Overview
Background
Rain Liivoja is a Professor and Deputy Dean (Research) at the University of Queensland Law School. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and holds the title of Adjunct Professor of International Law at the University of Helsinki, where he is affiliated with the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights.
Rain's current research focuses on the legal challenges associated with military applications of science and technology. His broader research and teaching interest include general international law, the law of armed conflict and human rights law. He is the author of Criminal Jurisdiction over Armed Forces Abroad (Cambridge University Press 2017), and a co-editor of Autonomous Cyber Capabilities under International Law (NATO CCDCOE 2021), the Routledge Handbook of the Law of Armed Conflict (Routledge 2016) and International Law-making: Essays in Honour of Jan Klabbers (Routledge 2013). Rain is a Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies (published by Brill | Nijhoff).
Rain is a UQ Ally, a UQ Mental Health Champion and a member of the UQ Disability Inclusion Advocacy Network. He is the Chairperson of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security, and Deputy Chair of the Queensland Divisional Advisory Board of the Australian Red Cross.
Before joining the University of Queensland, Rain held academic appointments at the Universities of Melbourne, Helsinki and Tartu. In 2022–2023, he was a Visiting Legal Fellow at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has also been a visiting scholar at Georgetown University, the University of Oxford and the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, and a visiting lecturer at the Estonian Military Academy and the Riga Graduate School of Law. Rain holds an undergraduate degree in law from the University of Tartu, and a masters and a doctorate in public international law from the University of Helsinki. He completed a Graduate Certificate in University Teaching at the University of Melbourne.
Rain does not teach into courses sponsored by the Confucius Institute or the Ramsay Centre.
Availability
- Professor Rain Liivoja is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Law, Tartu University
- Masters (Coursework) of International Law, University of Helsinki*
- Masters (Research) of International Law, University of Helsinki*
- Doctoral (Research) of International Law, University of Helsinki*
- Graduate Certificate in University Teaching, University of Melbourne
- Board Member, Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security, Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security
- Board Member, Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law, Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law
- Member, Estonian Council of Foreign Relations, Estonian Council of Foreign Relations
- Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- Member, International Law Association (Australian Branch), International Law Association (Australian Branch)
- Journal Editor in Chief, Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies
- Journal Editorial Board Member, Military Law and the Law of War Review, Military Law and the Law of War Review
- Fellow, Royal Society of Arts, Royal Society of Arts
- Member, Royal United Service Institute Queensland, Royal United Service Institute Queensland
- Senior Fellow, United States Military Academy, United States Military Academy
- Collaboration / Affiliation, University of Helsinki*, University of Helsinki*
Research interests
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governance of military technology (especially military uses of artificial intelligence and biotechnology)
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legal review of new weapons, means and methods of warfare
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arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation
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human rights of members of the armed forces (including in the context of military justice)
Works
Search Professor Rain Liivoja’s works on UQ eSpace
2020
Other Outputs
Are autonomous weapons systems prohibited?
Liivoja, Rain, Massingham, Eve, McFarland, Tim and McKenzie, Simon (2020, 09 09). Are autonomous weapons systems prohibited? GameChanger
2020
Journal Article
Editorial
Buchan, Russell, Crawford, Emily and Liivoja, Rain (2020). Editorial. Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, 11 (1), 1-3. doi: 10.1163/18781527-01101004
2020
Other Outputs
Submission to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Cyber and Critical Technology Engagement Strategy
Nabbs-Keller, Greta, Ko, Ryan, Axelsen, Michael, Bongiovanni, Ivano, Dowsett, Dallas, Liivoja, Rain, Maher, Ray, Massingham, Eve, McEwan, Chris, McKenzie, Simon, O’Quinn, Richard, Radke, Amelia and Williams, John (2020). Submission to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Cyber and Critical Technology Engagement Strategy. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
2020
Journal Article
Command in the age of autonomy–unanswered questions for military operations
Massingham, Eve, McKenzie, Simon and Liivoja, Rain (2020, 05 01). Command in the age of autonomy–unanswered questions for military operations Opinio Juris
2020
Book Chapter
Memory modification as treatment for PTSD: neuroscientific reality and ethical concerns
Liivoja, Rain and Kroes, Marijn C. W. (2020). Memory modification as treatment for PTSD: neuroscientific reality and ethical concerns. Ethics of medical innovation, experimentation, and enhancement in military and humanitarian contexts. (pp. 211-234) edited by Daniel Messelken and David Winkler. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-36319-2_13
2019
Journal Article
Balancing the lopsided debate on autonomous weapon systems
Jevglevskaja, Natalia and Liivoja, Rain (2019, 12 20). Balancing the lopsided debate on autonomous weapon systems The Strategist
2019
Journal Article
Editorial
Buchan, Russell, Crawford, Emily and Liivoja, Rain (2019). Editorial. Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, 10 (2), 213-216. doi: 10.1163/18781527-01002005
2019
Journal Article
Human rights of service personnel
Liivoja, Rain and Duxbury, Alison (2019). Human rights of service personnel. Human Rights Defender, 28 (2), 13-15.
2019
Journal Article
Editorial
Buchan, Russell, Crawford, Emily and Liivoja, Rain (2019). Editorial. Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, 10 (1), 3-5. doi: 10.1163/18781527-01001013
2019
Other Outputs
Human Enhancement Technologies and the Law in War and Peace
Liivoja, Rain (2019, 05 08). Human Enhancement Technologies and the Law in War and Peace Opinio Juris
2019
Journal Article
Eradicating war memories: neuroscientific reality and ethical concerns
Kroes, Marijn C. W. and Liivoja, Rain (2019). Eradicating war memories: neuroscientific reality and ethical concerns. International Review of the Red Cross, 101 (910), 69-95. doi: 10.1017/s1816383118000437
2019
Other Outputs
Status of medical personnel: Clear as mud?
Liivoja, Rain (2019, 02 25). Status of medical personnel: Clear as mud? Humanitarian Law and Policy
2019
Conference Publication
Human Rights in Military Health Care
Liivoja, Rain (2019). Human Rights in Military Health Care. Conference on Respecting Military Law, Melbourne, Australia, 12–13 March 2019.
2019
Conference Publication
Human enhancement under the law of armed conflict
Liivoja, Rain (2019). Human enhancement under the law of armed conflict. The Law of Armed Conflict 2040: Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare Workshop, West Point, NY, United States, 28–30 October 2019.
2019
Conference Publication
Autonomy, precautionary measures and constant care
Liivoja, Rain (2019). Autonomy, precautionary measures and constant care. Workshop on the Ethics and Law of Trusted Autonomous Systems, Oxford, United Kingdom, 23-24 May 2019.
2019
Other Outputs
Autonomous cyber capabilities under international law
Liivoja, Rain, Naagel, Maarja and Väljataga, Ann (2019). Autonomous cyber capabilities under international law. Tallinn, Estonia: NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.
2019
Conference Publication
Legal Limitations and the Limitations of Law
Liivoja, Rain (2019). Legal Limitations and the Limitations of Law. Conference on Future Warfare, Canberra, Australia, 8 April 2019.
2018
Other Outputs
Machine autonomy and the constant care obligation
Jenks, Chris and Liivoja, Rain (2018, 12 11). Machine autonomy and the constant care obligation Humanitarian Law & Policy
2018
Journal Article
Why it’s so hard to reach an international agreement on killer robots
Liivoja, Rain (2018, 09 12). Why it’s so hard to reach an international agreement on killer robots The Conversation
2018
Journal Article
Biomedical enhancement of warfighters and the legal protection of military medical personnel in armed conflict
Liivoja, Rain (2018). Biomedical enhancement of warfighters and the legal protection of military medical personnel in armed conflict. Medical Law Review, 26 (3), 421-448. doi: 10.1093/medlaw/fwx046
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Rain Liivoja is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
The Legal Review of Autonomous Weapons
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Robert Mullins
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Doctor Philosophy
A Critical Analysis of the Deployment of Indonesian Military Forces in Domestic Counterterrorism Operations
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Rebecca Ananian-Welsh
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Rain Liivoja directly for media enquiries about:
- international law
- law of armed conflict
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