This presentation looks for historical patterns in Russian and Soviet justifications of war and their approaches to jus ad bellum, over the last three hundred years. Jus ad bellum rules and principles have of course changed over this time and we’ll establish Russian and Soviet policies regarding such rules over time. In the Ukraine part, we’ll pay attention to justifications put forward by the Russian Constitutional Court in its rulings of 2 October 2022, concerning ’unification treaties’ of Ukrainian territories with the Russian Federation.
Lauri Mälksoo is professor of international law at the University of Tartu in Estonia. He is member of the Institut de Droit International and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. He is currently finalizing a new monograph, “Russia, the Soviet Union and Imperial Continuity in International Law“ (forthcoming at OUP).
Date: 07 April 2025
Time: 6.00-7.00 pm CET
The presentation will take place online via MS Teams. Please register below. The link and login data will be sent to those registered ahead of the event.
Registration:
Please fill in this form to register: https://forms.office.com/e/ZggsQEdrnG
If you have any question, do not hesitate to contact Alexandra Konecny (research assistant to Prof. Andreas Kulick)
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.