About Me
I am an international lawyer dealing primarily with the legal aspects of armed conflict, and applications of science and technology in the context of national security. I have taught, written and consulted on general international law, the law of armed conflict, arms control law and human rights law.
Most of my work has addressed the application of international law to armed forces and military operations. This broad area is characterised by an interaction between multiple branches of international law, notably the law on the use of force (ius contra bellum), the law of armed conflict (ius in bello or international humanitarian law), arms control and disarmament law, human rights law, international criminal law and the law of state responsibility.
I also work on the domestic regulation of armed forces, especially as concerns military justice, which among other things seeks to ensure that service members comply with international law on operations.
I focus on regulatory challenges arising from the use of emerging technologies for military purposes. On a general level, I look at how international law accommodates—or fails to accommodate—technological change in the military context. More specifically, I consider the international law implications of military applications of biosciences (especially biomedical enhancement of the cognitive and physical abilities of military personnel) and artificial intelligence (especially in autonomous military systems).
I am a Professor of Law at the University of Queensland, and a Director of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security. I also work with a number of other organisations.
Books
Implementation Guide for the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons
UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, 2025
(with Lauren Sanders and Penny Saultry)
Autonomous Cyber Capabilities under International Law
NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, 2021
(edited with Ann Väljataga)
Criminal Jurisdiction over Armed Forces Abroad
Cambridge University Press, 2017
Routledge Handbook of the Law of Armed Conflict
Routledge, 2016
(edited with Tim McCormack)
International Law-making: Essays in Honour of Jan Klabbers
Routledge, 2013
(edited with Jarna Petman)
The Law of Armed Conflict: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
Tartu University Press, 2012
(edited with Andres Saumets)
Essays
CyCon 2025 Series – Legal reviews of military artificial intelligence capabilities
Articles of War (25 August 2025) (with Netta Goussac)
REAIM Summit 2024: Slowly but surely towards better governance of military artificial intelligence?
ANZSIL Perspective (31 October 2024) (with Lauren Sanders and Zena Assaad)
Global powers are grappling with ‘responsible’ use of military AI: What would that look like?
The Conversation (17 September 2024) (with Zena Assaad and Lauren Sanders)
AWS legal review series – Protracted debate, incremental progress, unexpected outcomes
Articles of War (15 March 2024)
AWS legal review series – Introduction
Articles of War (4 March 2024) (with Sean Watts)
more
Ukrainal on kohustus suunata kobarmoona üksnes Venemaa sõjaliste sihtmärkide vastu
Eesti Päevaleht (20 July 2023)
Law and the Future of War Update on the REAIM Summit
ANZSIL Perspective (March 2023) (with Lauren Sanders and Brendan Walker-Munro)
Experts weigh in on law of armed conflict priorities
Articles of War (18 February 2021) (along with Michael N Schmitt, Naz K Modirzadeh, Eric Jensen, Mike Lacey, Geoff Corn, Beth Van Schaack, Chris Jenks, Richard B Jackson and Laurie Blank)
Are autonomous weapons systems prohibited?
Game-changer (9 September 2020) (with Eve Massingham, Tim McFarland and Simon McKenzie)
Command in the age of autonomy: Unanswered questions for military operations
Opinio Juris (1 May 2020) (with Eve Massingham and Simon McKenzie)
Balancing the lopsided debate on autonomous weapon systems
The Strategist (20 December 2019) (with Natalia Jevglevskaja)
Human enhancement technologies and the law in war and peace
Opinio Juris (8 May 2019)
Status of medical personnel: Clear as mud?
Humanitarian Law & Policy (25 February 2019)
Machine autonomy and the constant care obligation
Humanitarian Law & Policy (11 December 2018) (with Chris Jenks)
Why it’s so hard to reach an international agreement on killer robots
The Conversation (12 September 2018)
Out of sight, out of mind, out of reach? Private military and security contractors under Australian criminal law
Australian Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Magazine (2016) 16–17
Timor-Leste v Australia: Provisional observations
EJIL:Talk! (6 March 2014)
Pope Benedict could face court over sex crimes in the church
The Conversation (28 February 2013) (with Anna Hood and Monique Cormier)
Russia and the ECHR: Tensions rising?
International Law Observer (27 July 2007)
This court sentences you …: Trial court delivers judgment in the first Finnish genocide case
(2011) 2(1) Helsinki Review of Global Governance 34–35
Dish of the day: Justice sans frontiers à la finlandaise
(2010) 1(1) Helsinki Review of Global Governance 20–22
Media
Deadly threat of unexploded bombs in the Pacific persists 80 years on
Catherine Wilson, Independent Australia (6 September 2025)
No, Australia’s plan to recognise state of Palestine doesn’t breach international law
Soofia Tariq and Marty Silk, AAP Fact Check (4 September 2025)
Marles quote about arms exports to Israel is a fake
Soofia Tariq, AAP Fact Check (8 August 2025)
more
Israeli troops are now in Gaza: How might its ground assault unfold?
Angus Holland and Jackson Graham, The Age (20 October 2023)
Do the missile deaths in Poland raise the threat of war across Europe? What we know so far
Isabelle Lane, SBS News (18 November 2022)
Russia has threatened retaliation against Lithuania over a ban on key goods: Here’s what it means
Isabelle Lane, SBS News (21 June 2022)
The law of armed conflict and new technology
Law and the Future of War Podcast (23 October 2020)
Haud, mis ei saa rahu
Tiina Jõgeda, Eesti Ekspress (30 September 2020)
70th anniversity of the Geneva Conventions
Mornings, ABC Radio Brisbane (12 August 2019)
Is there room for ethics and the law in military AI?
Campbell Kwan, TechRepublic (10 April 2019)
So you’ve been accused of war crimes: What’s next?
Charlie Lewis, Crikey (22 June 2018)
Authorities relentlessly hound whistleblower behind the Afghan Files
Charlie Lewis, Crikey (8 March 2019)
When cities become war zones
Top of Mind with Julie Rose, BYUradio (17 February 2018)
Thought-controlled futures
In Pursuit Podcast (10 February 2016)
Riigikogulase immuniteet: mis ja milleks?
Jüri Saar, Sirp (25 October 2012)
Lost in the fog of war
Tom Hyland, The Sunday Age (12 February 2012)
Presentations
I have presented widely on a range of international law issues. In addition to events convened by (civilian) academic institutions and scholarly societies, I have contributed to seminars, conferences, workshops and panel discussions organised by:
government departments and armed forces
- Australian Army
- Australian Attorney-General’s Department
- Australian Department of Defence
- Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Estonian Ministry of Defence
- New Zealand Defence Force
- Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs
- Republic of Korea Army
- Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defence
- Royal Australian Air Force
- United States Army Futures Command
- United States Pacific Command (USPACOM)
military and civil service academies
- Armed Forces of the Philippines Command and General Staff College
- Australian Command and Staff College
- Australian Defence Force Academy
- Estonian Military Academy
- Swedish National Defence University
- United Kingdom Defence Academy
- United States Military Academy
- United States Naval War College
- Vienna Diplomatic Academy
think tanks
- Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
- Chatham House – Royal Institute of International Affairs
- Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
- Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA)
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
- Wilton Park
international organisations
- North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
- NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE)
- United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
- United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
humanitarian organisations
- Australian Red Cross
- Finnish Red Cross
- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Papers
Autonomy and artificial intelligence in military capabilities
Principles of responsible military artificial intelligence and applicable international law
(Global Commission on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain, 2025)
Progressing the legal review of autonomous weapon systems: Report of an expert meeting
(Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security, September 2025) (with Damian Copeland)
Law and ethics in the governance of AI-enabled military systems
Sujan R Chinoy and Rajneesh Singh (eds), Adaptive Defence: Navigating the Changing Landscape of Modern Warfare (Pentagon Press, 2025) 141–152
Advancing the legal review of autonomous weapon systems: report of an expert meeting
(University of Queensland, 2024) (with Renato Wolf, Lauren Sanders, Natalia Jevglevskaja, and Netta Goussac)
A framework for human decision-making through the lifecycle of autonomous and intelligent systems in defense applications
(IEEE SA, 2024) (with Sten Allik, Rachel Azafrani, David Barnes, Ingvild Bode, Ariel Conn, Eileen M Lach, Craig Lennon, John Shanahan, Melodena Stephens, Lisa Titus, and Alan R Wagner)
Mandatory guardrails for AI in high-risk settings: Submission to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources
(Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security, 2024) (with Lauren Sanders and Natalia Jevglevskaja)
Assurance for military systems incorporating artificial intelligence: Workshop report
(University of Queensland, 2024) (with Lauren Sanders and Sam Hartridge)
Responsibility for military autonomous systems: Workshop report
(University of Queensland, 2024) (with Lauren Sanders and Rosie Cavdarski)
Enhancing the legal review of autonomous weapon systems: Report of an expert meeting
(Law and the Future of War Research Group, University of Queensland, 2023) (with Netta Goussac, Natalia Jevglevskaja and Lauren Sanders)
Weapons reviews of autonomous weapon systems: Report on submissions to the GGE on LAWS
(ver 1.0, University of Queensland, 2023) (with Rosie Cavdarski and Lauren Sanders)
The utility of weapons reviews in addressing concerns raised by autonomous weapon systems
(2023) 28(2) Journal of Conflict and Security Law 285–316 (with Damian Copeland and Lauren Sanders)
The legal requirement for command and the future of autonomous military platforms
(2022) 99 International Law Studies 638–675 (with Eve Massingham and Simon McKenzie)
The better instincts of humanity: Humanitarian arguments in defense of international arms control
Jai Galliott, Duncan MacIntosh and Jens David Ohlin (eds), Lethal Autonomous Weapons: Re-Examining the Law and Ethics of Robotic Warfare (Oxford University Press, 2021) 103–120 (with Natalia Jevglevskaja)
Military bioscience and human enhancement
Protecting warfighters from superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering
Matt Killingsworth and Tim McCormack (ed), Civility, Barbarism and the Evolution of International Humanitarian Law: Who Do the Laws of War Protect? (Cambridge University Press, 2024) 177–199 [also available as a preprint]
Ethical issues in military bioscience
(2023) 41(1) Monash Bioethics Review 1–5 (with Ned Dobos)
Being more than you can be: Enhancement of warfighters and the law of armed conflict
Matthew C Waxman and Thomas W Oakley (eds), The Future Law of Armed Conflict (Oxford University Press, 2022) 83–102 [also available as a preprint]
Memory modification as treatment for PTSD: Neuroscientific reality and ethical concerns
Daniel Messelken and David Winkler (eds), Ethics of Medical Innovation, Experimentation, and Enhancement in Military and Humanitarian Contexts (Springer, 2020) 211–243 (with Marijn C W Kroes)
Eradicating war memories: Neuroscientific reality and ethical concerns
(2018) 101(910) International Review of the Red Cross 69–95 (with Marijn C W Kroes)
Are enhanced warfighters weapons, means, or methods of warfare?
(2018) 94 International Law Studies 161–185 (with Luke Chircop)
Left of bang interventions in trauma: Some legal implications of military medical prophylaxis
(2018) 44(7) Journal of Medical Ethics 509–510
Other issues of military technology (including cyber)
Cybersecurity of weapon systems: International law requirements and technical standards
(2025) Journal of Cybersecurity (advance access) (with Aleksi Kajander and Maarja Naagel)
Autonomous cyber capabilities under international law
(NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, 2019) (with Maarja Naagel and Ann Väljataga)
Emerging technologies of warfare
Rain Liivoja and Tim McCormack (eds), Routledge Handbook of the Law of Armed Conflict (Routledge, 2016) 603–622 (with Kobi Leins and Tim McCormack)
Technological change and the evolution of the law of war
(2016) 97(900) International Review of the Red Cross 1157–1177 (also in French, Spanish and Chinese)
Law in the virtual battlespace: The Tallinn Manual and the jus in bello
(2014) 13 Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 45–58 (with Tim McCormack)
Private military contractors
Private military and security companies
Rain Liivoja and Tim McCormack (eds), Routledge Handbook of the Law of Armed Conflict (Routledge, 2016) 623–639 (with Nelleke van Amstel)
Regulating the private military and security industry: A quest to maintain state control and preserve public values (review essay)
(2012) 25(4) Leiden Journal of International Law 1019–1028
Australia: Regulating private military and security companies
Christine Bakker and Mirko Sossai (eds), Multilevel Regulation of Military and Security Contractors: The Interplay between International, European and Domestic Norms (Hart, 2012) 507–526 (with Tim McCormack)
Accountability (including jurisdictional questions)
The role of commanders and individual accountability
William McDermott, Jonna Naumanen, and Ewa Sapiezynska (eds), Human Rights of Armed Forces Personnel: Compendium of Standards, Good Practices and Recommendations (OSCE/ODIHR and DCAF, 2021) 294–308
Competing histories: Soviet war crimes in the Baltic states
Kevin Jon Heller and Gerry Simpson (eds), The Hidden Histories of War Crimes Trials (Oxford University Press, 2013) 248–266
Treaties, custom and universal jurisdiction
Rain Liivoja and Jarna Petman (eds), International Law-making: Essays in Honour of Jan Klabbers (Routledge, 2013) 298–312
Service jurisdiction under international law
(2010) 11(2) Melbourne Journal of International Law 309–337
The criminal jurisdiction of states: A theoretical primer
(2010) 7 No Foundations: Journal of Extreme Legal Positivism 25–58
Human rights in the military context (including military justice)
Civilian or military justice? Dealing with criminal offences of defence force members
Mark Aronson and Greg Weeks, Controlling the Administrative State: Essays in Honour of Matthew Groves (Hart, forthcoming in November 2025) 281–302 (with Alison Duxbury)
International human rights law
William McDermott, Jonna Naumanen, and Ewa Sapiezynska (eds), Human Rights of Armed Forces Personnel: Compendium of Standards, Good Practices and Recommendations (OSCE/ODIHR and DCAF, 2021) 37–56
Human rights of service personnel
(2019) 28(2) Human Rights Defender 13–15 (with Alison Duxbury)
Military justice in a comparative and international perspective: a view from the Asia Pacific
(2016) 20 Journal of International Peacekeeping 133–142 (with Benjamin Heng, Daniel Ng and Bruce Oswald)
Trying civilian contractors in military courts: a necessary evil?
Alison Duxbury and Matthew Groves (eds), Military Justice in the Modern Age (Cambridge University Press, 2016) 81–105
Military justice
Markus Dubber and Tatjana Hörnle (eds), Oxford Handbook of Criminal Law (Oxford University Press, 2014) 326–349
Law of treaties (including constitutional issues)
§ 121 [Riigikogus ratifitseeritavad ja denonsseeritavad lepingud]
Uno Lõhmus (toim), Eesti Vabariigi põhiseaduse kommentaarid (Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia Riigiõiguse Sihtkapital, 2022)
§ 123 [Riigipiir ja piirilepingud]
Uno Lõhmus (toim), Eesti Vabariigi põhiseaduse kommentaarid (Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia Riigiõiguse Sihtkapital, 2022)
The scope of the supremacy clause of the United Nations Charter
(2008) 57(3) International & Comparative Law Quarterly 583–612
Kas Paabeli torn? Mõned märkused rahvusvaheliste lepingute erikeelsete tekstide õigusliku tähenduse kohta
(2007) 13(3) Õiguskeel 3–13
Rahvusvahelise Kriminaalkohtu Rooma statuudi rakendamine Eesti õigussüsteemis
(2006) 13 Riigikogu Toimetised 165–171 (with René Värk)
Ratifitseerimise mõiste Eesti konstitutsiooniõiguses ja rahvusvahelises õiguses
(2006) 12(2) Õiguskeel 9–18
Implementation of the Rome Statute in Estonia
(2005) 16 Finnish Yearbook of International Law 79–101 (with René Värk and Merri Kastemäe)
Miscellaneous
The desire for value consensus in international law: architectural aspirations of global institutions
Miriam Bak-McKenna, Renske Vos & Sofia Stolk, International Law and Architecture (Edward Elgar, forthcoming) (with Brydon T Wang)
Law and honour: Normative pluralism in the regulation of military conduct
Jan Klabbers and Touko Piiparinen (eds), Normative Pluralism and International Law: Exploring Global Governance (Cambridge University Press, 2013) 143–175
Chivalry without a horse: Military honour and the modern law of armed conflict
Rain Liivoja and Andres Saumets (eds), The Law of Armed Conflict: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Tartu University Press, 2012) 75–100
Affiliations
School of Law / University of Queensland
Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights / Faculty of Law / University of Helsinki
Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law
Australian Red Cross
Elgar International Law and Technology Series / Elgar
Military Law and the Law of War Review / Elgar
Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies / Brill
Estonian Journal of Military Studies / Estonian Military Academy