Dr Samuel Woldemariam

Career Summary

Biography

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy in Law, University of Newcastle
• Master of Laws, University of St. Thomas, USA

Fields of Research

Professional Experience

UON Appointment

Professional appointment

Awards

Award

Thesis Examinations

Teaching

Publications

For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.

Highlighted Publications

Chapter (1 outputs)

Journal article (5 outputs)

Other (9 outputs)

Review (3 outputs)

Thesis / Dissertation (1 outputs)

Grants and Funding

Summary

Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.

20244 grants / $15,000

20232 grants / $14,997

20221 grants / $2,008

Research Supervision

Current Supervision

Past Supervision

Research Projects

A Human Rights Evaluation of the Health Requirement under Australian Migration Law 2023 -

Most visa applicants that wish to enter Australia are required to meet the migration health requirement. The requirement supposedly aims to protect the public from the spread of diseases, preserve limited health infrastructures and limit health spending. In this respect, immigration laws perceive the individual migrant’s health condition as a potential threat to the public and to the State. Meanwhile, international human rights law upholds the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the State’s obligation not to discriminate based on the health status of individuals. In the context of children, for example, human rights law requires public actors to make decisions in consideration of the best interest of the child. How would this obligation impact decisions where a child does not meet the migration health requirement due to a pre-existing medical condition or disability? By reviewing the administration of the health requirement and the contemporary discourse on the right to health and non-discrimination, this project seeks to evaluate whether Australian practice accords with human rights obligations. 

Grants

Collaborators

Declaring United Nations Officials Persona Non Grata: Deciphering the Legal Controversy Between States and the United Nations 2024 -

The United Nations (‘UN’) claims to have a longstanding legal position that the doctrine of persona non grata (‘PNG’) is not applicable to its officials. The Organisation argues that the doctrine’s application is limited to inter-State diplomatic and consular relations and that the UN is not a State. International law scholars have also supported this position arguing that sparing the UN from the doctrine’s application is important for the proper functioning of the Organisation. Despite the UN’s opposition of the doctrine’s application to its officials, State practice is rife with evidence of UN officials being declared PNG by States. State practice also reveals that on most occasions where a State has pronounced such a declaration against a UN official, the Organisation has been unable to reinstate the official in the same State. Rather, efforts are made to reallocate the official to other duty stations. This project has two objectives. First, it interrogates the doctrinal legal question of whether UN officials can be declared PNG under existing rules of international law. Second, and most importantly, I question whether the unbridled application of the doctrine is desirable in the context of UN-State relations. In this regard, I draw attention to the discontentment of States, particularly those in the Third World, with international institutions. The rising incidence of PNG declarations is only a symptom to a larger problem of the deterioration of UN-State relations. In this regard, it is desirable for the concerned parties to prioritise mending relations and addressing concerns. A fruitful engagement on this front will enable the setting of legal boundaries for the application of the doctrine of PNG with respect to UN officials.

Research Collaborations

The map is a representation of a researchers co-authorship with collaborators across the globe. The map displays the number of publications against a country, where there is at least one co-author based in that country. Data is sourced from the University of Newcastle research publication management system (NURO) and may not fully represent the authors complete body of work.

Dr Samuel Woldemariam