WELCOME to our 34th Edition of ANZSIL Perspective and a special edition on the situation in Ukraine with excellent Perspectives from Juliette McIntyre on Lyophilization and Lawfare in Ukraine v. Russia; Yuliya Mik on the The war in Ukraine and international law: Prosecuting the Crime of Aggression and a Conversation Piece from Alexander Gillespie Give Peace a Chance.
As the one year anniversary of the most recent conflict in Ukraine passed we thought it would be interesting to create a special edition.
As preparation for this edition progressed, news came from the International Criminal Court that on 17 March 2023 the Pre-Trial Chamber II issued warrants of arrest for Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova in the context of the situation in Ukraine. It is alleged that they are responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. The Chamber considered that the warrants are secret in order to protect victims and witnesses and also to safeguard the investigation. Nevertheless, the Chamber considered that it is in the interests of justice to authorise the Registry to publicly disclose the existence of the warrants, the name of the suspects, the crimes for which the warrants are issued, and the modes of liability as established by the Chamber.
Closer to home, for our sanctions scholars, on 24 February 2023, both the Australian Government announced that it had imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on 90 individuals and targeted financial sanctions on 40 entities taking the toal to more than 1,000 sanctions in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The updates from the Aotearoa New Zealand Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade show similar figures.
In considering these two forms of global responses, our thoughts turn to other areas of conflict including Myanmar and Afghanistan and all the issues presently testing international law. We welcome expert contributions to these issues and other areas of international law from our members and beyond. In particular, a reminder that our conversation pieces are not formal Perspectives and are designed to encourage debate. If you would like to respond to any of our conversation pieces, feel free to email the editor via the ANZSIL submission point
The ANZSIL Perspective review team and the editorial team and welcome analyses of these and other complex and vexing international law issues. We extend a warm invitation to ANZSIL members and non-members to submit your perspectives for publication. We accept submissions on public and private law international law issues and where international law may be a topic for domestic decision making particularly international law issues related to the multicultural nature of Australia’s and New Zealand’s societies.
As ever, I look forward to receiving submissions from a diverse range of scholars who have previously contributed to ANZSIL Perspective, and welcome new and emerging authors at every level of postgraduate scholarship and legal practice.
Felicity Gerry KC (Editor)
The deadline for the next ANZSIL Perspective is 26 May 2023. The current call for Perspectives and submission details and guidelines are on the ANZSIL Perspective webpage. A reminder that all our Perspectives undergo a review process whereas our conversation pieces are selected to produce debate. The views expressed in contributions to ANZSIL Perspective are those of the authors. Those views are not necessarily shared by ANZSIL or the Editors of Perspective.
Felicity Gerry KC
Dr Felicity Gerry KC is on the lists of counsel for the ICC and KSC, recently on the defence team for Mr Al Hassan at the ICC and leading the defence for Mr Bahtijari at the KSC. She is admitted in England and Wales and Victoria, Australia and specialises in homicide, terrorism and war crimes trials and appeals. She has a particular interest in complicity law. She led amicus briefs in the Radovan Karadžić appeal on the lack of foundation for JCEIII and in the Dominic Ongwen appeal on the non-punishment principle. She is a Professorial Fellow at RJ4All, an Hon Prof at the University of Salford and formerly Professor of Legal Practice at Deakin University. She has a long history of teaching topics around contemporary international legal challenges such as terrorism, modern slavery law, climate change law and war crimes. She is widely published in areas including women & law, technology & law and reforming justice systems.
