CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER & MIDDLE EAST EXPERT CONSULTANT & ADVISOR MEDIA APPEARANCES PUBLICATIONS ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT ABOUT
Naseef Naeem was born in Syria in 1974 where he completed his degree in law and practised as a lawyer for several years.
In 2002, he was awarded a doctoral scholarship to study in Germany and gained his PhD in 2007 with his thesis on the new federal system in Iraq.
As an expert in state and constitutional law, he then went on to work for several institutions, including the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law.
He lectured at the University of Göttingen and co-edits the Jahrbuch für Verfassung, Recht und Staat im islamischen Kontext [Yearbook for Constitution, Law and State in an Islamic Context].
Since 2014 he has been leading the zenithCouncil consultancy network, together with Middle East specialist Daniel Gerlach, where he offers insight into topics regarding the states and laws of the Arab world.
I. Professional Experience
II. Academic Positions
III. Teaching Activities
Lectures, Seminars
IV. Further Roles
Positions of Responsibility, Training for the Judiciary,
Consultancy Work
V. Tertiary Education and Academic Qualifications
In Germany and Syria
I. Professional Experience
Political consultant, freelancer and expert specialising in fragile states in the Middle East, external research director at the zenithCouncil (zC): Research and Consulting Department at the Deutscher Levante Verlag, Berlin, since 01/12/2017. Current fields of work:
Head of the Peace Support Programme for Yemen, German development agency (GIZ), 01/01/2016–30/11/2017
Head of the Transitional Support Programme for Yemen (TSP), German development agency (GIZ), 01/03–31/12/2015
Adviser, Transitional Support Programme for Yemen (TSP), German development agency (GIZ), 01/11/13–28/02/2015
Independent lawyer, Homs, Syria, 1999–2002
II. Academic Positions
Visiting researcher at the Courant Research Center (Education and Religion), University of Göttingen, 04/06–15/08/2013
Senior Research Fellow (Ass. Professor) at the Seminar for Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Göttingen, financed by the German Research Foundation (DFG),
01/08/2009–28/02/2013
Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and In-ternational Law (Sudan Team), Heidelberg, 16/04/2009–31/07/2009
Junior Research Assistant at the Law Faculty, University of Damascus, department: Public Law, field of teaching: Constitutional Law and Political Systems, 2001–2002
III. Teaching Activities
1. Lectures at the University of Göttingen
31 May 2010 (repeated on 29 May 2012), Integration of Islamic norms into the consti-tutions of Iraq and Egypt
Winter semester 2009–2010, Methods for conducting internet searches in Arabic on topics concerning Arabic and Islamic studies as well as law
2. Seminare
University of Göttingen, Seminar for Arabic and Islamic Studies
Winter semester 2011–2012, The legal situation in Arab States: development or stagna-tion after the Arab Spring? Topics included:
Summer semester 2010, Iraq: a never-ending constitutional and political process? Topics included:
Summer semester 2009, Religious aspects in the constitutions of the Arab states: defini-tion, analysis and influence. Topics included:
Freie Universität Berlin
Summer semester 2012, Islam and law in Germany: intercultural challenges. Topics included:
Summer semester 2011, Constitution, law and state in an Islamic context. Topics included:
Summer semester 2010, The current constitutional problems of Islamic states. Topics included:
Winter semester 2009–2010, The relevance of Sharia in western countries. Topics included:
Summer semester 2009, The system of fundamental rights in the constitutions of Islamic countries. Topics included:
Winter semester 2008–2009, The organisation of the state in Islamic countries: more democracy for more stability in the Middle East? Topics included:
3. Supervised Works
The fundamental rights in the Association Agreement between the EU and Syria
Classification of three Iraqi NGOs in different civil society concepts according to their websites
Egyptian bloggers’ political ideas about a new Egypt after Mubarak
Revolt or revolution? An analysis of developments in Egypt – from the national uprising to the enactment of the transitional constitution
IV. Further Roles
1. Positions of Responsibility
Fellow at the Candid Foundation, since 2020
Managing board member of the Association for Arabic and Islamic Law (GAIR), Leipzig, Germany, responsible for the secretariat, first elected October 2011–2015
Founding member of the Berlin Judiciary Working Group for State and Islam in Germany (BASID), 2010–2013
2. Training for the Judiciary
Judicial training for judges in Germany, topic: Judiciary and Islam, judicial examination offices of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, 17 December 2012
Training session for prison officers, topic: Intercultural competence: how to treat Mus-lim inmates, 28 February 2012
3. Consultancy Work
Consultant for the German development agency (GIZ), topic: Legal principles guiding the work of Islamic charity organisations: analysis of donor organisations from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar,
Kuwait and the multilateral Organisations IsDB, OFID, AMF and AGFUND, June 2020
Court expert in Germany on the law in Arab states:
Expert briefing at the Office of the Federal Chancellor, topic: The situation in Syria, October 2017
Invited to attend the British and French Foreign Ministries on multiple occasions to consult and offer expert opinion on the situation in Syria, since 2015 (ongoing)
Expert for the European Center for Kurdish Studies (EZKS), topic: Decentralised ad-ministration in Syria, Berlin, March–June 2013
“The hot seat”, German Islam Conference for Young People, Federal Ministry of the Interior, 9 March 2013
Hearing at the Berlin House of Representatives (commission for labour, migration), top-ic: Islamic peace arbitrator (with a written statement in German), 31 May 2012,
www.parlament-berlin.de/ados/17/ArbIntFrau/protokoll/aif17-009-wp.pdf
V. Tertiary Education and Academic Qualifications
1. In Germany
Postdoctoral project, Law Faculty, University of Göttingen, topic: Main features of the state design of Arab Republics in comparison: contextualisation of modern constitution-al development,
2009–2013
PhD degree, Law Faculty, University of Hannover, 2002–2007, topic: The new federal system in Iraq: legal comparative research, certificate: Doctor of Laws, degree: cum laude
(Good), 20 June 2007
2. In Syria
Training as a lawyer at the Syrian law society, Homs, 1997–1999, final examination: admission to practise law
Diploma of financial and administrative sciences & master’s degree in public law, Law Faculty, University of Damascus, degree: Very Good, 1998–1999, topic: Inheritance tax in
Syria
Diploma in public law, Law Faculty, University of Damascus, degree: Good, 1996–1998, topic: The basis of administrative law: a comparison between the French origin and the
socialist modernity
Bachelor of law, Law Faculty, University of Aleppo, degree: Good, 1992–1996