
Rima Moussaoui – Associate Legal Adviser
Rima joined the ICJ in January 2015. She was admitted to the Barreau du Québec, Canada, in 2008, and she holds an LL.M with a specialization in International Law (2011) from the University of Montreal, Canada. Before joining the ICJ, Rima worked for several years as a legal officer in the International Labour Standards department of the International Labour Organization (ILO), in Geneva, on issues of child labour and forced labour. She also worked as legal consultant for the ILO’s Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, on projects relating to the prevention of human trafficking and on business and human rights. Rima speaks English, French, and Arabic.
Doireann Ansbro – Associate Legal Adviser
Doireann Ansbro is a qualified barrister at the Bar of England and Wales. Before joining the MENA section of the ICJ in February 2014, she worked as a consultant with the Special Rapporteur on transitional justice at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a human rights attache at the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the UN in Geneva and she completed an internship in the business and human rights section of the ICJ. She completed her pupillage at Mitre House Chambers, London in 2011, specializing in criminal law and asylum and immigration law. She holds an LLM in human rights law from the University of Nottingham, an LLB from Nottingham Law School at Nottingham Trent University and a BA in History and English from Trinity College Dublin.
Shirin Abu Fannouneh – Legal Researcher
Shirin, a Palestinian jurist, studied Law in Palestine, France and the United Kingdom. She holds an LLB in Law from Birzeit University, Palestine, an MA in Penal Law and Criminal Sciences from the University of Nantes, France, and an LLM in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law from the University of Essex, the United Kingdom. Prior to joining the ICJ-MENA programme, Shirin worked as an Advocacy Officer for Al-Haq from 2011 to 2013 and a Management Associate for the Human Rights in Iran Unit at the University of Essex. Shirin was also an intern at REDRESS.
Theo Boutruche – Legal Adviser
Theo joined the ICJ in December 2014. Theo holds a Ph.D. in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva, Switzerland). Prior to joining the ICJ, he worked for various organizations, notably as Post-Conflict Legal Adviser at REDRESS, as the Amnesty International Researcher on the Democratic Republic of Congo and as an Associate Human Rights Officer within the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. He was the IHL/Human Rights Expert of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia and as a consultant he conducted research, fact-finding work and training in conflict and post-conflict settings such as Georgia, DRC, Uganda, Kenya, the occupied Palestinian territory, Lebanon, and Iraq. He also teaches international law, human rights law and IHL in various universities, most recently at the University College London and currently at Notre Dame University in Lebanon where he is based.