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ANZSIL Perspective
We are proud to publish the ANZSIL Perspective. It is hoped that these Perspectives will generate discussion and contribute to thoughtful debate on major issues of international law.
Please see the current call for Perspectives.

Latest Perspectives
Edition 28 Editorial
WELCOME to our 28th edition of ANZSIL Perspective with an excellent contribution by Dr Jane Kelsey...
Waitangi Tribunal Forces NZ Rethink on Digital Trade Rules
The Waitangi Tribunal issued its final report on the six-year Inquiry into the Trans-Pacific...
Book Review: Gareth Evans, Good International Citizenship: the Case for Decency (Monash University Publishing, 2022)
Long ago in a galaxy that now seems far, far away, Gareth Evans was Foreign Minister in the...
Submit a Perspective
ANZSIL Perspective is open to submissions from authors of any background. Articles are assessed for publication in line with the submission guidelines.
Please see the current call for Perspectives.
Past Perspectives

Editorial
WELCOME to our first edition of ANZSIL Perspective for 2022. It is a bumper edition with two fascinating articles on universal jurisdiction by Kiran Menon and Dr Melinda Rankin, and an instructive book review by Monique Cormier. As Russia launches a military invasion of...

On Some Recent Universal Jurisdiction Contexts and Cycles
It could be argued that the progress of universal jurisdiction has been defined by cycles, in that it has had periods of relative dormancy, at least in terms of profile, and phases of resurgence. The mere claim that there can exist a ‘universal criminal jurisdiction’ albeit for...

From Pinochet to Anwar R.
Non state actors, particularly witnesses and victims of atrocity crimes, have long played a critical role in holding those most responsible for crimes against humanity to account. In January this year, German judges in the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz found Anwar R., a...

Book Review: Kai Ambos (ed), Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Article-by-Article Commentary (4th ed, Beck/Hart, 2022)
Anyone who has researched, studied or practised in the field of international criminal law will be familiar with Triffterer’s Commentary on the Rome Statute. First published in 1999, the volume is now in its fourth edition, and is the first with Kai Ambos as sole editor. The...

Editorial: Edition 26
Many of our readers are winding down for the year with their summer reading. We hope that this edition’s Perspectives will become valued additions to your lists. This month we have Monique Cormier, John Morss and Alberto Alvarez-Jimenez. ANZSIL Perspectives has grown this year...

The International Legal Implications of AUKUS: A Poor Precedent for Non-Proliferation
We don’t yet know very much about the AUKUS trilateral security partnership beyond the announcement that its ‘first major initiative… will be to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia’. This news triggered a wave of commentary on the diplomatic, security and...

A Review of ‘To the Uttermost Parts of the World’ by Martti Koskenniemi
At some 1100 pages plus, Uttermost Parts is a heavyweight contribution in several senses of the word. This review will broach the following questions: What is Koskenniemi trying to achieve, and has he succeeded? What do writers and teachers of international law have to...

The New Zealand Supreme Court and the UN International Law Commission: A Dialogue on Subsequent Conduct in the Interpretation of Contracts and Treaties
“The written word is unalterable”. F. Kafka. The Trial The New Zealand Supreme Court (NZSC) in Bathurst Resources Limited v L & M Coal Holdings Limited recently explored the issue of evidence of subsequent conduct in the interpretation of contracts. Generally, the role of...

Meet the new members of the ANZSIL Perspective editorial team
Caroline and Alberto join the editorial reviewers Dr. Caroline Foster is Acting Director at the New Zealand Centre for Environmental Law (NZCEL) at the University of Auckland Law Faculty. She recently completed a new monograph Global Regulatory...

Editorial: Edition 25
In this edition we welcome two new members of the editorial team and two new sub-editors. You can read their profiles in this edition and online on the ANZSIL Perspective web page here. Once again, we have an excellent contribution to ANZSIL Perspective. This month’s...

Small States and Law of the Sea ‘Litigation’ Against Greater Powers
Are small States making increasing – and strategic – use of law of the sea dispute settlement mechanisms against greater powers? In cases such as Philippines v China, Timor-Leste v Australia, Ukraine v Russia and Mauritius v UK, States with relatively limited power have been...

Editorial: September 2021
Welcome to the SEPTEMBER 2021 issue of ANZSIL Perspective. As we continue to battle with lockdown and the spread of the Delta Variant to COVID-19, I am delighted to present two excellent Perspectives on international frameworks for structural change in North Korea and a...

What International Frameworks Would Effect Structural Change in North Korea?
Introduction How is it that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a fairly isolationist State under some of the world’s harshest sanctions, having experienced two transitions of power, one extreme drought and famine, and one global pandemic, still exists? The answer,...

Global Deforestation is an issue of International Concern, and a Transnational Law Response could be the Solution
Forests are essential to our planet’s ability to sustain life. Deforestation results in loss of vital ecosystems and biodiversity, and increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accelerating climate change and undermining our planet’s resilience. Illegal logging is a...

Editorial: Edition 23
Welcome to the JULY 2021 issue of ANZSIL Perspective. My editorial team and I hope you have been enjoying the excellent panels and presentations at the ANZSIL 2021 Conference. We are pleased to publish the latest insightful contribution to the ANZSIL Perspective . Our online...

The Importance of Flexibility in Regulating Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems
The debate on the development and use of lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS), which will also be referred to as weapon systems, has been going on for several years now. A LAWS, as defined by the International Committee of the Red Cross, is ‘a weapon that can select (i.e....

Editorial: Edition 22
Welcome to the MAY 2021 issue of ANZSIL Perspective. My editorial team and I are pleased to publish the latest insightful contributions to the ANZSIL Perspective online platform www.anzsilperspective.com where you can find all our latest Perspectives and our archive. In...

When consultations fail to deliver consensus – electing the third ICC Prosecutor by unprecedented vote
On 12 February 2021, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) elected Karim Khan QC as the Court’s next Prosecutor. The election followed a series of formal consultations between States Parties, which were constructive and narrowed the...

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Trade-Related Security Exceptions: An Analysis of the Flexibility under International Law
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised serious concerns about affordable and equitable access to the needed health technologies. The patent-based pricing model of health technologies further exacerbates these concerns. This paper critically evaluates Article 73(b) of the World...

Ensuring Respect for International Humanitarian Law Well Beyond the Battlefield
States have a responsibility to create an environment conducive to all States’ capacity to build respect for the laws of armed conflict (also known as international humanitarian law or IHL). This is just one expression of the obligation found in Common Article 1 to the Geneva...

Edition 21: Editorial
Welcome to the APRIL 2021 issue of ANZSIL Perspective. My editorial team and I are delighted by the launch in February of the ANZSIL Perspective online platform www.anzsilperspective.com where you can find all our latest Perspectives and our archive. As ANZSIL Perspecive...

In Law and Practice: Australia’s Obligation to Prohibit Child Detention in the Context of International Migration
More than three years have passed since the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child issued new general comments pronouncing immigration-related detention of children to be a clear violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). However, many States...

Protecting equality in the context of the proliferation of artificial intelligence technology
The advances in artificial intelligence technology create an imperative to protect individuals from discrimination in the context of automated decisions. In order to meet their obligations under Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)...

Edition 20: Editorial
Welcome to the FEBRUARY 2021 issue of ANZSIL Perspective. My editorial team and I are delighted to launch the ANZSIL Perspective online platform www.anzsilperspective.com where you can find all our latest Perspectives and our archive. Over the last year since we have been...

Legal Acts and Legal Facts: The Mauritius/ Maldives Maritime Boundary Dispute in the Chagos Archipelago
On 28 January 2021 a Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) delivered its decision in the preliminary objections stage of the Indian Ocean maritime boundary dispute between Mauritius and the Maldives. Belying its dry nomenclature,...

Leadership Liability for Torture: Complementarity and the age-old problem with complicity in the UK and Australia
Recently ANZSIL member Douglas Guilfoyle discussed the concern that the Brereton report into war crimes by Australians in Afghanistan apparently finds no evidence that “there was knowledge of, or reckless indifference to, the commission of war crimes, on the part of Troop,...

BOOK REVIEW: Petulant and Contrary: Approaches by the Permanent Five Members of the UN Security Council to the Concept of “Threat to the Peace” Under Article 39 of the UN Charter by Dr Tamsin Paige
One of the key issues in the UN system that has bedevilled international lawyers since 1945 is how the term ‘a threat to the peace’ in article 39 of the UN Charter should be understood. When invoked, the term unlocks the Security Council’s extensive Chapter VII powers and...

BOOK REVIEW: Neuroscience and the Problem of Dual Use: Neuroethics in the New Brain Research Projects
Malcolm Dando; Springer, 2020; PAGES 210; €155,99; ISBN 978-3-030- 53790-0 In many scientific fields, dual use is seen as an opportunity, not a risk. As limitations on the development and use of biological and chemical weapons have developed over the years, one of the last...

Accountability for the perpetration of war crimes in Afghanistan
The history of modern Afghanistan is one of internecine and systemic violence. The current prospects for peace and security in Afghanistan after more than four decades of war are uncertain. The question now is whether Afghanistan can move forward without addressing the legacies...

A Community-based approach to address refugee resettlement in Australia
In the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia’s current refugee Community Sponsorship Program (CSP) in Queensland needs socially distinct community-led support. The concept of a community sponsorship-based approach to address the refugee crisis is not new and was...
Frequently asked questions
Do you accept submissions from law graduates or masters students?
Yes. ANZSIL Perspective is pleased to consider articles from authors of any background. Articles are assessed for publication in line with the submission guidelines, available here.
Are you accepting applications to join your editorial board?
ANZSIL Perspective is not currently accepting applications to join its editorial board.
Is there a word limit for article submissions?
Articles should not exceed 1,500 words.
Is there a publication charge for accepted articles?
No. ANZSIL Perspective does not charge a submission fee or publication fee.