
Overview
Background
Dr Lauren Sanders is a Senior Research Fellow with the TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland in the Law and Future of War project. Lauren’s current research focus is on the application of export control, arms trade and sanctions regimes relevant to the export and brokering of trusted autonomous military systems and associated technology. Her broader research and teaching interests include international criminal law, international humanitarian law and domestic counter-terrorism law. She is the editor of UQ's Law and Future of War podcast where she interviews experts in the fields of law and emerging and disruptive technology, military strategy and military affairs.
She completed her initial law studies with The University of Queensland, along with a Bachelor of Arts in Peace and Conflict Studies. Her PhD studies were competed at the Australian National University focused on the practical application of universal jurisdiction. She holds an LLM in Legal Practice, Masters in Defence and Strategic Studies and numerous Graduate certificates in military law.
Before returning to The University of Queensland, Lauren spent twenty years as an Australian Army signals officer and legal officer, and has served in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor and on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, a legal advisor to ADF domestic counter-terrorism operations, and an assistant Inspector-General of the ADF. She is a graduate of the Australian Command and Staff College, and was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross for her work as the Command Legal Officer within Special Operations Command.
She supports the training of military legal officers with the University of Adelaide's Legal Training Module Level Three (Masters Law Course); and is a reserve legal officer, where she is a member of the Principal Writing Team for the Australian Defence Force’s Law of Armed Conflict Manual, and teaches at the Indo-Pacific Centre for Military Law and the ADF's Military Law Centre.
Availability
- Dr Lauren Sanders is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Australian National University
Research interests
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War crimes
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Export controls and sanctions
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International humanitarian law
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State responsibility
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Law relating to military emerging and disruptive technology
Research impacts
Lauren's resereach is used to inform government and Defence industry on best practices relating to the adoption of new and novel weapons technology and legal regulatory requirements; and the adoption of accountability mechanisms in armed conflict utilising new technologies.
Works
Search Professor Lauren Sanders’s works on UQ eSpace
2024
Other Outputs
REAIM Summit 2024: slowly but surely towards better governance of military artificial intelligence? From The Hague to Seoul
Sanders, Lauren, Liivoja, Rain and Assaad, Zena (2024, 10 31). REAIM Summit 2024: slowly but surely towards better governance of military artificial intelligence? From The Hague to Seoul ANZSIL Perspective
2024
Other Outputs
Submission to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources: Mandatory guardrails for AI in high-risk settings
Liivoja, Rain, Sanders, Lauren and Jevglevskaja, Natalia (2024). Submission to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources: Mandatory guardrails for AI in high-risk settings. Sydney, NSW: Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security.
2024
Other Outputs
Responsibility for military autonomous systems: workshop report
Sanders, Lauren, Cavdarski, Rosie and Liivoja, Rain (2024). Responsibility for military autonomous systems: workshop report. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/9f84e05
2024
Other Outputs
Assurance for military systems incorporating Artificial Intelligence: workshop report
Sanders, Lauren, Hartridge, Sam and Liivoja, Rain (2024). Assurance for military systems incorporating Artificial Intelligence: workshop report. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/ae376ca
2024
Other Outputs
Global powers are grappling with ‘responsible’ use of military AI: What would that look like?
Assaad, Zena, Sanders, Lauren and Liivoja, Rain (2024, 09 17). Global powers are grappling with ‘responsible’ use of military AI: What would that look like? The Conversation
2024
Other Outputs
Advancing the legal review of autonomous weapon systems: report of an expert meeting (Sydney, 16–18 April 2024)
Wolf, Renato, Sanders, Lauren, Liivoja, Rain, Jevglevskaja, Natalia and Goussac, Netta (2024). Advancing the legal review of autonomous weapon systems: report of an expert meeting (Sydney, 16–18 April 2024). Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/c41c6fb
2024
Conference Publication
Improving aphasia screening in the acute setting: An evidence-based approach to mapping barriers and interventions
Stone, Marissa, Clapham, Renee, McKinley, Kathryn, Carragher, Marcella, Candy, Mary-Anne, Candy, Phil, Sanders, Lauren and O'Halloran, Robyn (2024). Improving aphasia screening in the acute setting: An evidence-based approach to mapping barriers and interventions. St Vincent’s Melbourne Research Week, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 5-8 August 2024.
2024
Other Outputs
Symposium on Military AI and the Law of Armed Conflict: Bridging the Legal Gap Between Principles and Standards in Military AI – Assessing Australia’s ‘System of Control’ Approach
Sanders, Lauren (2024, 04 03). Symposium on Military AI and the Law of Armed Conflict: Bridging the Legal Gap Between Principles and Standards in Military AI – Assessing Australia’s ‘System of Control’ Approach OpinioJuris
2024
Other Outputs
State Submissions on the Legal Review of AWS and Possible Good Practices
Sanders, Lauren and Cavdarski, Rosie (2024, 03 20). State Submissions on the Legal Review of AWS and Possible Good Practices Articles of War
2024
Journal Article
Rwanda Revisited: Genocide, Civil War, and the Transformation of International Law, edited by Phillip Drew, Bruce Oswald, Rob McLaughlin, and Jeremy Farrall
Sanders, Lauren (2024). Rwanda Revisited: Genocide, Civil War, and the Transformation of International Law, edited by Phillip Drew, Bruce Oswald, Rob McLaughlin, and Jeremy Farrall. Global Responsibility to Protect, 16 (4), 1-3. doi: 10.1163/1875984x-20240003
2024
Journal Article
Australia’s defense export control regime and critical technologies
Sanders, Lauren (2024). Australia’s defense export control regime and critical technologies. Journal of Strategic Trade Control, 2 (1) 1, 1-27. doi: 10.25518/2952-7597.93
2024
Other Outputs
Submission to the Defence Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Inquiry into the Department of Defence Annual Report 2022–2023
Sanders, Lauren, Hartridge, Sam, Liivoja, Rain, Nunn, Natalie, Walker-Munro, Brendan and Wolf, Renato (2024). Submission to the Defence Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Inquiry into the Department of Defence Annual Report 2022–2023. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
2023
Other Outputs
With war raging in Gaza, how much do we know about Australia’s weapons exports? The answer: very little.
Sanders, Lauren (2023, 11 24). With war raging in Gaza, how much do we know about Australia’s weapons exports? The answer: very little. The Conversation
2023
Conference Publication
Australia's weapon review process and the incorporation of artificial intelligence
Sanders, Lauren (2023). Australia's weapon review process and the incorporation of artificial intelligence. International Seminar on establishing policy guidelines and directives for the ROK Ministry of National Defense to regulate research and development and use of the Lethal Autonomous Weapon System, Seoul, Korea/Online, 31 October 2023. The Korean Association of International Security and Cooperation:
2023
Conference Publication
Multidisciplinary inputs to legal reviews
Sanders, Lauren and Copeland, Damian (2023). Multidisciplinary inputs to legal reviews. Technology, International Law and Non-legal Sources, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 29 September 2023. Griffith University Law Futures Centre.
2023
Conference Publication
AI and acronyms to reduce cognitive bias and civilian harm
Sanders, Lauren, Davern, Pamela and Montazzoli, Matt (2023). AI and acronyms to reduce cognitive bias and civilian harm. Technology, International Law and Non-Legal Sources: Possibilities and Pitfalls, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 23 September 2023. Griffith University Law Futures Centre.
2023
Conference Publication
Multinational sanctions: imposition and ramifications
Sanders, Lauren (2023). Multinational sanctions: imposition and ramifications. Cornerstone Rule of Law - Australian Bar Association, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 21-23 September 2023.
2023
Book Chapter
Lawfare in the 21st Century
Sanders, Lauren (2023). Lawfare in the 21st Century. Routledge Handbook of the Future of Warfare. (pp. 109-119) edited by Sebastian Kaempf and Artur Gruszczak. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003299011-13
2023
Other Outputs
Preparing Australian universities for AUKUS
Walker-Munro, Brendan, Sanders, Lauren and Liivoja, Rain (2023, 08 07). Preparing Australian universities for AUKUS The Strategist
2023
Conference Publication
Resilience in IHL: a storm in a teacup drone? Lessons for Australia from Ukraine on the resilience of IHL in a domestic setting.
Sanders, Lauren (2023). Resilience in IHL: a storm in a teacup drone? Lessons for Australia from Ukraine on the resilience of IHL in a domestic setting.. 30th Annual ANSZIL Conference, Wellington, New Zealand, 29 June-1 July 2023.
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Lauren Sanders is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Lauren Sanders directly for media enquiries about:
- autonomous weapons systems
- export controls
- international humanitarian law
- laws of armed conflict
- laws of war
- military prosecutions
- sanctions
- Universal jurisdiction prosecutions
- War crimes
- weapons law
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