Fiona Thorp is a Fellow at the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute. Her work focuses on international criminal law, international humanitarian law, and pathways to accountability for serious human rights violations.

She most recently worked as a Legal Research Consultant with the Human Rights Institute, assisting Sarah Knuckey on a project examining United Nations inquiries’ engagement with, and state responses to, violations of international humanitarian law. Prior to that, Thorp was a Legal Advisor at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) in Berlin. There, she conducted extensive legal and factual research, prepared complaints under universal jurisdiction frameworks, and supported submissions before the International Criminal Court. She contributed to strategic litigation aimed at challenging impunity for international crimes and advancing accountability through domestic prosecutions.

Earlier in her career, Thorp served as a Legal and Policy Adviser at Te Aka Matua o te Ture | The New Zealand Law Commission, where she worked on law reform relating to adult decision-making capacity, human rights frameworks, and tikanga and mātauranga Māori. She also practiced as a litigation solicitor at Simpson Grierson in Aotearoa New Zealand, where she worked on public law and human rights matters.

Fiona Thorp holds an LL.M. (Hons) from Columbia Law School, where she specialized in international criminal law and international human rights law, and is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand.