People

Matthias Mahlmann

Matthias Mahlmann is Professor of Philosophy and Theory of Law, Sociology of Law, and International Public Law at the University of Zurich. His research focuses in particular on practical philosophy and the foundations of law. 

Daniel Moeckli

Daniel Moeckli is Professor of Public Law with a focus on International and Comparative Law at the University of Zurich. His research centers on public international law, human rights law, and comparative constitutional law.

Sarah Summers

Elif Askin

Elif Askin is a Senior Research and Teaching Fellow in Public Law, Administrative Law, International Law, and Legal Foundations at the University of Zurich, affiliated with the URPP Equality of Opportunity. She is currently pursuing her habilitation with a project analyzing the legal dimensions of state-driven behavioral governance through public information. 

Matthias Hächler

Matthias Hächler graduated from the Universities of Zurich and Oxford. After working as an auditor and law clerk at the district court of Bülach, he passed the bar exam of the Canton of Zurich in 2024 and finished his PhD-thesis on the topic of the foundations and principles of toleration and freedom of religion in 2025. He is at the beginning of his habilitation project and is interested in legal philosophy & theory, private law and human rights law.

CV and Publications

Benedict Elliott

Benedict Elliott is a PhD student at the University of Zurich within the URPP Equality of Opportunity. He graduated from the University of Glasgow with an LL.B. (Hons) in Common Law. His general research interests lie in human rights law. In particular, he is interested in the relationship between criminal law and freedom of expression, and is currently writing a thesis on the criminalisation of hate speech.

Yquem Zberg

Yquem Zberg is a PhD student at the University of Zurich in the URPP Equality of Opportunity. His general research interests lie in the fields of legal philosophy, legal theory, and practical philosophy. He currently conducts research on the foundations of human rights.

Estelle Wu

Estelle Wu is a law student at the University of Zurich, whose areas of interest are human rights law, socio-legal studies and comparative constitutional law. She is a student assistant for NORMZ and the URPP Equality of Opportunity.

Zalman Rothschild

Zalman Rothschild is a legal scholar with a JD, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and a PhD in Religion from New York University. He has been a Bigelow Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School, a law clerk for Judge Jane Roth on the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and a litigation associate at Paul, Weiss. His research focuses on the First Amendment, anti-discrimination law, and law and religion. His work has been published in top law journals, including Columbia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, and Georgetown Law Journal. In 2023, he received the Harold Berman Award for Excellence in Scholarship from the Association of American Law Schools.