Clarissa Rodio (Pupil Barrister) Guernica 37

Called: 2021

 

Introduction

Clarissa is a member of the Bar of England and Wales and joined Chambers as a Pupil in April 2022, having previously worked as a Junior Associate since January 2021. She is currently supervised by Toby Cadman, the Joint Head of Guernica 37 Chambers.

 

Previous experience

Prior to commencing pupillage, Clarissa has developed experience in international criminal law, international human rights and extradition. She has been a member of the Defence team for Nasim Haradinaj before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, holding the position of Legal Associate.

 

Clarissa collaborated with the team of barristers who have been assisting the Government of the Netherlands in obtaining justice and accountability for all the victims of torture in the Syrian Arab Republic. Further to this, Clarissa has been cooperating with members of Chambers in drafting submissions to the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Unit (SO15) on crimes linked to Syria.

 

As a Junior Associate, she has been part of the legal team representing victims of Yemen’s civil war, calling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by the Saudi-led coalition in the Republic of Yemen. Clarissa delivered a presentation in this regard at the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and was subsequently appointed to manage and coordinate a project related to the conflict in Yemen, specifically focusing on the field of mercenaries and private military contractors (PMCs), the use of cluster munitions and the role of U.S. corporations in manufacturing these weapons.

 

Throughout her time at Guernica 37 Chambers, Clarissa assisted in drafting legal memoranda, opinions and submissions on various international and human rights law issues involving, inter alia, Syria, Yemen, Russia, Romania, Montenegro, India.

 

Clarissa completed her BPTC at City University of London in 2020 and achieved an LLM with Distinction, which was undertaken concurrently with the BPTC. During the BPTC, she had the opportunity to specialise in Financial Crime and Company Law, and to obtain a deeper insight into these fields in practice. Throughout 2019-2020, Clarissa worked pro bono as a caseworker for APPEAL, a charity law practice that fights miscarriages of justice and her role entailed analysing criminal cases, conducting legal research involving grounds for an appeal against conviction, analysing the Judge’s summing-up and identifying gaps in the evidence as well as various inconsistencies that rendered each case unsafe. 

 

Education

BSc (Hons) Criminology, London Metropolitan University – First Class Honours (Top 10%)

LLM Criminal Justice, Queen Mary University of London – Merit

BPTC, City Law School – Very Competent

LLM, City Law School – Distinction

 

Memberships

The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn

Association of Young International Criminal Lawyers (AYICL)

Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum (DELF)

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Appointments and Awards

Queen Mary University of London, LLM Scholarship

City University of London, GDL Scholarship

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Publications

Clarissa Rodio, ‘Modern Warfare: Corporate Mercenaries and Wars for Profit’, Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) in collaboration with the Association of Young International Criminal Lawyers (AYICL), 1 December 2021.

 

Clarissa Rodio, ‘Historia Magistra Vitae: Memory and Oblivion’, Association of Young International Criminal Lawyers (AYICL), 1 March 2022.

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Expertise

Crime

Extradition & Mutual Legal Assistance

Business and Human Rights

Government Advisory Work

Public International Law

International Criminal Law

International Human Rights Law

 

Languages

English

Italian

French

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Recent Cases

Kosovo Specialist Chambers:

Specialist Prosecutor v. Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj

 

United Nations Special Procedures:

Christian Michel v. Government of India and Government of the United Arab Emirates

 

INTERPOL and Extradition:

Duško Knežević v. Government of Montenegro

Joseph Assad and Aron Shaviv v. Government of Montenegro

 

International Court of Justice:

The Netherlands v. The Syrian Arab Republic