Melisa Kurter’s work focuses on international criminal law, human rights and data governance, and in particular on cases connected with INTERPOL and extradition. She holds an LL.B. from Marmara University in Turkey and an LL.M. in Transnational Crime and Justice, a programme run jointly by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) in Italy and the UN-mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) in Costa Rica.
In The Hague she completed an internship with the Office of the Prosecutor of the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), which continues the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); there she took part in war crimes investigations and in the analysis of court proceedings. As a research intern with the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), she carried out policy analysis on including vulnerable groups — work that broadened her understanding of international governance and human rights.
Before moving into international practice, she worked at established Istanbul law firms, handling criminal cases in court and gaining specific experience with maritime and environmental crime.
In short, Melisa combines human rights and international criminal law with work on INTERPOL and extradition cases, backed by time at UN bodies and an international tribunal spent on war crimes investigations and legal policy analysis.