Biography

Mindia Vashakmadze’s research interests include public international law, comparative constitutional and public law, the evolution of civil-military relations from an international and constitutional law perspective, and EU external relations.
His dissertation deals with the stationing of foreign troops within a state’s territory. On the basis of a comprehensive review of modern constitutions and state practice, he demonstrates that there is a growing support in domestic law for parliamentary participation in troop stationing decisions and examines its relevance from an international law perspective.
His current research focuses on international law aspects of foreign military and security assistance as well as on the role of international institutions in security sector reform. Furthermore, he examines issues of accountability of armed forces and intelligence services, and the role of national parliaments in the so-called “war on terror”. His most recent article (with Prof. Andreas Paulus) deals with parliamentary control over the use of armed forces against terrorism from a comparative perspective.
Mindia obtained his first law degree from Tbilisi State University, his master’s degree from Göttingen University and his doctorate from LMU Munich (summa cum laude). He was a DAAD fellow in Göttingen and held part-time teaching positions at Tbilisi State University and the Diplomatic Academy of the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He has previously worked for the Georgian Parliament and served as a consultant to the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Checchi Consulting and the Latvian Institute of International Affairs.