Prof. Dr. iur. John Henry Dingfelder Stone

Prof. Dr. iur. John Dingfelder Stone was born, raised and educated in Texas. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in Russian Language and Literature from the University of Texas at Austin (U.S.A.), followed by a Master of Laws in Public International Law (LL.M.) with distinction from the University of Nottingham (U.K.) and then a Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) from the University of Texas School of Law (U.S.A). He completed his Doctorate in International Law (Dr. iur) summa cum laude at the University of Hamburg (Germany) in 2017.

After four years as an Assistant District Attorney in Texas, both as a trial and appellate prosecutor, Prof. Dingfelder Stone moved to Germany. He spent many years teaching at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz in Germersheim, as well as the law faculty of the Universität Heidelberg. During this time, he was also a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, where he worked as an editor on the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Later, as a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law, Prof. Dingfelder Stone provided technical legal support through Rule of Law programs for countries such as Jordan, Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia.

Prof. Dingfelder Stone has published numerous scholarly articles in leading legal journals in both the United States and Germany, as well as a book (“Court Interpreters and Fair Trials”) with Palgrave Macmillan. In addition, he has co-authored an amicus curiae brief before the United States Supreme Court. Appointed as a Professor of Law (with a focus on International and Public Law) at Hochschule Rhein-Waal in 2015, Prof. Dingfelder Stone has been nominated several times for the Hochschule’s Teaching Award for Outstanding Lecturer, winning in 2016. In addition, he has served as an Erasmus guest lecturer at several universities across Europe.

Prof. Dingfelder Stone’s research centers on criminal justice (domestic and international), constitutional/human rights, and fair trial guarantees. His scholarly work has focused on issues such as post-conviction DNA testing and innocence appeals, the right to a fair trial in the context of court interpretation, and the particular challenges that arise in multilingual criminal trials. He also has an interest in comparative constitutional law, particularly in relation to constitutional rights, as well as broader interests in international humanitarian law and international human rights.