Joakim Dungel Lectures in International Justice

The 2024 edition of the Joakim Dungel Lectures in International Justice will take a deep dive into the role of private military and security companies (PMSCs) in contemporary conflict zones. The presence of private actors on battlefields or as protectors of key assets in conflict situations is not a new phenomenon but one that has risen to notoriety with the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Central African Republic, Mali and, most recently, Ukraine. 

From a state actor perspective, PMSCs can be a way to complement insufficient or inefficient security forces, but equally provide a means to shroud interests and engagement in a particular conflict–including responsibilities for possible violations committed during such engagement. For private actors, providing security or actively participating in conflicts may provide lucrative business opportunities. 

Through concrete examples from the field, this Joakim Dungel lecture will seek to unpack the implications on the international legal system of the increasing prevalence of PMSC actors. The lecture will also dig into important questions about how PMSCs should be regulated and how they can be held accountable for possible violations of human rights and humanitarian law. More specifically, the lecture will seek to answer the following questions: 

• What does it mean for the idea of the state when wars are fought by private actors? 
• How do the laws of war or international human rights law apply to PMSCs, and what mechanisms are there to hold them accountable for their violations?
• What other means are there to regulate PMSCs, including how they are resourced and paid?
• How can we understand the relation between states’ reliance on PMSCs and UN peacekeeping?

Watch the seminar here

9 February 2023

The nuclear threat is growing. Escalating warfare, political posturing, and geopolitical shifts raise the immediacy of concerns regarding the immense destruction that the use of nuclear weapons would leave in their wake. 

The 2023 edition of the Joakim Dungel Lectures in International Justice will seek to make sense of the issue as our speakers help us understand the technology, history, legality, and politics of nuclear weapons. The speakers will also draw on their extensive experience and research to shed light on efforts to regulate nuclear weapons, and what this regulation and the multilateralism it depends on mean in an increasingly conflict-prone and polarized global setting.

Read the programme here.

See the lecture here.

Read the programme

See the lecture

Session I
Polarization and International Law: Government and Legal Perspectives  

Polarization from a Global Perspective: Viewpoints from Diplomacy
Ann Wilkens, Ambassador

Polarization and International Law: Viewpoints from Academia
Sari Kouvo, Associate Professor, Department of Law, Gothenburg Univeristy

Session II
Working with Human Rights in Polarized Times: Regional and National Perspectives  

Polarization, Human Rights and International Law: Lessons from the Middle East
Habib Nassar, Director of Policy and Research, Impunity Watch

Freedom of Media and Expression in Contemporary Europe: Possibilities and Challenges
Andrew Stroehlein, European Media Director, Human Rights Watch 

Session 3
Future Challenges for Human Rights and International Law in a Polarized World: Concluding Discussion 

Polarization and Human Rights in a Digitalized World: What Can We Expect?
Professor Susan Perry, American University, Paris

Session I

International Perspectives on the Arms Trade Treaty: Law, Politics and Conflict
Sari Kouvo

The Global Authorized Arms Trade: Facts, Figures, and Context
Paul Holtom

The Arms Trade Treaty: Background, Aims, and Context,
Paul Beijer and Paul Holtom

Session II
Swedish Perspectives on the Arms Trade Treaty and Sweden: Law, Politics, and Business
Paul Holtom

The Swedish Defense Industry and Arms Trade: Facts, Figures and Developments
Linda Åkerström

Sweden’s Role in Implementing the Arms Trade Treaty
Paul Beijer

The international legal framework to address climate change
Marianna Bolshakova, Legal Officer, Legal Affairs Programme, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Land: Land and the Protection of Human Rights, the Guarantee of Justice, and the Realization of World Peace 
Richard Byron-Cox, Action Programme Alignment and Capacity Building Officer, The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

Sea: Environmental Justice in the Oceans—A Conceptual Analysis of Legal Frameworks Applicable to the Remediation of Sea-Dumped Chemical Weapons
Grant Dawson, Principal Legal Officer, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

See the lecture here

Session I

Biological and Chemical Weapons
Dr. Robert Heinsch, Associate Professor, University of Leiden
Dr. Valeria Santori, International Consultant, Former Senior Policy Officer with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Session II

Nuclear Weapons
Dr. Tytti Erästö, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

Panel discussion and Q&A session
Josefin Lind, Swedish Physicians Against Nuclear Weapons
Dr. Mikael Baaz, Associate Professor, University of Gothenburg
Dr. Robert Heinsch, Dr. Valeria Santori, Dr. Tytti Erästö

Moderator: Dr. Andreas Moberg, Associate Professor, University of Gothenburg

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International Core Crime vs transnational crime – where does the crime of terrorism stand? 
Philipp Ambach, Chief of the Victims Participation and Reparation Section in the Registry of  the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Combatting terrorism “bottom-up”- globalisation of States’ responses to an emerging global threat
Nicolas Guillou, Chef de Cabinet to the President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Combatting terrorism “top down” – the UNSC’s initiatives to tackle a new global problem
Kimberly Prost, Chef de Cabinet to the President of the International Criminal Court

See the lecture here

Global Context
Presentation on the evolution of the foreign terrorist fighter phenomenon and the response of the international community. 
Nikolaus Schultz, UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, New York

Local Context
A perspective from those working with the topic in the Swedish society will give the audience contextual knowledge a in order to further understand both the problem and the proposed legislative measures to combat it. Are the trends and underlying reasons the same as in the global context? 
Evin Ismail, Uppsala University and Zan Jankowski, City of Gothenburg

Swedish law
Currently voices are calling for the Swedish legislator to act. The Swedish government has ordered a number of inquiries, some of which have received quite heavy criticism when presented. What proposals for legislation are currently on the table? Is there Swedish Law in force prohibiting the active participation as an FF/FTF? 
Gustaf Almkvist, Uppsala University

Comparative law
There is an on-going debate about how to counter the ongoing recruitment of men and women into terror groups operating mainly in the Middle East. Swedish Media tends to focus on the shortcomings of the authorities in this endeavour. What is the current state of legislation to combat terrorism and in particular to prevent the travel of foreign fighters in other jurisdictions? 
Manuel Eising, Senior Legal Adviser, OSCE Secretariat - Action against Terrorism Unit

International law
In order to tie everything together, a session on International Law connects the topic to available international legislation. What rules of contemporary international law are applicable? What future change is envisaged? What is the difference, if any, between a mercenary, PMC, FF, FTF? 
Svetlana Martynova, UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, New York (Via Videolink)

Criminalisation of participation through terrorist organisations in armed conflict
Is there a need to criminalise participation in armed conflict on the side of a terrorist organisation? This question is currently on the table, as a Swedish government inquiry works with this delicate issue in the interface between national law and International Humanitarian Law.
Ola Engdahl, Swedish Defence University, Expert counselor to the Inquiry to prevent and combat terrorism

Mikael Bernardini, Gothenburg University
Christer Mattson, Segerstedtinstitutet, Gothenburg University

See the lecture here

Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflicts: Lessons from the EU crisis management and the Afghan conflict
Sari Kouvo, EEAS, Department of Law, Gothenburg University

Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflicts: Survivors and Protection Mechanisms, with a Focus on Serbia
Milica Kostic, Humanitarian Law Center, Belgrad

Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflicts: Mechanisms to Ensure Accountability, with Particular Focus on the ICC
Diane Brown, Women’s Initiative for Gender Justice

Scattered Reflections on Challenges of Adjusting Vintage Rules to Modern Armed Conflict
Judge Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia. He is currently based in the Hague. (keynote speaker).

What is a Drone?
Peter Bull, Swedish Defence College.

Disciplining drones: is there a role for the UN and international law?
Gleider I Hernández, Lecturer at Durham Law School. Former Associate Legal Officer at the International Court of Justice.

The Changing Nature of Warfare and the Long-Term Needs of Victims of ConflictKirsten Kirsten Roberts, PhD candidate and Dickson Poon Scholar, King’s College London. Previous Acting Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Research, Policy and Promotion of the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC).

Panel discussion: Cecilia Tengroth, Red Cross Sweden.
Moderator: Per Cramér , Dean of the School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg.

Lessons in Humility: Working in Conflict and Post-Conflict Settings
Niki Ganz, Political Affairs Officer for the Middle East and Western Asia Division, United Nations Department of Political Affairs, New York

The Libya Operation from a Nordic Perspective: Identifying the Parties to an Armed Conflict in a Multinational Operation Context
Ola Engdahl, Docent in International Law, Swedish National Defence College. 

About Responsibility
Judge Wolfgang Schomburg, honorary and teaching Professor at Durham University. Judge Schomburg was elected the first German Judge by the General Assembly of the UN to join the UN- ad hoc Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague (NL) in 2001. 

Moderator: Professor Per Cramér, Dean, School of Business, Economics and Law at Gothenburg University.

Tribute to Joakim Dungel’s Unfinished Work: Whether the Incident at Wounded Knee Creek on 29 December 1890 Was a Crime Under the Applicable Law of the Time. 
Grant Dawson, Legal Officer United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

The International Criminal Court: The Next Step Towards a Comprehensive International Criminal Justice System. 
Dr. Philipp Ambach, Special Assistant to the President, International Criminal Court.