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
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.
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
Other Outputs
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
2018
Journal Article
Left of bang interventions in trauma: some legal implications of military medical prophylaxis
Liivoja, Rain (2018). Left of bang interventions in trauma: some legal implications of military medical prophylaxis. Journal of Medical Ethics, 44 (7), 509-510. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2017-104584
2018
Conference Publication
The military application of advances in human enhancement technologies
Liivoja, Rain (2018). The military application of advances in human enhancement technologies. Developing International Law in Challenging Times: 78th Biennial Conference of the International Law Association, Sydney, Australia, 19–24 August 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
The application of international law to autonomous cyber capabilities
Liivoja, Rain (2018). The application of international law to autonomous cyber capabilities. Silent Battle: 11th International Conference on Cyber Conflict (CyCon), Tallinn, Estonia, 28–31 May 2019.
2018
Conference Publication
Regulating Emerging Military Technologies: Is There Anything New under the Sun?
Liivoja, Rain (2018). Regulating Emerging Military Technologies: Is There Anything New under the Sun?. The Ethical Implications of Emerging Technologies in Warfare: 8th Euro-ISME Annual Conference, Toledo, Spain, 13-16 May 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
"The Better Instincts of Humanity": humanitarian arguments in debates about arms control
Liivoja, Rain (2018). "The Better Instincts of Humanity": humanitarian arguments in debates about arms control. International Law: From the Local to the Global – 26th Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law, Wellington, New Zealand, 5–7 July 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
Memory Modification for the Treatment of PTSD in Service Members: Ethical and Legal Concerns Revisited
Liivoja, Rain (2018). Memory Modification for the Treatment of PTSD in Service Members: Ethical and Legal Concerns Revisited. Ethics of Military Medical Innovation, Experimentation, and Enhancement: 8th ICMM Workshop on Military Medical Ethics, Ermatingen, Switzerland, 3-5 May 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
Autonomous weapon systems: an overview of the legal issues
Liivoja, Rain (2018). Autonomous weapon systems: an overview of the legal issues. Autonomous Weapon Systems Workshop, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 3 April 2018.
2018
Journal Article
Are enhanced warfighters weapons, means, or methods of warfare?
Liivoja, Rain and Chircop, Luke (2018). Are enhanced warfighters weapons, means, or methods of warfare?. International Law Studies, 94, 161-185.
2018
Conference Publication
Biomedical Enhancement of Warfighters: Law of Armed Conflict Issues
Liivoja, Rain (2018). Biomedical Enhancement of Warfighters: Law of Armed Conflict Issues. Peace, War and the Law: 21th Congress of International Society for Military Law and the Law of War, Lisbon, Portugal, 15-19 May 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
Contradictory appeals to humanity in the development of arms control law
Liivoja, Rain (2018). Contradictory appeals to humanity in the development of arms control law. Humanitarianism and the Remaking of International Law: History, Ideology, Practice, Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 31 May–2 June 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
Interpreting and Applying the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols in Light of Technological Change
Liivoja, Rain (2018). Interpreting and Applying the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols in Light of Technological Change. Attorney-General’s Department’s 8th International Law Colloquium, Canberra, Australia, 30 November 2018.
2017
Other Outputs
Muggleton on the Law of Non-international Armed Conflict
Muggleton, Paul, Burke, Róisín, Liivoja, Rain, McCormack, Tim, McLaughlin, Rob, Oswald, Bruce, Radin, Sasha and de Rochefort-Reynolds, Alan (2017). Muggleton on the Law of Non-international Armed Conflict. Melbourne Vic Australia: Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law.
2017
Book
Criminal jurisdiction over armed forces abroad
Liivoja, Rain (2017). Criminal jurisdiction over armed forces abroad. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781139600392
2016
Journal Article
Technological change and the evolution of the law of war
Liivoja, Rain (2016). Technological change and the evolution of the law of war. International Review of the Red Cross, 97 (900), 1157-1177. doi: 10.1017/S1816383116000424
2016
Journal Article
Out of sight, out of mind, out of reach?
Liivoja, Rain (2016). Out of sight, out of mind, out of reach?. International Humanitarian Law Magazine (1), 16-17.
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Rain Liivoja is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
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
Completed supervision
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
The Legal Review of Autonomous Weapons System
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Robert Mullins
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Rain Liivoja directly for media enquiries about:
- international law
- law of armed conflict
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