MELINA ANTONIADIS
Melina Antoniadis is a lawyer specialised in public international law. She practises as a barrister from chambers in London, UK.
Melina’s practice covers the full range of public international law, including State responsibility, human rights, treaty obligations, law of the sea, international humanitarian law, international criminal law, with a specialisation in arts and cultural heritage as well as climate change and the environment. She is also developing a commercial and international arbitration practice.
Melina has appeared and advised in proceedings before the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the European Court of Human Rights, and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Melina is a member of the Bar of England and Wales, and the Law Society of Ontario. In 2025, she was appointed to the UK Attorney General’s Public International Law C Panel of Counsel. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Athens Public International Law Center, and an Associate Editor of the European Human Rights Reports.
Melina is the Founder of NOSTOS Strategies, the world’s first strategic consultancy solely dedicated to the return of cultural heritage. NOSTOS offers strategic advice to governments, organisations, communities, and private individuals to facilitate the repatriation of cultural artefacts.
Prior to being called to the Bar, Melina held positions at Wilmer Hale LLP in London, the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General in Toronto, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh, and the Permanent Representation of Greece at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal.
Born and raised in Montreal, Melina is of Greek and Cambodian heritage. She is fluent in English, French and Greek, and has a working knowledge of Spanish and Russian.
SELECTED CASES
Instructed as Special Legal Counsel by an Asian State to advise on all public international law matters and legal initiatives in the context of an ongoing conflict (Confidential)
Instructed by a private art collector against an art gallery in a claim under an investment and consignment agreement governed by English law (LCIA Rules)
Instructed as counsel for an African state (led by Professor Makane Moïse Mbengue) in Request by the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) for an Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States with respect to the Climate Change Crisis (ACtHPR)
Appeared as counsel to the African Union (led by Professor Makane Moïse Mbengue) in Request for an Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (ICJ)
Appeared as assistant counsel to the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (led by Professor Makane Moïse Mbengue) in Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (ITLOS)
Appeared as assistant counsel to the Republic of Maldives (led by Professor Payam Akhavan and Amy Sander KC) in Delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius/Maldives) (ITLOS)
Advised the Republic of Vanuatu (led by Professor Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh) in Request for an Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (ICJ)
Appeared as assistant counsel to the Plurinational State of Bolivia (led by Professor Payam Akhavan) in Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean (Bolivia v. Chile) (ICJ)
Advised as legal assistant the Office of the International Co-Prosecutor (led by Prosecutor Nicholas Koumjian and Andrew Boyle) in Case 004 (Investigation of Yim Tith) (ECCC)
Areas of expertise
- Arts and cultural heritage
- Climate change and the environment
- International arbitration
- International criminal law
- International human rights law
- International humanitarian law
- Public international law
Education
2024: Bar Transfer Test (Distinction), BPP University
2019: Master of Laws in Public International Law (LL.M., cum laude), Leiden University
2017: Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) and Bachelor of Laws (LL.B./J.D.), McGill University
Memberships
2024: Bar of England and Wales
2020: Law Society of Ontario
Languages
- English (native)
- French (native)
- Greek (native)
- Spanish (moderate)
- Russian (basic)
Awards and appointments
2025-Present: Attorney General’s Public International Law C Panel of Counsel
2025: The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, Pegasus Scholarship Paris Bar Exchange
2019: Telders International Law Moot Competition
- Leiden University Finalist Team Award
- Max Huber Award for Best Overall Score
- Carnegie Foundation Award for Best
- Memorial on behalf of the Respondent
- Award for Best Oral Argumentation on behalf of the Applicant (news release here)
Selected publications and conferences
Present: Editor, European Human Rights Reports, Thomson Reuters
March 2026: Bradley J. Gordon, Melina Antoniadis and Sokunthyda Long, ‘Cambodia’s Campaign to Recover Its National Treasures: A Unique Model of Collaborative Restitution’, 94 Fordham L. Rev. 38
November 2025: M Wewerinke-Singh and M Antoniadis, ‘Human rights, climate change and remedies’ in K Henrard and M Duin (eds), Research Handbook on Accountability for Human Rights Violations (Edward Elgar Publishing)
November 2025: Panellist, African Union ‘Post-Advisory Opinion Workshop on the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change’ (African Union HQ, Addis Ababa)
October 2025: Guest Lecture, “Climate Change and Human Rights” Course, NYU Center for Global Affairs
March 2025: Panellist, American Society of International Law (ASIL) Asia-Pacific Interest Group, ‘New Moves for the Repatriation of Historically Displaced Cultural Property in Asia’
Melina Antoniadis
E. melina.antoniadis@protonmail.com