Kiviorg, Merilin

Personal data

• Born: March 21, 1973, Kohtla-Järve
• merilin.kiviorg@law.ox.ac.uk;
  merilinkiviorg@hotmail.com

Education

• Doctoral Student (PRS), University of Oxford, 2002−2006
• Magister iuris, University of Tartu, 2000 (cum laude)
• Lawyer and Programme Coordinator, Estonian Law Centre Foundation (ELC), October 1996–February 1999
• B.A., Faculty of Law, University of Tartu, 1996

Career

• Lecturer of International Law and EC Law, Faculty of Law, University of Tartu, 2001−2004
• Assistant of International Law and EC Law, Faculty of Law, University of Tartu, September 1998–2001
• Fellow of the Constitutional Law Institute, Estonian Law Centre Foundation (ELC), February 2001–2004
• Lawyer and Programme Coordinator, Estonian Law Centre Foundation (ELC), October 1996–February 1999
• Secretary for Commission for Restoring Illegally Expropriated Property, Ida-Virumaa County Government, 1991–1992

Main areas of research

• Public International Law, Human Rights, Basic Rights, Law on Religions, Individual and Collective Freedom of Religion and Belief, Human Rights in EU, Regulatory Impact Analysis.

Grants and projects

• Scatcherd European Scholarship 2002−2003
• Fellow of the Project: Constitutional Law Institute. Estonian Law Centre Foundation (ELC), 2001–current
• Human Rights in European Union – Phare Conditional Grant, September–December 2000
• Project Leader of Estonian Law Centre Foundation (ELC) publication: Textbook on Legal Drafting and the Principle of Rule of Law, 1998–1999
• Open Estonia Foundation (OEF) grant No E97-14.01.03 for Editing and Publication of Benchbook for Judges, 1996
• Project leader of Estonian Law Centre Foundation (ELC) publication: Benchbook for Judges, 1996–1998
• Grants for studying in Finland (Åbo Akademi University), the Netherlands, Hungary (Central European University), Great Britain (University of Oxford)

Professional activity and membership

• Member of the Board of the Estonian Academic Law Society (EAÕS), 2000–2003; Member, 1998–current
• Member of the Ethical Committee of Biomedicine and Human Research, University of Tartu, 2000
• Member of Estonian Branch of the International Law Association, 1999–current
• Member of the Working Group formed by Ministry of Internal Affairs for drafting the new Churches and Congregation Act, 1999–2000

Participation in scientific conferences and seminars

• A Consultation of the Conference of European Churches (CEC). Religious Freedom: Majority and Minority Communities in their Relation to the State. Presentation on Tendencies in Church-State Relations – Seen from an Eastern European Perspective. Vienna, Austria, 2002
• Third European/American Conference on Religious Freedom: Church Autonomy and Religious Liberty. Written presentation on Permissible Scope of Legal Limitations on Freedom of Religion and Belief in Estonia. Emory University, Atlanta, USA, 2002
• Conference on Privacy, Budapest, Hungary, 2001
• Conference on Law and Religion in Civic Society. Presentation: State and Religion in Estonia. Vilnius, Lithuania, 2000
• Colloquium of European Consortium for Church-State Research. Presentation: Church and State in Estonia. Strasbourg, France, 2000
• Conference: What Do We Have in Common? Challenges on the Road to the 21st Century, University of York, United Kingdom, 2000
• International Symposium: Legislation and Legal Policy. Written presentation: Law, Religion and Politics. Tartu, Estonia, September 28–October 1, 2000
• Conference on Religious Liberty in Post-communist Countries. Presentation: Freedom of Religion and Belief in Estonia. Ukraine, 1999
• International Conference on Law Religion and Democratic Society. Presentation: Law on Religions in Estonia. University of Tartu, Estonia, 1999
• Second European/American Conference on Religious Freedom: Church Autonomy and Religious Liberty. Written presentation on Church Autonomy in Estonia. Trier, Germany, 1999
• Conference on Religious Pluralism in Northern Europe. Presentation: Law on Religions in Estonia. Riga, Latvia, 1999
• An International Workshop: Strengthening Independent Judiciaries: Strategies for Building Sustainable Judicial Organisations Representative of Estonian Law Centre Foundation (ELC). Riga, Latvia, 1997

Studies abroad

• Ph.D. (PRS) Student at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, 2002−2006
• Åbo Akademi University, Institute for Human Rights, Finland. Advanced Course on Human Rights, 2002
• Visiting Scholar, Oxford University, United Kingdom, 1999–2000
• Åbo Akademi University, Institute for Human Rights, Finland. Course on Human Rights, 1999
• Central European University, Summer University, Hungary. Course on Legal Theory and Judicial Review (Summer 1998), Summer, 1998
• Helsinki Committee, European Council, Training and Internship Programme for Central-and East-European Jurists: The Rule of Law, Democracy and Human Rights, 1998
• EuroFaculty/University of Helsinki, Finland, Advanced Study of Human Rights, 1994

Honours/Awards

• Open Estonia Foundation (OEF) Legal Research Competition: second-third award, 1996

Teaching practice

• Law on Religions. Individual and Collective Freedom of Religion, 2001
• Human Rights in EU, EuroCollege, Estonian Law Centre Foundation (ELC), 2001
• Human Rights, 2001
• EU Human Rights Law, 2000−2004
• International Law, 1998–2004
• Freedom of Religion, 1996−2004

Publications

• Kiviorg, M, Land, K., Miil, K., Vallikivi, H. Rahvusvaheline õigus [International Law]. Tallinn, 2002. 188 p. (in Estonian).
• M. Kiviorg. Law, Religion and Politics. – Rechtstheorie. Zeitschrift für Logik, Methodenlehre, Kybernetik und Soziologie des Rechts. Berlin: Duncker-Humblot, 2001, pp. 305–320.
• Kiviorg, M. State and Church in Estonia. – State and Church in Baltic States. Latvian Association for Freedom of Religion. Riga, 2001
• Kiviorg, M. Church Autonomy in Estonia. – Robbers, G. (ed.). Church Autonomy. A Comperative Survey. Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main, 2001, pp. 285–301
• Kiviorg, M. Church and State in Estonia. – European Journal for Church and State Research, 2000. Peeters: Belgium, Vol. 7, pp. 317–338
• Kiviorg, M. Law on Religions. Individual and Collective Freedom of Religion. Master Thesis, 2000.
• M. Kiviorg. Regulatory Impact Analysis: Comparative Overview of Estonian and Western Models. – K. Merusk, M. Kiviorg (eds.). Legal Drafting and the Principle of Rule of Law. Tartu, 1999, pp. 19–40 (in Estonian).
• Kiviorg, M. Comparative Analysis of Law on Religions in Estonia (1918–1940; 1991–1996). Bachelor Thesis, 1996.

Articles in Juridica

• Basic Concepts, Principles and Sources of Law of Religion Freedom, Juridica Abstract, 2001, No. 1, pp. 23-34
• Estonian Greek Orthodox Church and Objective Ecclesiastical Law, Juridica Abstract, 1997, No. 10, pp. 518-523
• The Law Regulating Churches as Part of Public Law in the Republic of Estonia: Comparative Analysis of the Periods 1918-1940 and 1991-1996, Juridica Abstract, 1997, No. 9, pp. 465-471

Articles in Juridica International

• Estonian Constitutional Law Institute, Juridica International, 2002, No. 1, pp. 181-182
• Legal Status of Religious Communities in the Realms of Public and Private Law, Juridica International, 2001, No. 1, pp. 169-177
• Church Autonomy and Religious Liberty in Estonia, Juridica International, 1999, No. 1, pp. 93-99

Languages

• Estonian (Native)
• English (Fluent)
• Russian (Fluent)
• Finnish (Fair)
• German (Fair)

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