JurisDictions: International law podcast

Marketing Justice

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 09:02:00 +0000

We sometimes hear discussions that frame international dispute settlement in the language of markets. Consider the various discussions surrounding how international actors engage in ‘forum shopping’, looking for their preferred international dispute settlement venue amongst various available options. But what happens when we begin imagining courts and tribunals as active participants in this market? In what sense could we speak of courts and tribunals engaging in marketing?

Guests

Dr Georgia Antonopoulou, Assistant Professor in Commercial Dispute Resolution, Birmingham Law School, College of Arts and Law.

Professor Christine Schwöbel-Patel, Warwick Law School, the University of Warwick

Host

Eduardo Silva de Freitas, PhD candidate at Erasmus University Rotterdam and junior researcher in private international law at the T.M.C. Asser Institute.

Strategic Litigation: An interview with Nani Jansen Reventlow

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 08:25:00 +0000

In this episode, Taylor Kate Woodcock, Researcher in Public International Law at the Asser Institute interviews Nani Jansen Reventlow, author and award-winning human rights lawyer specialised in strategic litigation at the intersection of human rights, social justice, and technology. Founder of Systemic Justice and the Digital Freedom Fund, Nani has overseen litigation worldwide, leading cases before national courts, the European Court of Human Rights, African Court on Human and Peoples Rights, and UN Human Rights Committee, amongst others.

Nani joins Taylor to explain strategic litigation, her trajectory in the field and experiences working with marginalized communities in trauma informed ways, providing practical insights and hope for the pursuit of material, structural change through strategic litigation.

For more information on Nani Jansen Reventlow’s recent and upcoming publications, see:

· N Jansen Reventlow - Radical Justice: Building the world we need – Available in Dutch and for Pre-order in English. As a special treat for listeners, use discount codeJUSTICE15 here to get 15% off orders of 'Radical Justice' in English (discount code expires on 20 March 2027).

· Read more about Intersectionality and Human Rights: Reimagining European Court of Human Rights Judgments – Edited by Nani Jansen Reventlow, Eddie Bruce-Jones, Lyn K. L. Tjoin Soei Len and Adam Weiss here.

The Externalisation of Migration

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 09:03:00 +0000

In this episode, Flora Bensadon and Irem Cakmak are joined by Zoe Bantleman, Dr Kris van der Pas and Dr Annick Pijnenburg to discuss the externalisation of migration. What is meant by the externalisation of migration? What legal, political and moral considerations does it raise? And to what extent may contemporary externalisation efforts be seen as a wider pushback against international law?

Note: From 20:10 Dr Van der Pas discusses the upcoming changes to the connection requirement in EU law and from 30:18 Dr Pijnenburg briefly discusses the Italy-Albania deal and litigation and again the connection requirement. There have been some developments since the podcast was recorded: The European Commission published its proposal to change the connection requirement and the Court of Justice of the EU ruled on a preliminary question that affects the Italy-Albania deal.

Speakers

Zoe Bantleman – Barrister, Legal Director of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA), and DPHil Migration Studies Student, University of Oxford

Dr Kris van der Pas – Postdoctoral Researcher, Tilburg University

Dr Annick Pijnenburg – Assistant Professor, International and European Law, Radboud University

Hosts

Flora Bensadon – Intern, TMC Asser Institute

Irem Cakmak – Intern, TMC Asser Institute

‘The litmus test of Palestine’ - A conversation with Ammar Hijazi, Ambassador and Head of the Palestinian Mission to the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 10:35:00 +0000

In a brand-new episode of JurisDictions, the Asser Institute’s international law podcast, researcher Dr Carl Lewis interviews Ammar Hijazi, Ambassador and Head of the Palestinian Mission to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to International Organizations in The Hague.

One year after the International Court of Justice delivered its Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (19 July 2024), Ambassador Ammar Hijazi reflects on his role as ambassador, the importance of pursuing justice within existing international legal mechanisms, as well as the need for states to show commitment to international law.

“(…) today we see the final episodes of our erasure taking place in Palestine. These are now very clear, in terms of law. Everybody knows where everything stands. And it is up to States. Do they want this system to continue? Or do they want it to collapse on the basis of a few interests here and there, or on sheer power and bullying? That's a determination that is not up to the Palestinians. This is why it is a litmus test. Everybody's looking at Palestine.”

Establishing the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine: An Interview with H.E. Dr Anton Korynevych

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 10:12:00 +0000

For the first time in history, a dedicated tribunal is being established to investigate and prosecute the crime of aggression. Join us in this episode, as Dr Gabrielė Chlevickaitė, International Criminal Law researcher at the Asser Institute, interviews H.E. Dr Anton Korynevych, Ambassador -at-large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, on establishing the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.

Should you wish to read more, the Asser Institute has also released a Report on the Special Tribunal, offering the first legal analysis of the 'Council of Europe model,' as well as broader legal and policy considerations.

Rights, Transfers, and Transnational Law: Exploring Football's Legal and Regulatory Landscape

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 13:59:00 +0000

In this episode, we reflect on international sports law and the governance of football. Joined by Dr. Antoine Duval, we discuss the complexities of the football transfer system, particularly considering historical shifts following two landmark judgements: the Bosman (European Court of Justice, 1995) and the Diarra (Court of Justice of the European Union, 2024) rulings.

How have these landmark rulings offered the possibility for the football transfer system to shift in favour of players? What even is a football transfer? And, more broadly, what legal and ethical issues arise around the ‘world's game' and football mega events like the upcoming 2034 FIFA Men’s World Cup, which will be hosted by Saudi Arabia? In this episode, we discuss all of this and more.

Guest:

Dr Antoine Duval, Senior Researcher in International Law, TMC Asser Institute

Host and Editor:

Flora Bensadon, Research Trainee, TMC Asser Institute

Editor:

Dr Carl Lewis, Researcher in Public International Law, TMC Asser Institute

Further reading:

A Duval, 'Football at a Crossroads' (2024) Verfassungsblog

B osman ruling (Case C415/93 ): Union royal belge des sociétés de football association ASBL, Royal club liégeois SA v Jean March Bosman and others and Union des associations européennes de football (UEFA) v Jean-Marc Bosman.

Diarra ruling (Case C-650/22 ): Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA) v BZ.

For further information, news and readings on questions of transnational sports law please visit the Asser International Sports Law Centre webpage.

The Rules of Modern Warfare and Ancient Traditions

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 11:31:00 +0000

In this episode, we reflect on how Dharmic traditions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, engaged with principles of humanity in warfare long before the codification of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) with the Geneva Conventions. Joined by Dr. Robert Heinsch, Dr. Raj Balkaran, and Dr. Christina Kilby, we consider key IHL concepts such as collateral damage and proportionality, while reflecting on what ancient philosophies, theologies and laws can teach us about ethical warfare today. By reflecting on various historical roots and traditions of humanitarian principles, the episode seeks to encourage engagement with the evolution and applications of the laws of armed conflict. What role do the principles of humanity, distinction and proportionality play in the law of armed conflict? How does the element of storytelling in the Sanskrit epics contribute to the dissemination of ethical values? How has religion influenced International Humanitarian Law, specifically the implementation of humanitarian principles?

Guests:  

Dr. Robert Heinsch, Associate Professor in International Law at Leiden University

Dr. Raj Balkaran, Scholar of Sanskrit Narrative Literature, Public Intellectual, Online Educator

Dr. Christina Kilby, Associate Professor of Religion at James Madison University

Editors: 

Host - Dr Carl Lewis, Researcher in Public International Law, TMC Asser Institute 

Co-host - Wamika Sachdev, Intern, Asser Institute 

Flora Bensadon, Intern, Asser Institute

Gaza and the International Legal Community(?): South Africa v Israel at the ICJ

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 08:56:00 +0000

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has now provided two orders of provisional measures in the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) case, following the further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza since the 26th of January 2024. But what are provisional measures? What does it mean to invoke a breach of an obligation owed to the ‘international community’? What implications follow from these proceedings beyond the peace palace? And in what sense could it be argued that the ICJ may be denying reality? In this episode, we discuss all of this and more.

Guests:

Dr León Castellanos-Jankiewicz, Senior Researcher in International Law at the TMC Asser Institute

Dr Shahd Hammouri, Lecturer in Law at the University of Kent

Dr Giulia Pinzauti, Assistant Professor in International Law at Leiden University

Dr Sarah Thin, Assistant Professor in International and European Law at Radboud University

Host:

Dr Carl Lewis, Researcher in Public International Law, TMC Asser Institute

Why so serious? The importance of (fictional) maps in international law

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 15:24:00 +0000

Why do states take maps so seriously? What role do they play in the international legal order? And how do international courts take them into consideration? We discuss all of this and more, with an eye to the ongoing Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela) case at the International Court of Justice.

Guests:

Dr Yusra Suedi, Lecturer in International Law at the University of Manchester.

Dr Brendan Plant, Hopkins–Parry Fellow and Director of Studies in Law at Downing College, University of Cambridge.

Prof Krista Wiegand, Professor in International Relations at the University of Tennessee,

Mr William Worster, Senior Lecturer at The Hague University of Applied Sciences

Hosts:

Dr Carl Lewis, Researcher in Public International Law, TMC Asser Institute

Ms Miranda Lalla, Student in the Advanced LLM in Public International Law, Leiden University and Intern, TMC Asser Institute

Related Works:

Bendel J and Suedi Y, Public Interest Litigation in International Law (Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group 2024).

Plant B, ‘Arbitral Award of Oct. 3, 1899 (Guy. V. Venez.) (Decision on Jurisdiction) (I.C.J.)’ (2021) 60 International Legal Materials 1112.

Powell EJ and Wiegand KE, The Peaceful Resolution of Territorial and Maritime Disputes (Oxford University press 2023).

Riddell A and Plant B, Evidence before the International Court of Justice (British Inst of Internat Comparative Law 2011).

Suedi Y, ‘Man, Land and Sea: Local Populations in Territorial and Maritime Disputes before the International Court of Justice’ (2021) 20 The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals 30.

——, ‘Man, Land and Sea: Local Populations in Territorial and Maritime Disputes before the International Court of Justice’ accessed 8 February 2024.

Worster WT, ‘The Frailties of Maps as Evidence in International Law’ (2018) 9 Journal of International Dispute Settlement 570.

——, ‘Maps Serving as Facts of Law in International Law’ (2018) 33 Connecticut Journal of international law 278.

[Hague Courts] (2/2) International Criminal Court arrest warrants for President Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova: What are the legal and political implications? Part 2

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 08:54:00 +0000

In this two-part episode, Carl Lewis is joined by an expert panel - Julie Fraser, Victoria Kerr, Sergii Masol, and Owiso Owiso - to unpack some of the political and legal implications of the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova.

In part two, the conversation continues by considering the debate around the crime of aggression and the call for a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression and how this relates to the two arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). They further discuss the question of double standards raised as a result of these arrest warrants and their impact on gender stereotypes about men and women in conflict. Finally, they consider whether this is a transformational moment for the ICC and international criminal justice more broadly.

Panelists:

Julie Fraser - Assistant Professor with the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) and the Montaigne Centre at Utrecht University.
Victoria Kerr - Consultant with the Asser Institute
Sergii Masol - Postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cologne
Owiso Owiso – International lawyer and independent consultant specialising in international criminal law and transitional justice

Resources and recommended reading:

1) O. Owiso - An Aggression Chamber for Ukraine Supported by the Council of Europe - https://opiniojuris.org/2022/03/30/an-aggression-chamber-for-ukraine-supported-by-the-council-of-europe/

2) P. Labuda - Beyond rhetoric: Interrogating the Eurocentric critique of international criminal law’s selectivity in the wake of the 2022 Ukraine invasion - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/leiden-journal-of-international-law/article/beyond-rhetoric-interrogating-the-eurocentric-critique-of-international-criminal-laws-selectivity-in-the-wake-of-the-2022-ukraine-invasion/BD9D81E2CFA79A7930769DD0F18BBA63

3) S. Masol - Ukraine and the International Criminal Court: Between Realpolitik and Post-truth Politics - https://academic.oup.com/jicj/article/20/1/167/6580701

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed by individuals in their personal capacity are their own and do not reflect the views or positions of their respective organizations.

[Hague Courts] (1/2) International Criminal Court arrest warrants for President Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova: What are the legal and political implications? Part 1

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 08:11:00 +0000

In part one, they discuss the background to the ICC Arrest Warrants and the role of immunity and jurisdiction. They address the question of head of state immunity and the practical considerations of the arrest warrants. They also deliberate on the reaction to these arrest warrants in Ukraine and Russia and the choice of charges raised by the ICC.

Panelists:

Julie Fraser - Assistant Professor with the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) and the Montaigne Centre at Utrecht University.
Victoria Kerr - Consultant with the Asser Institute
Sergii Masol - Postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cologne
Owiso Owiso – International lawyer and independent consultant specialising in international criminal law and transitional justice

Resources and recommended reading:

1) O. Owiso - An Aggression Chamber for Ukraine Supported by the Council of Europe - https://opiniojuris.org/2022/03/30/an-aggression-chamber-for-ukraine-supported-by-the-council-of-europe/

3) S. Masol - Ukraine and the International Criminal Court: Between Realpolitik and Post-truth Politics - https://academic.oup.com/jicj/article/20/1/167/6580701

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed by individuals in their personal capacity are their own and do not reflect the views or positions of their respective organizations.

[Hague Courts] The Peace Palace and the 'building' of the international community with Prof. Tanja Aalberts and Dr Sofia Stolk

Thu, 08 Jun 2023 12:09:00 +0000

In this episode, Prof. Tanja Aalberts and Dr Sofia Stolk share their research on the ‘building’ of the international community - The Peace Palace. What role did a curious ritual of gift-giving play in constituting the international community? What transnational, bureaucratic and monetary considerations (and bickering) were at play in the construction of the Peace Palace?

If you want to read more about what is discussed in this episode, please check out the articles by our guests below- (both open access):

T. Aalberts. and S. Stolk. Building (of) the international community: a history of the Peace Palace through transnational gifts and local bureaucracy

T. Aalberts. and S. Stolk. The Peace Palace: Building (of) The International Community

And also have a look at the Legal Sightseeing website: www.legalsightseeing.org

[Hague Courts] Kiobel v Shell: The story behind the lawsuit dismissed by the Hague District Court with Dr Lucas Roorda

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 12:21:00 +0000

In this episode, Dr Lucas Roorda joins us to discuss the Kiobel v Shell case, and the story behind the lawsuit that was dismissed by the Hague District Court in 2022. In particular, we discuss the procedural history of the decision, transnational litigation and how this case may be considered to illustrate procedural unfairness at play between individuals and corporations.

Decision:

https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/#!/details?id=ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2022:2449

Disclaimer by Dr Roorda:

During the podcast, the ‘Southern DC Circuit’ was mentioned in deciding Kiobel, but it was the Southern District Court of NY (SDNY), and the 2nd Circuit on appeal. It was also mentioned that Kavanaugh was on the Circuit Court deciding Kiobel on appeal, but that is not correct – Kavanaugh was the dissenting judge on the DC Circuit in Doe v. Exxon (I), the case that created the Circuit split with Kiobel.

[Hague Courts] Questioning nationality at the ICJ: Looking back at the Nottebohm case with Dr Péter D. Szigeti

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 16:27:00 +0000

In this episode, Carl discusses the International Court of Justice’s 1955 Nottebohm (Liechtenstein v. Guatemala) judgment with Dr Péter D. Szigeti of the University of Alberta. What is special about this case? What questions has it left open? And ought the ICJ reconsider the role international law perhaps should play in respect to certain questions concerning the nationality of individuals?

Judgments

Nottebohm (Liechtenstein v. Guatemala) -

Literature recommended by Dr Szigeti:

Cindy G. Buys, Nottebohm's Nightmare: Have We Exorcised the Ghosts of WWII Detention Programs or Do They Still Haunt Guantanamo?, 11 Chicago-Kent J. Int'l & Comp. L. 1-73 (2011)

Peter J. Spiro, Nottebohm and 'Genuine Link': Anatomy of a Jurisprudential Illusion, Investment Migration Working Papers IMC-RP2019/1 (2019)

Atossa Araxa Abrahamian, The Cosmopolites: The Coming of the Global Citizen (2015)

Noora Lori, Offshore Citizens: Permanent Temporary Status in the Gulf (2019)

[Hague Courts] The ICJ: More than a dispute settlement body? A conversation with Prof. Ingo Venzke

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 08:00:00 +0000

Carl discusses the case of Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation), currently pending at the International Court of Justice, with Prof. Ingo Venzke of the University of Amsterdam. Does it make sense to speak of universal values and their evocation in international law? Was the reaction of the Court in its ‘Order of 16 March 2022’ expected? What is the value of provisional measures set up by the Court?

Follow the developments of the case: https://www.icj-cij.org/en/case/182