Reinhard Merkel (born 16 April 1950) is a professor in

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

and

philosophy of law Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of law and law's relationship to other systems of norms, especially ethics and political philosophy. It asks questions like "What is law?", "What are the criteria for legal vali ...

and a retired West German swimmer. He competed at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

in the 200 m and 400 m individual medley and finished in sixth place in the latter event. After retiring from swimming he studied law at the

University of Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

and the Ruprecht-Karls University in Heidelberg. He also studied law, philosophy and literature at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

, where he passed his state examination. After that he worked as a researcher at the

Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Social Law The Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Social Law (german: Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Sozialrecht) was a research institute devoted to the field of foreign and international social law. It was one of ...

and at the Institute of Philosophy in Munich. Between 1988 and 1990 he was an editor of the newspaper ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...

''. In 1991 he won the

Jean Améry Jean Améry (31 October 191217 October 1978), born Hanns Chaim Mayer, was an Austrian-born essayist whose work was often informed by his experiences during World War II. His most celebrated work, ''At the Mind's Limits: Contemplations by a Survi ...

Award for Essay Writing. After defending his PhD in 1993 in Munich and

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

in 1997 at the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

he worked as university professor of law in Bielefeld, Rostock and since 2000 in Hamburg. He wrote a number of books and other publications discussing

neuroethics In philosophy and neuroscience, Neuroethics is the study of both the ethics of neuroscience and the neuroscience of ethics. The ethics of neuroscience comprises the bulk of work in neuroethics. It concerns the ethical, legal and social impact of n ...

bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, med ...

and

embryonic stem cell Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre- implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consi ...

manipulations. Since April 2008, he has been a member of The Hinxton Group: An International Consortium on Stem Cells, Ethics and Law, which is based in Hinxton, UK, and Baltimore, USA. In January 2011 he was elected to the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

. He is a member of the

German Ethics Council German Ethics Council (german: Deutscher Ethikrat) (Precursor from June 2001 to February 2008: National Ethics Council of Germany) is an independent council of experts in Germany addressing the questions of ethics, society, science, medicine and l ...

for the term 2012–2016. He argues that the Russian military intervention in Crimea was an illegal support of a

Secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

and not an

Annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

.Faz: Die Krim und das Völkerrecht - Kühle Ironie der Geschichte (German)
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Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merkel, Reinhard 1950 births 21st-century German philosophers German ethicists Living people Male medley swimmers German male swimmers Olympic swimmers of West Germany Philosophers of law Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Academic staff of the University of Hamburg German male writers Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade bronze medalists for West Germany Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade