Dr Henok Asmelash

Dr Henok Asmelash

Birmingham Law School
Assistant Professor

Contact details

Address
Birmingham Law School
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Henok Asmelash is an Assistant Professor in Law at the University of Birmingham Law School. Prior to joining the University of Birmingham, he was a Global Postdoctoral Fellow at New York University (NYU) and a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg. He holds a PhD in International Law and Economics from Bocconi University (Milan) and LLM degrees in International Economic Law and Policy from the University of Barcelona and in Business Law from Addis Ababa University.

His research interest lies within the broad field of international economic law with a particular emphasis on legal and policy issues at the intersection of trade, energy and the environment as well as on regional economic integration in Africa. Henok has published in leading international law journals such as the Journal of International Economic Law (JIEL), the European Journal of International Law (EJIL), the Journal of World Investment and Trade (JWIT) and World Trade Review (WTR). His publications on international energy subsidy governance have been cited widely, including by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Qualifications

  • PhD in International Law and Economics (Bocconi University)
  • LLM in International Economic Law and Policy (University of Barcelona)
  • LLM in Business Law (Addis Ababa University)
  • LLB (Jimma University)
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (University of Birmingham)

Biography

Henok holds a PhD in International Law and Economics from Bocconi University (Milan) and LLM degrees in International Economic Law and Policy from the University of Barcelona and in Business Law from Addis Ababa University. Henok has consulted the World Institute on Development Economics Research and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development on intergovernmental efforts to tackle environmentally harmful fossil fuel subsidies.

Teaching

  • International and European Economic Law (Module Leader)
  • International Trade Law and Policy (LLM) (Module Leader)
  • Preferential Trade Agreements and Regional Blocks (LLM)
  • Legal Foundations of the European Union

Postgraduate supervision

Henok is interested in supervising students on any of the following areas:

International trade law
International investment law
Regional economic integration in Africa
Global energy transition governance


Find out more - our PhD Law  page has information about doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

Research

Henok’s research primarily focuses on legal and policy issues at the intersection of trade, energy and the environment with a particular emphasis on the regulation of energy subsidies in the multilateral trading system and other intergovernmental forums. Another strand of his research examines the external and non-economic dimensions of the regional economic integration process in Africa.

Publications

Recent publications

Book

de Amstalden, M, Moran, N & Asmelash, H (eds) 2023, International Economic Law: New Approaches and Issues. European Yearbook of International Economic Law, 1 edn, Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41996-6

Article

Asmelash, H 2023, 'The Role of International Trade Law in the Energy Transition', The Journal of World Investment & Trade, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 847–878. https://doi.org/10.1163/22119000-12340312

Asmelash, H 2023, 'The WTO Dispute Settlement System as a Forum for Climate Litigation?', Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 321-333. https://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12490

Asmelash, H 2022, 'The First Ten Years of WTO Jurisprudence on Renewable Energy Support Measures: Has the Dust Settled Yet?', World Trade Review, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 455–478. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474745622000180

Asmelash, H 2022, 'The Regulation of Environmentally Harmful Fossil Fuel Subsidies: From Obscurity to Prominence in the Multilateral Trading System', European Journal of International Law, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 993–1023. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chac043

Asmelash, H 2022, 'The Turn to Safeguard Measures in the Solar Trade War', Journal of World Trade, vol. 56, no. 5, pp. 803–830. https://doi.org/10.54648/trad2022033

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Asmelash, H 2024, International Trade Law and Climate Litigation. in F Sindico, K McKenzie, G Medici-Colombo & L Wegener (eds), Research Handbook on Climate Change Litigation. Edward Elgar, pp. 326-341.

Asmelash, H 2022, The Legacy of the SADC Tribunal in International Investment Law. in H Ruiz Fabri & E Stoppioni (eds), International Investment Law: An Analysis of the Major Decisions. 1st edn, Studies in International Trade and Investment Law, Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 529–544. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509929078.ch-030

Asmelash, H 2021, DS381: United States – Measures ­Concerning the Importation, Marketing and Sale o­f Tuna and Tuna Products (US – Tuna II (Mexico)). in Trade and Environmental Law. Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law, Edward Elgar, pp. 608-611. <https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/trade-and-environmental-law-9781783476978.html>

Chapter

Asmelash, H 2023, Energy and the Glasgow Climate Pact: Paving the Way for Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform? in Palgrave Studies in Sustainable Futures: The Palgrave Handbook of Environmental Policy and Law. Springer.

Asmelash, H & Kassahun, T 2022, Higher Education in the framework of African Continental and Regional Integration. in Materials on African Regional and Continental Integration in Higher Education. OBREAL Global, pp. 65-95. <https://haqaa2.obsglob.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Materials-on-African-Regional-and-Continental-Integration-in-Higher-Education-1.pdf>

Book/Film/Article review

Asmelash, H 2021, 'Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform: An International Law Perspective, by Vernon Rive: Cheltenham, UK/Northampton, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019 320 Pp, £90 (Hardback)', Carbon and Climate Law Review, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 114-116. https://doi.org/10.21552/cclr/2021/1/12

Commissioned report

Acton, J, Anderson, P, Andres, L, Angus, M, Amor, P, Arrowsmith, J (ed.), Asmelash, H, Bartington, S (ed.), Bengtsson, F, Bhullar, L, Bloss, W, Bonet, B, Börner, S, O Bonsu, N, Bryson, JR, Burns, V, Burrows, A, Calvert, C, Cassidy, N, Cavoski, A, Chadyiwa, M, Chapman, H, Chapman, L, Cockram, M, Degendardt, L, Dickinson, D, Ding, Y, Dobrzynski, D, Dolo, M, Dora, J, Ercolani, M, Ersoy, A, Farag, H, Ferranti, E, Fisher, R, Freer, M, Goldmann, N, Goode, CE, Greenham, S, Gulati, S, Hadfield-Hill, S, Harper, G, Hegerl, G, Hillmansen, S, Holmes, J, Huang, JJ, Huser, C, Jackson, R, Jaroszweski, D, Jefferson, I, Johnson, J, Kaewunruen, S, Kelly-Akinnuoye, F, Kettles, G, Kraftl, P, Krause, S, Leckebusch, GC, Lee, R, Lockwood, B (ed.), Lohse, J, Luna Diez, E, Lynch, I (ed.), MacKenzie, R, Maddison, D, Makepeace, J, Mann, V, Marino, R, Mavronicola, N, McDonald, M, McGowan, K (ed.), Metje, N, Ng, K, Nicol, J, O'Sullivan, C, Phalkey, N, Prestwood, E, Pyatt, N, Quinn, A, Radcliffe, J (ed.), Ravi, M, Reardon, L, Reeder, T, O’Regan, P, Remedios, L, Roberts, J, Rogers, C, Rungskunroch, P, van Schaik, W, Swan, J (ed.), Thomson, I, Toft, H (ed.), Tong, J, Botello Villagrana, F, Walton, A, Wason, C (ed.), Weir, C, Wood, R & Zhong, J 2021, Addressing the climate challenge. University of Birmingham. https://doi.org/10.25500/epapers.bham.00003451

Other contribution

Asmelash, H 2024, Aligning International Trade Law with the Energy Transition. University of Birmingham. <https://blog.bham.ac.uk/lawresearch/2024/01/aligning-international-trade-law-with-the-energy-transition/>

Asmelash, H 2024, US Inflation Reduction Act: Yet Another Green Industrial Policy on Trial at the WTO. University of Birmingham. <https://blog.bham.ac.uk/lawresearch/2024/04/us-inflation-reduction-act-yet-another-green-industrial-policy-on-trial-at-the-wto/>

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