Kelisiana Thynne is currently Head of the Legal Department in the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’s delegation in Manila, where she advises on the legal issues associated with the armed conflicts in the Philippines. Previously she was in the ICRC’s Operational Law Unit in Geneva advising and research on the legal and humanitarian issues in the aftermath of conflict. Before that she was in the Advisory Services, working on implementation of IHL into domestic law, covering a range of thematic files such as sexual violence, protection of the natural environment, counterterrorism, weapons and responsible arms transfers. From 2014-2018, she was in Kuala Lumpur as ICRC Regional Legal Adviser, covering South East Asia and Japan. Prior to that, she was with ICRC as Legal Advisor in Kabul, Afghanistan, and as Regional Legal Advisor for the Pacific.
Kelisiana has worked for the Australian government as the Director of Capability and Research Manager at the Australian Civil-Military Centre and as a Senior Legal Officer in the Office of International Law of the Australian Attorney-General’s Department. She has a Master of Laws from the University of Sydney and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the Australian National University and is currently completing a Graduate Certificate on the Law of the Sea through the University of Wollongong.
