A podcast of casual conversation about topical issues in international law, life in academia and whatever else is on our mind. Hosted by Douglas Guilfoyle and featuring Juliette McIntyre. In this episode we discuss South Africa v Israel at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor seeking arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli leaders.

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait.

Called to the Bar: International Law over Drink

1. That dammed comma, and what is complementarity?

In this episode, Douglas Guilfoyle and Tamsin Phillipa Paige discuss the international law applicable to the use by Houthi insurgents of remotely pirated drone boats to attack merchant shipping in the Red Sea. It gets pretty geeky!

Tamsin's recommendations:

Austen Turk, Sociology of Terrorism (2004) https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.soc.30.012703.110510?crawler=true&mimetype=application/pdf

Rob McLaughlin, 'Whither Recognition of Belligerency?' (2020) https://lieber.westpoint.edu/whither-recognition-of-belligerency/

Philip Drew, The Law of Maritime Blockade (2017) https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-law-of-maritime-blockade-9780198808435

You might also like:

Tamsin Paige, "Piracy and Universal Jurisdiction" (2013) https://www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/journals/MqLawJl/2013/17.html

Douglas Guilfoyle, "The Laws of War and the Fight against Somali Piracy" https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1686284/Guilfoyle.pdf

Magne Frostad, 'Houthi Attacks on Merchant Vessels in the Red Sea' (2024) https://lieber.westpoint.edu/houthi-attacks-merchant-vessels-red-sea/ - not that we agree with all his points.

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

Called to the Bar

5. Houthi drone-boat attacks on Red Sea shipping: piracy or war crimes?

This week Juliette McIntyre talks with Tamsin Phillipa Paige and Aoife O'Donoghue about Security Council reform. Is it possible? (Spoiler: not really. Additional spoiler: Tamsin taps the sign.)

Aoife's recommendations: 

Dipo Faloyin Africa is not a Country (Penguin, 2022) https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/444389/africa-is-not-a-country-by-faloyin-dipo/9781529114829

Priyasha Saksena, "Building the Nation: Sovereignty and International Law in the Decolonisation of South Asia". (2020) 23 Journal of the History of International Law 52

Jonn Elledge A History of the World in 47 Borders (Hachette, 2024)

Only Murders in the Building https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11691774/

Silo https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14688458/

And the speech where Ursula K le Guin said "We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings." https://www.ursulakleguin.com/nbf-medal

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

Called to the Bar: International Law over Drinks

20. Security Council reform: is it possible? (No, it's not)

This week Imogen Saunders chairs a discussion with Alex Green and Douglas Guilfoyle on their forthcoming article "The Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union Treaty: Statehood and Security in the Face of Anthropogenic Climate Change". Can a state still exist without land territory? Is the new Australia-Tuvalu treaty a landmark climate mobility agreement of a neo-colonial arrangement?

An advance access version of the article is available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4961093

The text of the Falepili Union Treaty is available at: https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/australia-tuvalu-falepili-union-treaty.pdf

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

22. Climate change and the survival of small island states: The new Tuvalu-Australia Treaty

This week Juliette McIntyre, having just finished her PhD, asks the rest of the panel about career planning. Where should you aim to work, how much should you publish, when should you turn the PhD into a book, and do you ever recover from post PhD mental exhaustion? Featuring Ntina Tzouvala, Douglas Guilfoyle and Tamsin Paige.

Recommendations:

Ntina Tzouvala

Andrea Lawlor, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl, https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781529007671/

Tamsin:

Seanan McGuire writing as Mira Grant, Newsflesh Trilogy, https://www.miragrant.com/series/newsflesh/

Douglas:

Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policeman's Union, https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780007373055/the-yiddish-policemens-union/

China Mieville, The City and the City, https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9780330534192/

Roger Zelazny, The Chronicles of Amber, https://www.hachette.com.au/roger-zelazny/the-chronicles-of-amber

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

25. What Juliette did next: academic career planning

This week we continue our "what does everyone get wrong about classic case X" series. And today we're looking at the overquoted, under-authoritative, and deeply de-historicized "Caroline Case" (or, more accurately, the "Caroline Affair") with regular co-host Imogen Saunders. Digressions include a plea for accuracy, critical thinking skills and ... Elon Musk?

Recommendations: 

Craig Forcese, "Destroying the Caroline: The Frontier Raid That Reshaped the Right to War"
https://irwinlaw.com/product/destroying-the-caroline/

"'We will make mistakes': Musk pressed on claim $50m of condoms sent to Gaza" (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2025/feb/12/musk-says-he-will-make-mistakes-and-that-he-double-checks-with-trump-video

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait


33. What everyone gets wrong about the Caroline "Case"

Is the war on drugs literally a war? 

This week Douglas Guilfoyle discusses the supposed "unable and unwilling" doctrine that is said to justify the use of force against non-state actors in other states' territory with Tamsin Phillipa Paige and Ntina Tzouvala. In particular, we ask could this doctrine be used to justify a US strikes on drug cartels in Mexico or Nicaragua as a response to the opioid crisis? (Spoilers: no.)

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

44. Can the US take the war on drugs to Mexico?

This week Ntina Tzouvala is joined by Juan Auz to discuss the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency. What is it, how did it come about and what's its significance? (Note: this episode was recorded before the ICJ advisory opinion on climate change was handed down.)

Recommendations:

Juan Auz, The Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency: A Global South Contribution to Climate Governance, https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-inter-american-court-of-human-rights-advisory-opinion-on-the-climate-emergency-a-global-south-contribution-to-climate-governance/  

Juan Auz, The Political Ecology of Climate Remedies in Latin America and the Caribbean, https://academic.oup.com/jhrp/article/16/1/182/7571304

Thea Riofrancos, The Security–Sustainability Nexus: Lithium Onshoring in the Global North Open Access, https://direct.mit.edu/glep/article/23/1/20/111308/The-Security-Sustainability-Nexus-Lithium

Brett Christophers, The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won't Save the Planet, https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3069-the-price-is-wrong?srsltid=AfmBOooLscbjPoSutKIMFM7mhnMXn2UBAFNVEScYMddvkkhT6YUgtOcU 

47. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights' Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency

What are the consequences of the International Court of Justice's recent Advisory Opinion on climate change, especially for the small island developing States who spearheaded this initiative? 

Associate Professor Ntina Tzouvala talks through the opinion and its consequences with two practitioner academics with deep knowledge of the proceedings: Associate Professor Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh of the Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam who represented the Government of Vanuatu, and Dylan Asafo, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Auckland, who represented the Government of the Cook Islands.

49. The ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change

Pack your travel mugs and methodological curiosity - Dr Tamsin Phillipa Paige is on the road! This roving episode of Called to the Bar comes to you from Newcastle and Manchester, where Tamsin chats with an impressive lineup of international law scholars about everything from space law to feminist lawyering, utopias to witnesses in international criminal law, and maybe even a  bit about gardens.

Along the way, we hear from: Cris van Eijk (Newcastle), Dr Matteo Bassetti (Essex), Dr Cristy Clark (Canberra), Dr Emily Jones (Newcastle), Dr Matilda Arvidsson (Gothenburg), Dr Juliana Santos De Carvalho (Downing College, Cambridge), Louisa Dassow (Newcastle), Professor Gina Heathcote (Newcastle), Dr Paola Zichi (Warwick), Dr Hasret Cetinkaya (Manchester Metropolitan), Dr Ash Murphy (Manchester Metropolitan), Dr Rosella Pulvirenti (Manchester Metropolitan), Dr Lucia Kula (SOAS), and Dr Kay Lalor (Manchester).

Join them as they discuss space law, trans rights, utopias, posthuman environmental law, gardens, international law making, feminist approaches to peace and war, feminist lawyering, human rights and gender, witnesses in international criminal law and much more!

Recommendations & Shout-outs:
🎧 Law at the End of the World podcast – https://lawattheendoftheworld.buzzsprout.com/

📸 Point and Bubbles – https://www.instagram.com/pointandbubbles/?hl=en

📖 Paola Zichi, Feminist Governance and International Law: A Critical Legal History from Mandate Palestine – https://www.routledge.com/Feminist-Governance-and-International-Law-A-Critical-Legal-History-from-Mandate-Palestine/Zichi/p/book/9781032568867

📖 Ash Murphy, Climate Change at the UN Security Council
Protecting Pacific and Caribbean Island States, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003302681/climate-change-un-security-council-ash-murphy

58. The Newcastle and Manchester Roadshow: Methodology, Feminism, and the End of the World

In this episode of Called to the Bar - International Law over Drinks, Douglas Guilfoyle, Tamsin Philipa Paige, and Ntina Tzouvala gather (with hot chocolate, peppermint tea, and white wine) to unravel UN Security Council Resolution 2803 and its annexed “President Donald J. Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict.”

Douglas reads through the resolution’s greatest hits, prompting the panel to ask:

How does any of this align with self-determination and recent ICJ rulings?

Can the Security Council effectively override jus cogens by legislative fiat?

And why are we suddenly talking about “New Gaza,” overseen by a Board of Peace chaired by Donald J. Trump and Tony Blair?

Tamsin breaks down Article 25, the veto, and why the Council has been structurally placed above the law. Ntina situates the resolution alongside the legal and economic experiments of Iraq and Kosovo—only this time, with even fewer nods to international legality.

We close, as tradition demands, by asking: what are your current escape routes from international law? Cue Korean reality TV, unhinged ancient-Greek animation, and the meditative rage of sewing.

Recommendations

Tamsin Phillipa Paige, 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
https://brill.com/display/title/54194

Ntina Tzouvala, Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/capitalism-as-civilisation/F66ABF447B13A75739D4644A8674EAD9

Antonios Tzanakopoulos, Disobeying the Security Council
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/disobeying-the-security-council-9780199600762

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

59. Gaza, the Trump Peace Plan and Security Council Resolution 2803

In Episode 60 of Called to the Bar, host Imogen Saunders (ANU) sits down with three leading journal editors — Prof Ingrid Brunk of the American Journal of International Law, Prof Liz Fisher of the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, and Prof Jolyon Ford of the Australian Yearbook of International Law — to unpack the world of academic publishing in law. They discuss their paths into academia, what makes a submission stand out, how journals navigate contemporary controversies, and the responsibilities top outlets hold in supporting a diverse global scholarly community. A lively, candid, and deeply practical conversation, especially valuable for early-career researchers preparing their first submissions.

Recommendations:

Ingrid’s reading recommendation:  The Trilogy, by Jon Fosse, https://dalkeyarchive.store/products/trilogy

Liz’s recommendation: Prairie Fires, by Caroline Fraser: https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/caroline-fraser

Two articles from Liz on legal research and publishing:

https://academic.oup.com/jel/article/35/1/11/7026246 - seven tips on writing journal articles 

 

https://academic.oup.com/jel/article/33/3/521/6386710?login=false  on the epistemic responsibility of journal editors 


Links to all three journals:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law

https://brill.com/display/serial/AUST 

https://academic.oup.com/ojls

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

60. Publishing, Peer Review and What Editors Wish You Knew

In the penultimate episode of Season 2, host Douglas Guilfoyle brings together the full Called to the Bar team — Tamsin Paige, Ntina Tzouvala, Juliette McIntyre, and Imogen Saunders — for their end-of-year drinks and a candid debrief (and group therapy session) on a tumultuous year in international law.

From the explosion of advisory opinions, to debates over whether small states are pioneering new forms of legal statecraft or merely navigating the collapse of multilateral diplomacy, the panel wrestles with the big question: Was 2025 a turning point, and if so, toward what? Their answers range from despair to cautious optimism — with letter grades on international law's report card dipping well below an F.

The team reflects on the erosion of legal justification in state practice, the strain on international courts, the possibility that the UN era is ending, and whether emerging forms of regionalism or “minilateralism” offer any hope. They also revisit the standout podcast episodes they learned from this year, and share their summer reading and viewing plans.

Sound editing: Jamie Guilfoyle

Music: Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

61. End of year drinks: gangsterism as international law

In this special roadshow episode, Associate Professor Tamsin Phillipa Paige (Deakin University) takes Call to the Bar on the road to Melbourne for the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law’s Gender, Sexuality and International Law (GSIL) Interest Group 2025 Workshop. Across two days of papers, panels, and conversations on feminist approaches to international law under authoritarian capitalism, Tamsin sits down with a remarkable group of scholars to hear about their current research and the ideas animating their work.

We begin with Laura Godau (Hamburg), whose doctoral research interrogates how the European Court of Human Rights frames gender diversity in family-law jurisprudence. At the workshop dinner, Holly Cullen (Deakin/UWA) reflects on feminist judging, strategic litigation, and the joyful digressions of PhD life.
Dr Sophie Rigney (RMIT) joins us to discuss abolitionist critiques of international criminal law and the carceral assumptions embedded within it. Dr Caitlin Biddulph (UTS) explores international courts as both exceptional and everyday sites of gendered violence, and the forms of legal harm they enact.

We then hear from Adrienne Ringin (La Trobe), fresh from presenting on the Feminist Judges Project: Reimagining the ICC, before discussing her doctoral work on Australia’s role in drafting the Rome Statute.
Joanne Stagg (Griffith) talks about her research into queer refugee claims and the troubling persistence of Western stereotypes in assessing gender and sexuality. Returning guest Dr Claerwyn O’Hara (Melbourne) shares archival insights into alternative feminist imaginaries of international economic law emerging from 1970s conferences.

Travelling from Oxford, Carlos Zelada presents his work on how the Inter-American Court frames sexual violence—revealing stark divergences between cases involving women and men. Andréia Aguiar Paranaguá (La Trobe) introduces her early-stage research on reproductive justice and the criminalisation of abortion in Tocantins, Brazil, ahead of upcoming fieldwork. And finally, Associate Professor Tania Penovic (Deakin) examines how the far right and religious right strategically co-opt human rights language to erode gender equality, reproductive rights, and protections for LGBTQ+ communities.

Listen in for a rich, wide-ranging snapshot of contemporary feminist critiques, emerging research, and the community that sustains this work.

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

62. Feminist Approaches to International Law in a Time of Authoritarian Capitalism - ANZSIL GSIL Roadshow

In this special bonus episode of Called to the Bar, the full podcast crew assembles to confront the legal fallout from the US bombing of Venezuela and the abduction of its sitting president, Nicolás Maduro. With drinks in hand and very little patience for bad legal arguments, Juliette McIntyre is joined by Imogen Saunders (ANU), Tamsin Phillipa Paige (Deakin), Douglas Guilfoyle (UNSW Canberra), and Ntina Tzouvala (UNSW Sydney).

The panel unpacks the manifest violations of the UN Charter, the limits of self-defence, and why this operation cannot be dressed up as humanitarian intervention or responsibility to protect. They examine state reactions—particularly the muted responses of Western governments - before turning to thornier doctrinal terrain: extraterritorial enforcement jurisdiction, head of state immunity, and the illegality of abducting a sitting president for domestic criminal prosecution.

Drawing comparisons with Eichmann, Noriega, and Libya, the conversation explores how US domestic criminal law collides with international legal constraints - and why that collision may no longer trouble Washington. The episode closes with a sober reflection on whether this moment marks not the death of international law, but the rise of a far worse alternative: a world of hemispheric primacy, spectacle, and coercion without justification.

Music: Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

63. Bombing Caracas: The Use of Force, Abducting a Head of State, and the Unravelling of International Law

In the Season 3 opener of Called to the Bar, Tamsin Phillipa Paige (Deakin Law School) is joined by an extraordinary panel to reflect on what a feminist career in international law can look like in practice. Bringing together Professor Dianne Otto (Melbourne Law School), Professor Christine Chinkin (LSE), and Judge Hilary Charlesworth (International Court of Justice; Melbourne Law School / ANU), the episode offers a rare, candid conversation across generations of feminist international legal scholarship and practice.
The discussion moves beyond CVs and milestones to explore how feminist careers are built: through activism, mentorship, institutional engagement, collaboration, and care. The panel reflects on navigating academia, advisory roles, and judicial office; the value of collective feminist projects; and the ways in which careers intertwine, diverge, and evolve over time. They also speak openly about power, responsibility, and the importance of supporting those coming up behind them.

64. Feminist Careers in International Law

In this episode of Called to the Bar, Tamsin Phillipa Paige is joined by Aoife O’Donoghue (Queen’s University Belfast), Ruth Houghton (Newcastle University), and Cher Weixia Chen (George Mason University) to discuss their newly published Research Handbook on Global Governance (2025).

https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollbook/book/9781789906332/9781789906332.xml

The conversation explores what we mean when we talk about “global governance” - and what that concept may obscure as much as it explains. Drawing on the Handbook’s wide-ranging contributions, the editors reflect on the successes and failures of global institutions in responding to climate change, pandemics, war, democracy, human rights, and inequality. They interrogate the ideologies embedded in the language of the “global”, the roles played by states and international organisations, and persistent questions of legitimacy, accountability, and power.

Interdisciplinary in scope and critical in tone, the discussion highlights why law alone cannot explain how global governance works - or fails - and why local, indigenous, feminist, and comparative perspectives are essential to understanding contemporary global ordering. Alongside critique, the episode also asks where hope might be found: not in easy reform narratives, but in rethinking how governance is practised and studied.

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

65. Global Governance: Promise, Power, and the Limits of the ‘Global’

In this episode, Douglas Guilfoyle and Tamsin Phillipa Paige are joined by Dr Tara Davenport (NUS Centre for International Law) and Dita Liliansa (UNSW Sydney) for a deep dive into the law, history, and strategic significance of submarine cables, the quietly critical infrastructure underpinning the modern internet (and increasingly, power grids). From the colonial origins of telegraph cables to the oddly antique legal framework still doing duty today (hello, 1884), the panel unpacks who regulates cables across territorial seas, EEZs, archipelagic waters, and the high seas, and why “grey zone” sabotage in places like the Baltic keeps raising hard jurisdictional questions (including a certain provocative word: piracy). They also tackle cable geopolitics in the South China Sea, the rise of “smart” sensing cables, and why the law of armed conflict is alarmingly undercooked for something this essential.

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait

66. Submarine cables

In this episode of Called to the Bar: International Law Over Drinks, Tamsin Phillipa Paige is joined by Professor Ben Saul (Sydney Law School; UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights) and Dr Pichamon Yeophantong (Deakin University; Member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights) to demystify the UN’s Special Procedures system.

What exactly are Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups? How did these mechanisms emerge from the late-1960s human rights movement, and how do they function today within the Human Rights Council system? Drawing on their lived experience as mandate holders, Ben and Pichamon explain the independence, authority, and limitations of these roles: from fact-finding missions and urgent communications, to producing reports that carry the weight of being issued by the UN.

The conversation also explores the practical realities behind the mandates: underfunding, reliance on volunteer labour, political pushback from states, and the delicate balance between independence and institutional affiliation. In a moment of growing authoritarianism and multilateral strain, the episode asks whether Special Procedures are one of the UN’s most powerful, or most precarious, human rights tools.

67. UN Special Rapporteurs and Procedures: Independent Voices in an Uncertain World

In this episode of Called to the Bar: International Law Over Drinks, Ntina Tzouvala (UNSW) is joined by Dr Maria O’Sullivan (Deakin Law School) to unpack the legal frameworks governing the right to protest at a time of increasing global restriction.

Drawing on Maria’s research expertise - spanning international human rights law, domestic law, and public policy - the conversation explores how the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) protects freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and how those protections are being tested in practice. From escalating state violence to the proliferation of restrictive protest laws, the episode examines the widening gap between formal legal guarantees and lived realities on the ground.

The discussion also reflects on Maria’s broader career in international human rights law, the influence of key mentors, and the challenge of translating international legal norms into domestic contexts.

Recommendations:

Azadeh Dastyari, Maria O’Sullivan, International Law and the Regulation of Protest (2026) https://www.routledge.com/International-Law-and-the-Regulation-of-Protest/Dastyari-OSullivan/p/book/9781032863573

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait

68. The Right to Protest: Law, Resistance, and Regulation

In this episode Juliette McIntyre (Adelaide University) is joined by James Devaney (University of Glasgow) and Cecily Rose (Leiden University) to explore the often-overlooked world of evidence and fact-finding in international adjudication.

Why does the International Court of Justice have so few formal rules on evidence? What does it actually do with the mountains of annexes submitted by parties? And what exactly counts as proof in international litigation? Drawing on James’s leading work on ICJ fact-finding and Cecily’s experience across arbitration and international courts, the episode examines the Court’s traditionally reactive approach, recent efforts at reform, and how it compares with more interventionist practices in investment arbitration and human rights courts.

The conversation also unpacks practical issues - from expert evidence and adverse inferences to the strategic dynamics of litigation - offering insights into how international courts construct “facts” in the absence of strict evidentiary frameworks.

Sound production: Jamie Guilfoyle

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au lait

69. Evidence Before International Courts: Facts, Proof, and Procedure

In this episode of Called to the Bar: International Law Over Drinks, Ntina Tzouvala (UNSW) is joined by Zohra Ahmed (Boston University School of Law) and Nasia Hadjigeorgiou (University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus) to examine the law, history, and politics of foreign military bases.

Against the backdrop of escalating conflict in the Middle East, the conversation explores how the US and UK came to maintain extensive global networks of military bases: from post-colonial enclaves like Cyprus and the Chagos Archipelago to status of forces agreements (SOFAs) that underpin US bases worldwide. The episode unpacks the legal distinctions between these models and what they reveal about sovereignty, consent, and enduring forms of imperial power.

Drawing on recent developments in international law, including the ICJ’s Chagos Advisory Opinion, the discussion considers whether existing legal frameworks offer meaningful avenues to challenge the continued presence of foreign bases. It also reflects on the evolving uses of these spaces - from warfare to detention - and what they tell us about the relationship between international law, militarism, and political economy.

Recommendations:

-Nasia's EJIL piece: https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/33/4/1125/6825293?guestAccessKey= 
-Nasia's blog post: https://verfassungsblog.de/why-us-sovereign-bases-in-greenland-would-violate-international-law/ 
-Zohra's YJIL piece: https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/3712/ 
-Daniel Immerwahr, How to Hide an Empire: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/how-to-hide-an-empire-9781473545335 

Sound production: Jamie Guilfoyle

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au lait

70. Foreign Military Bases: Empire, Sovereignty, and International Law

In this episode of Called to the Bar: International Law Over Drinks, Dr Juliette McIntyre is joined by Mykola Yurlov (Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and Mark Ellis (International Bar Association) to unpack one of the most ambitious current projects in international criminal law: the proposed Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.

Blending personal insight with institutional perspective, the conversation traces the rapid emergence of the tribunal idea following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, and the legal gap it seeks to fill. While the International Criminal Court remains central to global accountability efforts, its jurisdictional limits over aggression have prompted states and legal practitioners to explore alternative mechanisms—reviving, in many respects, a form of accountability not seen since Nuremberg.

The discussion explores how the tribunal is being constructed in practice: from the role of the Council of Europe and the “core group” of states, to difficult negotiations over immunities, jurisdiction, and the possibility of trials in absentia. The episode also addresses institutional tensions, including early resistance from within the ICC system, and the broader political sensitivities of targeting senior state leadership.

Recommendations:

"An Anxious Generation": https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-anxious-generation-9781802063271
"UN Charter - 5 Pillars": https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-94866-4

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au lait

71. Prosecuting Aggression: Building a Special Tribunal for Ukraine

In this episode of Called to the Bar: International Law Over Drinks, Tamsin Phillipa Paige (Deakin Law School) and Douglas Guilfoyle (UNSW Canberra) are joined by Alonso Gurmendi Dunkelberg (LSE) and Emma Lush (University of Adelaide) to unpack the legal status of assassination in contemporary warfare and statecraft.

From Cold War plots to modern drone strikes, the panel explores the apparent resurgence of targeted killing as a tool of state power. What explains this shift? How has the logic of war changed in an era of precision targeting, AI, and pre-identified “target lists”? And does the law meaningfully constrain these practices?

The discussion moves across key legal frameworks, including the UN Charter’s prohibition on the use of force, the threshold for armed attack, and the rules of international humanitarian law governing targeting. Along the way, the episode interrogates blurred lines between peace and war, the expansion of lawful targets, and the troubling implications of a model of conflict where violence is increasingly individualized and pre-programmed.

72. Assassinations: law, targetting and the changing nature of war

In this episode Juliette McIntyre (Adelaide University) is joined by Phillip Drew (Queen’s University Centre for International and Defence Policy) alongside in-house maritime law specialists Tamsin Phillipa Paige (Deakin) and Douglas Guilfoyle (UNSW Canberra) to tackle a suddenly urgent topic: naval blockade.

What exactly is a blockade in international law, and when is it lawful? The panel traces the doctrine from its historical roots to its modern regulation under the law of naval warfare, where blockades remain a recognised, but tightly constrained, act of war requiring effectiveness, notification, and impartiality toward neutral shipping . From there, the discussion turns to current events, including the US blockade of Iran and Iran's attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz, raising difficult questions about freedom of navigation, the legality of closing international straits, and the broader implications for the global trading system.

Recommendations:

- Drew, The Law of Maritime Blockade: Past, Present, and Future, https://academic.oup.com/book/11044
- The Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare, https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/ils/vol101/iss1/1/
- The San Remo Manual on Armed Conflicts at Sea, https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/san-remo-manual-1994
- Guilfoyle, The Mavi Marmara Incident and Blockade in Armed Conflict  https://doi.org/10.1093/bybil/brr002

Sound editing: Jamie Guilfoyle

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au lait

73. Blockade and the Strait of Hormuz: Do Two Closeds Make an Open?

In this episode Associate Professor Imogen Saunders is joined by Dr Rumyana van Ark and Professor Kim Rubenstein to discuss citizenship, security, and the rights of children in the context of Australians held in camps in North East Syria.

Prompted by recent debate over the so-called “ISIS brides”, the conversation asks what citizenship means when citizens are abroad, what obligations states owe to their nationals, and how those questions become even more urgent when children are involved. Kim Rubenstein explains the uncertain place of citizenship in Australian constitutional law, the limits of diplomatic protection, and the dangers of using citizenship deprivation as a tool of punishment or security policy. Rumyana van Ark examines the position of children in the camps through the lens of international children’s rights, counter-terrorism law, and the practical consequences of prolonged detention, repatriation delays, and statelessness.

Together, they explore the uneasy relationship between national security and human rights; the vulnerability of dual citizens; the gendered and racialised dimensions of citizenship stripping; and the risks of treating children associated with foreign fighters as security threats rather than rights holders. The episode also reflects on “security populism”, the limits of existing international legal frameworks, and why repatriation, prosecution where appropriate, rehabilitation, and reintegration may be not only more rights-compliant, but also better security policy.

Recommendations:

‘Security and Human Rights’ (2nd ed.) by Benjamin J Goold and Liora Lazarus (eds.)(https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/security-and-human-rights-9781849467308/)
‘Europe’s Guantanamo: The indefinite detention of European women and children in North East Syria’, Rights & Security International (https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/children-s-rights-foreign-fighters-counter-terrorism-9781800377110.html)
‘Children’s Rights, ‘Foreign Fighters’, Counter-Terrorism: Children of Nowhere’ by Rumyana van Ark, Devyani Prabhat and Faith Gordon (https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/children-s-rights-foreign-fighters-counter-terrorism-9781800377110.html)
'Allegiance and Identity in a Globalised World’ by edited Fiona Jenkins, Mark Nolan and Kim Rubenstein (https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/allegiance-and-identity-in-a-globalised-world/allegiance-and-identity-in-a-globalised-world)
Kim Rubenstien and Niamh Lenagh-Maguire,  'More or less secure? Nationality questions, deportation and dual nationality’ (https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/nationality-and-statelessness-under-international-law/more-or-less-secure-nationality-questions-deportation-and-dual-nationality)
'The vulnerability of dual citizenship in Australia | Kim Rubenstein | TEDxFulbrightCanberra’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51B8aA1UCWM)


Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au lait

74. Isis Brides: Children of Nowhere and the Limits of Citizenship

In this episode of Called to the Bar: International Law Over Drinks, Tamsin Phillipa Paige (Deakin) and Imogen Saunders (ANU) are joined by Dimitrios A. Kourtis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) to discuss his new book, The Development and Application of the International Law of State Immunity: The Greek Perspective.

The conversation begins with a rich reflection on Dimitrios’ intellectual journey into international law - from rural central Greece to the study of genocide, sovereignty, and international criminal law - before turning to the doctrine of state immunity itself. What does it mean for one state to be immune from the jurisdiction of another state’s courts? Why has immunity historically been understood as an expression of sovereign equality? And how have these principles evolved in response to human rights claims, reparations litigation, and contemporary demands for accountability?

Drawing on the Greek experience, the episode explores how a so-called “semi-peripheral” state has played an unexpectedly significant role in shaping debates around jurisdictional immunity, enforcement immunity, and the relationship between sovereignty and justice. Along the way, the panel unpacks major doctrinal tensions, historical controversies, and the enduring question of whether immunity protects international order, or shields power from scrutiny.

Recommendations:

The Development and Application of the International Law of State Immunity: The Greek Perspective, https://www.sakkoulas.gr/en/editions/d-kourtis-the-development-and-application-of-the-international-law-of-state-immunity-2025/

Recipe Tin Eats: https://www.recipetineats.com/

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait

75. State Immunity: Sovereignty, Accountability, and the Greek Perspective

In this episode Dr Juliette McIntyre is joined by Professor Beatrice Bonafè (Université Paris Panthéon-Assas) and Dr Matina Papadaki (University of Glasgow) for a lively discussion on one of international law’s most suddenly fashionable procedural topics: intervention before the International Court of Justice. From the once-obscure provisions of Articles 62 and 63 of the ICJ Statute to the recent explosion of intervention requests in contentious proceedings, the conversation explores how and why third states seek to participate in cases before the Court.

Along the way, the episode unpacks the distinction between intervention “as of right” and intervention by request, the historical underuse of these mechanisms, and the remarkable procedural shift visible in recent genocide litigation and other high-profile disputes. Beatrice and Matina reflect on the practical and conceptual tensions underpinning intervention practice, including transparency, procedural fairness, judicial administration, and the relationship between procedure and substance in international adjudication.

The discussion also turns to academic life and career pathways into international law, with both guests sharing the winding journeys that led them from Athens, Rome, Geneva, Copenhagen and beyond to their current positions in Paris and Glasgow.

Recommendations:

Juliette McIntyre, ‘Procedural Values in the Intervention Procedure at the International Court of Justice’ [2022] Ukrainian Law Review

Beatrice I. Bonafè, ‘Impacts of substance on procedure: Genocide litigation before the ICJ’ [2025] Questions of International Law

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait

76. Intervention before the International Court of Justice

In this episode of Called to the Bar: International Law Over Drinks, Imogen Saunders is joined by the Honourable Michael Kirby AC and Christopher Ward SC to discuss the role of international law in Australian domestic courts.

Prompted by several recent Australian legal developments involving alleged international crimes and climate litigation, the conversation steps back from the specific cases to ask a broader question: how, and how much, does international law matter in domestic legal systems such as Australia’s?

Michael Kirby explains Australia’s dualist tradition, under which international law generally requires domestic incorporation before it becomes directly enforceable in Australian courts. He reflects on the Bangalore Principles, his judicial use of international human rights law, and the continuing debate over whether courts may use international law as a contextual guide when interpreting domestic law. The discussion ranges across cases including Mabo, Al-Kateb, Jago, and Muir, and considers the role of courts in developing the common law in light of international legal principles.

Christopher Ward SC brings the perspective of both scholar and practitioner. Drawing on his forthcoming book, International Law and the High Court of Australia, he traces the growing normalisation of international law references in Australian superior courts. He explains how international law informs statutory interpretation, particularly where legislation gives effect to treaty obligations, and discusses the practical implications for lawyers working on matters involving international crimes, foreign state immunity, refugee law, pandemic regulation, and human rights.

The episode also considers the interaction between international law and Australian law during the COVID-19 pandemic, including border closures, maritime obligations, aviation rules, and the right of Australian citizens to return to Australia. The guests reflect on the importance of international consistency, the limits of dualism, and the areas where international law may yet play a greater role in Australian domestic law, including human rights, climate change, and juvenile justice.

Recommendations and materials discussed include:
Christopher Ward, ‘International Law and the High Court of Australia’ (forthcoming June 2026, Melrose Publishing) https://melroselegalpublishers.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ward-978-90-834075-6-2.pdf
Al-Kateb v Godwin [2004] HCA 37 with particular reference to the judgments of Kirby J and McHugh J https://www.hcourt.gov.au/sites/default/files/eresources/2004/HCA/37.pdf
Muir v The Queen [2004] HCA 21 https://www.hcourt.gov.au/cases-and-judgments/judgments/judgments-1998-current/muir-v-queen
Michael Kirby, 'The Road from Bangalore: The First Ten Years of the Bangalore Principles on the Domestic Application of International Human Rights Norms’ https://www.hcourt.gov.au/sites/default/files/assets/publications/speeches/former-justices/kirbyj/kirbyj_bang11.htm
Michael Kirby, 'The Australian Use of International Human Rights Norms' (1993) 16(2) UNSW Law Journal 363: https://www.michaelkirby.com.au/images/stories/speeches/1990s/vol28/994-UNSWLJ_-_The_Aus_Use_of_Int_Human_Rights_Norms_-_From_Bangalore_to_Balliol_-_A_View_from_the_Antipodes.pdf
Gradidge v Grace Bros  (1988) 93 FLR 414 per Kirby P
Mabo v Qld [No 2] (1972) 175 CLR 1 
Michael Kirby, ’Transnational Judicial Dialogue, Internationalisation of Law and Australian Judges’ (2008) 9 Melbourne Journal of International Law https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/1683186/Kirby.pdf

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait




77. International Law in Domestic Courts

In this special episode, the panel reflects on the life, career, and enduring legacy of Sir Kenneth James Keith ONZ KBE KC PC , one of the most influential international lawyers of his generation.

Dr Juliette McIntyre is joined by Bill Campbell, Dr Penelope Ridings, and Anne Hertogen to share personal memories of Sir Kenneth and to explore the qualities that made him such a respected figure across academia, government service, law reform, and international adjudication. Through a series of stories—ranging from his generosity towards students and junior colleagues to his intellectual leadership on some of the most significant legal questions of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries—the discussion paints a portrait of a lawyer whose influence extended far beyond his many formal appointments.

The conversation examines Sir Kenneth’s remarkable career, including his service on the International Court of Justice, the New Zealand Court of Appeal, the New Zealand Law Commission, and numerous international tribunals and arbitral bodies. The panel considers the distinctive perspective he brought to international adjudication through his combination of scholarly expertise, practical government experience, and judicial service.

As always, these are informal conversations, reflecting the personal views of the participants and not those of their institutions.

Recommendations:

Sir Kenneth's liber amicorum https://teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/seeing-the-world-whole-essays-in-honour-of-sir-kenneth-keith?srsltid=AfmBOorOKjAEkNpCpx8TKB8KsJ2_3lZX1quZiDE4iRpaHVfSCX0-jeR_

His biography: https://www.amazon.com.au/Without-Fear-Favour-Life-Law/dp/1776922190

And here is an image that goes with the whakataukī (proverb) mentioned in discussion: https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22703273.

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

78. Rembering Sir Kenneth Keith

A podcast of informal conversation about topical issues in international law, life in academia and whatever else is on our mind. Hosted by Douglas Guilfoyle, Juliette McIntyre, Tamsin Paige, Imogen Saunders, and Nitna Tzouvala. 

Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of Au Lait

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