Mikayla Brier-Mills

During her MPhil in public international law at the University of Oxford, Mikayla was a scholar at Worcester College and Junior Dean at Mansfield College. Her MPhil thesis unpacks what plans are required to implement the ‘humane treatment obligation’ in Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. She is a qualified Australian lawyer and holds law degrees from Bond University, Australia (LL.B.), the Australian National University (GDLP), and the University of Oxford (BCL). She also graduated with her JSM from Stanford University as a Fellow in the Stanford Program for International Legal Studies. At Stanford, Mikayla taught for a Foreign and International Legal Research course, and was legal assistant to the Dean of Stanford Law Faculty, Jenny Martinez, on the topic of international human rights law and corporations. 

Before Oxford, Mikayla studied on exchange at Leiden University, practiced in law, and was a Teaching Fellow in Law at her alma mater. She also worked as a Foreign Law Clerk to (the then) Justice/Vice President Salim Joubran of the Supreme Court of Israel. While at Oxford, she specialised in public international law on the BCL, and took subjects in jurisprudence, human rights, socio-legal studies, and legal research methods. She taught on the 2021 Summer Programme for 'Oxford Introduction to Law in the UK' as a tutor and Cohort Leader in Human Rights, under the supervision of Professor Matt Dyson and in the assistance of Professor Sandy Fredman. She was a Legal Researcher for the Oxford Pro-Bono Publico on Judicial Independence in Military Courts, under the supervision of Judge Theodor Meron, and on Self-Determination Referendums (advising West Papua), and also for Federica D’Alessandra at the Blavatnik School of Government, who is Executive Director of both the Oxford Programme on International Peace & Security, and Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC). Mikayla also served as Editorial Assistant for the Global Community Yearbook on International Law and Jurisprudence, with board members such as the International Court of Justice Judge Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade; for Essex Court Chambers to contribute to the European Human Rights Reports; and as Correspondent to Oxford Human Rights Hub on Gender Based Violence.

Mikayla's research is based in international law, jurisprudence, and behavioural economics. She is interested in enhancing the humane treatment of people, through art, tech, and economic development.

Other than the Duke Humfrey’s library at Oxford, Mikayla's favourite places to study are the Peace Palace library in The Hague and The National Diet library in Tokyo, Japan. Other than law, Mikayla enjoys reading about moral, political philosophy, and the philosophy of action - to inform public policy decision making.

Mikayla is currently founding an online marketplace, "Kalet", to give women in poverty an opportunity to sell hand-crafted products online. She is also founding a database that aims to enhance the efficiency of government decision-making.