ADVOCATES
DIRECTOR OF EUROPEAN ADVOCACY
Felix Boellmann, PhD, serves as Director of European Advocacy for ADF International, leading the advocacy team in Vienna, with a particular focus on national litigation across Europe and advocacy in the German and Russian-speaking world.
Advocating for religious liberty, sanctity of life, and the family, including marriage, Boellmann concentrates in European Union, human rights, and public international law. He advises on issues involving the United Nations, European Court of Human Rights, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the European Parliament.
Prior to contracting with ADF International, Boellmann engaged in private practice in Leipzig. From 2012 to 2017, he worked with the firm of Nagel|Kauerhof, and its predecessor, NWK Attorneys at Law, where his portfolio included corporate law, international contracts, and litigation. Additionally, for 10 years, he served as in-house legal counsel to the EurAsia Group, an energy and natural resources investment firm, with holdings in Europe, Asia, and Canada.
Boellmann earned his law degree in 1999, followed by his PhD in 2006, from Leipzig University. While in law school, he interned with commercial, governmental, and legal organizations in Bonn, Minsk, and Moscow. Boellmann has published or co-authored 10 scientific publications on a variety of subjects, including comparative law, economics, finance, international human rights, and culture. Aside from his native German, he is fluent in English and Russian, and speaks conversational French. Boellmann is married and the father of three children.
A 40-Days-for-Life prayer group acted lawfully in gathering in front of the Frankfurt branch of the Pro Familia abortion organisation in 2020 – so ruled the Administrative Court of Frankfurt, Hesse, in a judgment handed down on 16 December.
Prohibitions on silent prayer gatherings in the proximity of an abortion organization may remain – so indicates a German court’s ruling on 12 May, which dismissed the challenge of the leader of a prayer initiative to have restrictions on their prayer vigils lifted.
Can a local authority ban even silent prayer on the streets? This is the question asked by the “40 Days for Life” group in Pforzheim, Germany, who were prohibited from gathering to peacefully pray near a pre-abortion advisory center.
Vitaliy Bak, the leader of a Baptist community in Southern Russia, may soon be forced to demolish his house for holding allegedly illegal religious worship services there.
Amidst reports of increasing religious persecution in Russia and in the run up to Christmas, an international human rights organization has brought a case alleging violations of freedom of religion before the European Court of Human Rights.
