My interdisciplinary research draws on international relations and international law to address the political and normative implications of holding individuals criminally responsible for mass violence under international law. Please see publications to find the full information on resulting outputs. Currently, my research has three major themes:
International Criminal Justice as Political Strategy
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This research examines how international criminal justice can be used as a form of political strategy, particularly by 'weaker' states of the international system. I argue that active engagement with international criminal justice mechanisms provides opportunity for agency by state actors and counteracts the 'paternalism' of international legal interventions.
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2020 “Claiming Equality: African Union’s Contestation of the Anti-Impunity Norm” with Sophie T. Rosenberg. International Studies Review.
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2019 “International Criminal Justice as Political Strategy: Asymmetry of Opportunity?” in Melissa Labonte and Kurt Mills eds. Accessing and Implementing Human Rights and Justice. Global Institutions Series. Abingdon: Routledge
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2018 “International Relations: Between Theory and Practice, the National and International” in Jacques Schumacher and Jonathan Waterlow eds. War Crimes Trials and Investigations: A Multi-Disciplinary Introduction. St. Antony’s Series. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan
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[Working paper, available upon request] International Criminal Justice as Political Strategy: Constitutive and Constituted Violence”
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[Working paper, available upon request] Politics of Sovereignty and International Criminal Justice: Cambodia and Palestine
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[Working paper, available upon request] Ontologies of the State and International Criminal Law
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Legal Norm Contestation and International Criminal Defence
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This research examines the role of the defence counsel in the development of international criminal justice. Despite the central role defence counsels play in protecting fair trial rights of defendants in international criminal trials, specific theorisation of their roles in both the practice of international criminal justice and the development of international criminal law is lacking. This projects addresses this gap by conceptualising defence counsels as an interpretive community, and defence arguments and strategies in the courtroom as a specific form of norm contestation.
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Data visualisation of the professional network of defence counsels working at the ICTR, ICTY, and ICC [available upon request]
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Hosted workshop "Lawyers and Developments in International Law" Feb., 2020 LSE Call for Paper; Agenda
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Politics of Universal Jurisdiction in Europe
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This research considers the normative justifications for universal jurisdiction prosecutions, or prosecution based on the legal principle that allows domestic courts to prosecute serious international crimes committed outside of a state's territory involving foreigners.
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Forthcoming. “Should German Courts Prosecute Syrian International Crimes? Revisiting the ‘Dual Foundation’ Thesis” Ethics & International Affairs.
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I have also recently completed a policy-oriented research project on the discourse of death and grief in the COVID-19 pandemic. More information on the project can be found here . Full report here
