Called to the Bar: International Law over Drinks

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is often misunderstood: What is its status under international law, what does it do, and why does it maintain neutrality in armed conflict? In this episode, Dr Tamsin Phillipa Paige is joined by Hannah Crothers and Professor Emily Crawford to discuss the ICRC’s origins, mandate and place within the wider International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. They explore the organisation’s operational work in conflict zones, its role in promoting compliance with international humanitarian law, and how its legal status gives it international legal personality and privileges and immunities that distinguish it from NGOs. The conversation also considers why confidentiality and neutrality are central to the ICRC’s work, and how they help the organisation maintain access to people affected by conflict. Hannah also outlines the Global Initiative to Galvanize Political Commitment to International Humanitarian Law and the work underway to update the ICRC’s commentaries on the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols. Dr Tamsin Phillipa Paige is an Associate Professor at Deakin Law School. Hannah Crothers is a Regional Legal Adviser in the ICRC’s Regional Delegation for the Pacific. Professor Emily Crawford is Deputy Head of School and Dean at the University of Sydney Law School. Art: Kat Weir (www.instagram.com/katweir/) Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait

In this episode, Dr Ntina Tzouvala speaks with Dr Rachel Killean about the United States’ unprecedented sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an institution, and what they mean for international criminal justice. They examine the US’s jurisdictional arguments against the Court, including the ICC’s authority to investigate crimes committed on the territory of a state party, the principle of complementarity, and Israel’s separate argument concerning the Oslo Accords. They discuss the practical effects of sanctions on ICC officials, their families and the organisations that support the Court’s work, as well as the risks to witnesses and victims if that wider network is disrupted. Dr Rachel Killean is a Senior Lecturer and Associate Dean for Student Life at the University of Sydney Law School. \From 2027, she will be an ARC Future Fellow investigating the evolving role of criminal law in the climate crisis. Art: Kat Weir (www.instagram.com/katweir/) Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait

How we map the world shapes how we understand it. In this episode, Dr Olivia Lwabukuna, Senior Lecturer in International Human Rights and Development at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London; Dr Sam Morgan, Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University; and Associate Professor Tamsin Phillipa Paige of Deakin Law School discuss the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Equal Earth map projection. They explore the colonial histories and politics embedded in conventional maps, the significance of the African Union’s role in advancing the resolution, and how a different projection might shape education and our understanding of climate justice. The conversation also considers the sensitivity of borders and territorial claims, including Ukraine’s abstention over the map’s depiction of Crimea. Art: Kat Weir (www.instagram.com/katweir/) Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait

Imogen Saunders is joined by Professor Aoife O'Donoghue (Queen's University Belfast), Professor Colin Murray (Newcastle University) and Dr Sylvia de Mars (Newcastle University) to discuss the distinctive constitutional and international legal position of Northern Ireland. The conversation explores the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, including self-determination, power-sharing, rights and equality, and the complex relationships between Northern Ireland, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The discussion then turns to Brexit, considering the Northern Ireland Protocol and Windsor Framework, the Irish Sea border, and the challenge of reconciling Brexit with the commitments made in 1998. The guests also examine Northern Ireland's post-Brexit human rights architecture, including the European Convention on Human Rights, EU law, and the Agreement's non-diminution commitment. Finally, Colin Murray and Sylvia de Mars discuss their work on governance and the politics of scale, and what Northern Ireland reveals about the relationship between international law, regional integration and local institutions. As always, the episode ends with discussion of the guests' current research - and whether anyone ever really escapes Northern Ireland and international law. Art: Kat Weir (www.instagram.com/katweir/) Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait

In this episode, Tamsin Philippa Paige is joined by Olivera Simić and Caitlin Biddolph to explore the international criminal courtroom as a site not only of justice, but also of punishment, power and violence. Drawing on their work on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the conversation asks what international criminal law is actually trying to achieve when it punishes perpetrators, and what may be lost when punishment is privileged over rehabilitation and accountability. It also considers the courtroom itself as a potentially violent institutional space, and examines feminist approaches to women who participate in atrocities, including the difficulties that can arise when assumptions about gender, victimhood and agency collide. The discussion also reflects on the very different personal and intellectual paths that brought Olivera and Caitlin to these questions, including Olivera's experiences of war and displacement in the former Yugoslavia and the relationship between lived experience, scholarship and the pursuit of justice. Recommendations Olivera Simić, Madam War Criminal https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/madam-war-criminal/ Caitlin Biddolph, Queering Governance and International Law: The Case of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia https://academic.oup.com/book/59490 Art: Kat Weir (www.instagram.com/katweir/) Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait

In this episode, Douglas Guilfoyle speaks with Dr Aline Jaeckel and Dr Daiana Seabra Venancio about recent developments in deep seabed mining before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the International Seabed Authority. The conversation revisits the origins of the seabed mining regime, the “common heritage of humankind” idea, and the changing politics around exploitation and moratorium calls. It then turns to the ISA’s current work on the mining code, environmental governance, and contractor compliance. A major focus is the Nori/TOML proceedings and the wider questions they raise about due process, enforcement, and the capacity of the international legal framework to regulate seabed mining effectively. Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait

In this episode, Juliette McIntyre and Douglas Guilfoyle examine the unprecedented removal from office of International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan by the Assembly of States Parties. The discussion explains the legal basis for removal under Article 46 of the Rome Statute, the investigation and disciplinary process that preceded the decision, and the principal procedural objections raised by critics. It considers the appropriate standard of proof in disciplinary proceedings, the respective roles of investigators, judicial experts and States Parties, and the tension between prosecutorial independence and institutional accountability. Juliette and Douglas also place the decision within the ICC’s longer-standing problems of workplace culture, including previous findings concerning bullying, harassment, discrimination and perceived impunity among senior officials. They conclude by considering what Khan’s removal means for the Court’s continuing investigations, the election of a new Prosecutor, threatened US sanctions and the withdrawal of several States Parties. Content warning: This episode discusses allegations of workplace sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, abuse of power and retaliation. Although the discussion avoids unnecessary detail, listeners who may find this material distressing should exercise care. Recommended Reading: CNN, Lawyer goes public with sexual misconduct claims against ICC chief prosecutor (2026) https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/16/europe/icc-prosecutor-allegations-interview-un-investigation-amanpour-intl Rebecca Hamilton and Nema Milaninia, Before the Assembly: The Removal Vote and the Question of Fitness for Office (2026) https://www.justsecurity.org/148713/icc-prosecutor-removal-vote/ Kevin John Heller, The Bureau’s “Serious Misconduct” Bait and Switch (2026), https://opiniojuris.org/2026/07/03/the-bureaus-serious-misconduct-bait-and-switch/ Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au lait

In this episode of Called to the Bar, Tamsin Philippa Page is joined by Karen Scott (University of Canterbury) and Camille Goodman (ANCORS, University of Wollongong), editors of Ocean Development & International Law, to discuss the challenges that generative AI poses for legal scholarship and academic publishing. Drawing on their experience managing one of the leading specialist journals in the law of the sea, they explain why the journal has adopted a restrictive policy on the use of generative AI in research and writing. The conversation explores the risks of AI-generated scholarship, including fabricated citations, questions of academic integrity, the responsibilities of editors and reviewers, and the practical challenges of enforcing editorial policies. The episode also considers broader issues facing legal academia, including the impact of AI on non-native English-speaking scholars, tensions between publishers' AI policies and journal ethics, and how the academic community might preserve originality, trust, and scholarly standards in an era of rapidly evolving AI technologies. Recommendations: Episode 60. Publishing, Peer Review and What Editors Wish You Knew, https://soundcloud.com/calledtothebar/60-publishing-peer-review-and-what-editors-wish-you-knew Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait.

Across the UK - and increasingly around the world - governments, courts and public institutions are adopting policies with profound consequences for transgender and non-binary people. In this episode of Called to the Bar: International Law Over Drinks, Associate Professor Tamsin Phillipa Paige (Deakin University) is joined by Dr Sandra Duffy (University of Bristol), Dr Senthorun Raj (Manchester Metropolitan University) and Adrienne Ringin (PhD scholar, La Trobe University) to discuss the rapid escalation of anti-trans policies in the UK and their implications for international human rights. Following on from Esipode 41 about For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, the panel explores the erosion of legal protections, the growth of organised anti-trans advocacy, the role of media narratives, and the connections between anti-trans politics, authoritarianism and broader attacks on marginalised communities. They also reflect on the role of international human rights law, activism and academic critique in responding to these developments. Recommended Reading Like a Snowball: The Growth and Impact of the Gender Critical Movement in the UK (Amnesty International UK) https://media.amnesty.org.uk/documents/Like_a_snowball_final_.pdf Episode 41 on the Scottish Ministers Case https://soundcloud.com/calledtothebar/41-the-scottish-ministers-case-and-trans-rights-as-human-rights Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au lait

In this episode, Douglas Guilfoyle speaks with Ntina Tzouvala about her new article "Dollar Hegemony as International Law-making Power". The conversation explores a provocative claim: that the dominance of the US dollar does more than confer economic and geopolitical influence - it also gives the United States exceptional power to shape the development of some aspects of international law. Ntina explains how dollar hegemony affects doctrines of jurisdiction and sovereign immunity, why material power matters to the making of customary international law, and how the legal authority generated by the dollar has been used both to support global financial capitalism and to pursue US strategic interests. Along the way, they discuss the article's historical materialist methodology, its engagement with law and political economy scholarship, and what the argument suggests about sanctions, de-dollarisation, and the changing international legal order. Recommendations: "Dollar Hegemony as International Law-making Power", https://academic.oup.com/chinesejil/article/25/2/jmag011/8670048 Music: Sam Barsh, Oils of au Lait.