Dr. Javier GARCIA OLMEDO

Javier García Olmedo is a Research Scientist at the University of Luxembourg, FDEF, Department of Law. He is also the President of the Luxembourg Chapter of the Spanish and Ibero-American Arbitration Club (CEIA) and a dual-qualified lawyer (Spain and England & Wales)

His research focuses on three main areas: investment law, sanctions, and space law. He explores how nationality has become an instrument for investors to obtain protection under international investment, which is the subject of his forthcoming monograph, Strategic Nationality in International Investment Law (CUP). He also examines the legal and policy challenges of sanctions, including enforcement, circumvention, and their interaction with investment protection. Most recently, he has developed a research agenda on space law, examining the commercialisation of outer space and the application of the law of armed conflict to space activities.

In addition to his forthcoming monograph, he has published extensively in leading peer-reviewed journals, contributed to monographs, and organised events to advance research in these areas. His writings have appeared, inter alia, in the Leiden Journal of International Law, the Asian Journal of International Law, the Journal of International Dispute Settlement, the American Journal of International Law, and the International and Comparative Law Quarterly.

He teaches a range of public international law courses at FDEF, including bachelor-level Introduction to the International Legal System, International Law & Institutions, and master’s International Human Rights Law. He further teaches the Introduction to Law course for Bachelor of Economics students. Previously, he taught the International Dispute Resolution Online LLM at Queen Mary University of London.

Javier was awarded the TALENTIA Fellowship by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science to pursue his LLM studies, and a scholarship from the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law (MPI) to support his PhD research. He also received the 2020 ICLQ Early Career Prize for his article “Recalibrating the International Investment Regime through Narrowed Jurisdiction,” published in the International and Comparative Law Quarterly, and was awarded the 2025 Asian Society of International Law Young Scholar Prize for his article “In Fairness to Nottebohm: Nationality in an Age of Globalization,” published in the Asian Journal of International Law.

Between 2015 and 2019, Javier was a Research Fellow at the MPI. From 2018 to 2021, he lectured at Queen Mary University of London, teaching the online LLM in International Dispute Resolution. In addition to his academic work, he has over 10 years of experience in private practice, specialising in public international law and arbitration, including disputes under investment protection treaties, commercial contracts, economic sanctions compliance, and the enforcement of arbitral awards.

Javier holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Granada, Spain, an LLM in Public International Law and International Dispute Settlement from King’s College London, and a PhD in International Investment Law from the University of Luxembourg.