In its 2024 advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, the International Court of Justice ruled not only that Israeli policies and practices in the occupied territory systematically violated international law, but also that the occupation as such has become illegal and that Israel had to withdraw from the occupied territories as rapidly as possible. This talk unpacks the concept of an illegal occupation, as understood by the Court and in the individual opinions of its judges.

Marko Milanovic is Professor of Public International Law at the University of Reading School of Law, and Director of the Global Law at Reading (GLAR) research group. He is co-general editor of the ongoing Tallinn Manual 3.0 project on the application of international law in cyberspace and the Special Adviser on Cyber-Enabled Crimes to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. He is also co-editor of EJIL: Talk!, the blog of the European Journal of International Law, as well as a member of the EJIL’s Editorial Board.

About the Lecture Series

TwoLaW is an online lecture series on the theory, history, policy and practice of the laws of war. From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the Hamas’ attack on Israel and the ensuing conflict in the Middle East, rarely in recent memory have both the ius contra bellum and the ius in bello faced so many daunting challenges: use of force by and self-defence against non-state actors; the participation of private military companies in hostilities; the digitization of warfare; the protection of civilians and the environment in international, non-international and hybrid armed conflicts; peace agreements and post-conflict claims; international criminal responsibility before and beyond the ICC – to name but a few of them. TwoLaW invites engaging discussions on these matters, seeking to bring into dialogue the law on the prohibition of the use of force and international humanitarian law despite their necessary doctrinal separation.

TwoLaW provides a critical perspective on pertinent challenges of the laws of war, broadly understood, in light of their theoretical, doctrinal, historical and political implications. Each one-hour event features a thought-provoking presentation by a leading scholar in the first half hour followed by a discussion in the second half hour. All events are held exclusively online from 6-7 pm CET.