Home>Sibylle Léonard
Research Interest(s): Political theory, Constitutionalism, Transitional justice, Historical injustices, Feminist philosophy
Discipline(s): Political Science
Biography
Sibylle Léonard graduated from Sciences Po with a master’s degree in political theory. Her master’s dissertation examined abortion legislation in Germany from a political and constitutional theory perspective.
She is currently pursuing her PhD at the Centre for Political Research of Sciences Po (CEVIPOF) under the supervision of Annabelle Lever. Her dissertation investigates what a formal commitment to recognising past injustices might entail for present-day politics. She focuses on the duty of non-repetition (i.e., the obligation incumbent upon states that have committed grave injustices to ensure that such wrongs do not recur) and examines how this commitment is embedded in constitutional framework and interpreted by judicial and political actors.
Since February 2026, she is a visiting doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford (OxPo programme), affiliated with the Department of Politics and International Relations and a research associate at Holywell Manor, the Graduate Centre of Balliol College. From September 2026, she will join the University of Cambridge as a visiting doctoral researcher within the CamPo programme, hosted by the Department of Politics and International Studies.
Thesis topic
Promises and perils of constitutionalizing 'never again': The politics of non-repetition in post-war Germany