Matteo Tondini

Biography

Matteo Tondini (Laurea - Macerata; MA - CASD, Rome; PhD - IMT, Lucca) is a naval (staff) officer, military legal advisor and researcher, specializing in international/operational law and security issues. Currently Matteo serves as a legal advisor to the Italian Defence General Staff - Office of Legal Affairs (International Affairs).

Matteo is also one of the Editors and former Editor-in-Chief of the Military Law and the Law of War Review.

Education

In July 2002 Matteo obtained a Laurea in Law from Macerata University - Faculty of Law, with a thesis in international law, followed by a postgraduate masters degree in International, Military and Strategic Studies at the Centre for Advanced Defence Studies (CASD) in 2003, and a diploma as legal advisor at the Joint Services Staff College (ISSMI) in Rome. In 2004 he also attended a course on law of armed conflict at the IIHL in Sanremo, followed by a traineeship at the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War (Brussels) in 2005. In 2006 Matteo completed a research period at the Department of Peace Studies - University of Bradford (UK). In December 2008 he got a Ph.D. in 'Political Systems and Institutional Change' at IMT - Lucca Institute for Advanced Studies (Italy), with a thesis on justice system reform in Afghanistan.

Professional Background

In 2003 Matteo attended an internship at the Italian Diplomatic Office in Pristina (Kosovo). In 2004/2005, at the end of a two month training course at the Naval Academy (Livorno), he served as a naval officer (Navy Supply Corps) in the Legal Services Office of the Rome-based Command in Chief of the Italian Fleet. In June and July 2007 he worked as a consultant to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA - Afghanistan Unit) for the organization of the Rome Conference on the Rule of Law in Afghanistan, held on 2-3 July 2007. From December 2007 to May 2008, and in March-April 2012, Matteo served as an expert on mission, again for the MFA, working as a policy advisor to the Embassy of Italy in Kabul (Afghanistan) - Office for Development Cooperation (Afghanistan Justice Program). From September 2009 to October 2010 he also worked as a researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam within the EU-funded - 'INEX' Research Project. From November 2010 to December 2011 and from March to September 2013 Matteo served as a (military) legal advisor to the Italian Navy General Staff - Office of Legal Affairs. In May 2014, following a eight month training course at the Naval Academy, he entered the Navy on a permanent basis. From May 2014 to June 2015 Matteo worked as a legal and assistant supply officer on board a warship. From June 2015 to July 2016 he worked again as a legal advisor to the Italian Navy General Staff - Office of Legal Affairs. In 2014-2017, serving as legal advisor, he joined all the principal anti-migrant smuggling operations in Central Mediterranean Sea carried out so far by the Italian Navy and the European Union, namely 'Operation Mare Nostrum' (July-September 2014), 'Operation Mare Sicuro' (November-December 2014 and May-June 2015), and 'EUNAVFOR-MED Operation Sophia' (March-May 2016; July 2016 - September 2017).

Research Interests and Memberships

Matteo is the author of a monograph and several articles concerning a number of topics in different disciplines. His research interests encompass - but are not limited to - military/international/maritime law, post-conflict state-building, international terrorism, use of force, and human rights/international humanitarian law.

As a part of his research activities, since June 2011, he has been a cultore della materia (teaching assistant/expert) in international humanitarian law at the University of Rome 3, Faculty of Law. In the last few years he collaborated, inter alia, with the Italian Red Cross and the Istituto Affari Internazionali (Rome). In 2013-2015 he contributed in the EU-funded SHARES Research Project, led by the Amsterdam Center for International Law and focused on the responsibility of international actors. 

His memberships include: International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL); Italian Society of International Law (SIDI-ISIL) and Société Internationale de Droit Militaire et de Droit de la Guerre. Matteo is also a member of the ISIL Interest Group on the Law of the Sea.

Awards

2017 Richard R. Baxter Military Writing Prize (ASIL-Lieber Society) - Honorable mention for the Chapter Coalitions of the Willing, in A. Nollkaemper and I. Plakokefalos (eds), The Practice of Shared Responsibility in International Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017, 701-732.

 

  Contacts: m.tondini@gmail.com

 

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 Publications

(available on request)

Books

[Monograph drawn from the author's PhD Thesis: M. Tondini, Ubi Maior, Ibi Ius: Assessing Justice System

  Reform in Afghanistan, Lucca: IMT - Institute for Advanced Studies, 2008. Pp. xxviii, 250].

  [ NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK ]

  [ Also available on GOOGLE BOOKS ]

 Reviewed in the:

 

Journal Articles and Chapters in Edited Collections

 

Book Reviews

 

On-Line Papers & Reports

 

Other Research Activities

 

Seminars & Lectures

 

Conference Presentations