Law and African Studies

My research is still influenced by my experience of working in Namibia in southern Africa for 20 years. I was involved in the post-independence restructuring of the political and legal system of the country, including the establishment of its first university and the creation of a faculty of law, of which I was a part. After returning to Germany, I broadened my research activities to include post-colonialism and the reflection of colonialism as part of the history of Bremen.

• Book writing — After almost three years, the second edition of a substantial work on the 1991 constitution of Namibia — amounting to 450 pages — is about to go to press. I am the lead author of the book. Dr. Anne Schmidt, an attorney at law who did her doctorate in law under my supervision, is the co-author.
• Western Sahara — The Spanish-colonized Western Sahara is still on the United Nations’ list of non-self-governing territories. Public and private institutions in Bremen have supported the peoples of Western Sahara and the efforts of the United Nations to find a solution to the conflict about the territory and the claim of the people for self-determination. The citizens of Bremen founded a non-governmental organization, “Freiheit für die Westsahara”, which members of the German Parliament (Bundestag) from different parties included on its advisory board. I am the speaker of the board.
• Exhibition — As part of a partnership between the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and Namibia (including the support of Bremen to the Namibia Project at the University of Bremen under my leadership), we prepared a documentary exhibition under the title “Bremen — Namibia, History of a Partnership 1975–2019”. Gunther Hilliges, the former head of the Office for Development Cooperation of Bremen, and I authored the documents, and the exhibition is planned for Windhoek in the near future. The COVID pandemic has so far prevented the completion of the project.

• Indigenous knowledge and soil protection in Namibia. In: H. Ginsky; E. Dooley et al., eds. International Yearbook of Soil Protection and Policy (Springer) 2019: 107–125 
• Customary Law Ascertained — project completed? In: Namibia Law Journal (11,1) 2019: 47–65 
• Westsahara. Afrikas letzte Kolonie. ed. with J. Tavakoli; W. Ruf and L. Gaiser. Berlin 2021. regiospectra 
• Legal protection of biodiversity in Namibia. (together with O. C. Ruppel). In: O. C. Ruppel; K. Ruppel-Schlichting, eds., Environmental law and policy in Namibia. 4th ed. Baden-Baden 2022. Nomos: 231–245 
• Customary law and the environment. In: O. C. Ruppel; K. Ruppel-Schlichting, eds., Environmental law and policy in Namibia. 4th ed., Baden-Baden. 2022. Nomos: 609–642 
• Laufzeitverlängerung für Atomkraftwerke: Ausstieg aus dem Ausstieg? In: Universitas 2022, 9 : 38 – 58Brazil (hybrid), December 4-8, 2022.