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
2016
Journal Article
Military justice in a comparative and international perspective: a view from the Asia Pacific
Heng, Benjamin, Liivoja, Rain, Ng, Daniel and Oswald, Bruce (2016). Military justice in a comparative and international perspective: a view from the Asia Pacific. Journal of International Peacekeeping, 20 (3-4), 133-142. doi: 10.1163/18754112-02003001
2016
Book Chapter
Private military and security companies
Amstel, Nelleke van and Liivoja, Rain (2016). Private military and security companies. Routledge handbook of the law of armed conflict. (pp. 623-639) edited by Liivoja, Rain and McCormack, Tim. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203798362
2016
Book Chapter
Emerging technologies of warfare
Liivoja, Rain, Leins, Kobi and McCormack, Tim (2016). Emerging technologies of warfare. Routledge handbook of the law of armed conflict. (pp. 603-622) edited by Rain Liivoja and Tim McCormack. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203798362
2016
Book Chapter
Trying civilian contractors in military courts: a necessary evil?
Liivoja, Rain (2016). Trying civilian contractors in military courts: a necessary evil?. Military justice in the modern age. (pp. 81-105) edited by Duxbury, Alison and Groves, Matthew. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/cbo9781107326330.006
2016
Book
Routledge handbook of the law of armed conflict
Rain Liivoja and Tim McCormack eds. (2016). Routledge handbook of the law of armed conflict. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
2015
Other Outputs
Submission to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee: Inquiry into the Potential Use by the Australian Defence Force of Unmanned Air, Maritime and Land Platforms
Liivoja, Rain and McCormack, Tim (2015). Submission to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee: Inquiry into the Potential Use by the Australian Defence Force of Unmanned Air, Maritime and Land Platforms.
2014
Book
International Law-making: Essays in Honour of Jan Klabbers
Rain Liivoja and Jarna Petman eds. (2014). International Law-making: Essays in Honour of Jan Klabbers. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203074879
2014
Book Chapter
Preface
Liivoja, Rain and Petman, Jarna (2014). Preface. International law-making. (pp. xl-xlii) edited by Rain Liivoja and Jarna Petman. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203074879
2014
Book Chapter
Military justice
Liivoja, Rain (2014). Military justice. The Oxford handbook of criminal law. (pp. 326-349) edited by Markus D. Dubber and Tatjana Hörnle. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199673599.013.0015
2013
Other Outputs
Pope Benedict could face court over sex crimes in the church
Hood, Anna, Cormier, Monique and Liivoja, Rain (2013, 02 28). Pope Benedict could face court over sex crimes in the church The Conversation
2013
Book Chapter
Treaties, Custom and Universal Jurisdiction
Liivoja, Rain (2013). Treaties, Custom and Universal Jurisdiction. International Law-making: Essays in Honour of Jan Klabbers. (pp. 298-312) edited by Liivoja, Rain and Petman, Jarna. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203074879
2013
Book Chapter
Law and honor: normative pluralism in the regulation of military conduct
Liivoja, Rain (2013). Law and honor: normative pluralism in the regulation of military conduct. Normative pluralism and international law: exploring global governance. (pp. 143-165) edited by Jan Klabbers and Touko Piiparinen. New York, United States: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139567121.009
2013
Book Chapter
Competing histories: Soviet war crimes in the Baltic States
Liivoja, Rain (2013). Competing histories: Soviet war crimes in the Baltic States. The hidden histories of war crimes trials. (pp. 248-266) edited by Kevin Heller and Gerry Simpson. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199671144.003.0012
2012
Journal Article
Law in the virtual battlespace: the Tallin Manual and the Jus in Bello
Liivoja, Rain and McCormack, Tim (2012). Law in the virtual battlespace: the Tallin Manual and the Jus in Bello. Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, 15 (3), 45-58. doi: 10.1007/978-90-6704-924-5_3
2012
Journal Article
Regulating the private military and security industry: a quest to maintain state control and preserve public values
Liivoja, Rain (2012). Regulating the private military and security industry: a quest to maintain state control and preserve public values. Leiden Journal of International Law, 25 (4), 1019-1028. doi: 10.1017/S0922156512000568
2012
Other Outputs
Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee: Inquiry into the Military Court of Australia Bill 2012 [Provisions] and Military Court of Australia (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2012 [Provisions]
Duxbury, Alison, Liivoja, Rain and Groves, Matthew (2012). Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee: Inquiry into the Military Court of Australia Bill 2012 [Provisions] and Military Court of Australia (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2012 [Provisions].
2012
Book Chapter
Chivalry without a horse: military honour and the modern law of armed conflict
Liivoja, Rain (2012). Chivalry without a horse: military honour and the modern law of armed conflict. The law of armed conflict: historical and contemporary perspectives. (pp. 75-100) edited by Rain Liivoja and Andres Saumets. Tartu: Tartu University Press.
2012
Book Chapter
Australia: regulating private military and security companies
McCormack, Tim and Liivoja, Rain (2012). Australia: regulating private military and security companies. Multilevel regulation of military and security contractors: the interplay between international, European and domestic norms. (pp. 507-526) edited by Christine Bakker and Mirko Sossai. Oxford: Hart Publishing. doi: 10.5040/9781472565860.ch-022
2012
Book
The Law of Armed Conflict: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
Rain Liivoja and Andres Saumets eds. (2012). The Law of Armed Conflict: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Tartu: Tartu University Press.
2011
Journal Article
This court sentences you...: trial court delivers judgment in the first Finnish genocide case
Liivoja, Rain (2011). This court sentences you...: trial court delivers judgment in the first Finnish genocide case. Helsinki Review of Global Governance, 2 (1), 34-35.
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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