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Articles by Maria Varaki
Judgement at Nuremberg - the 80th Anniversary: the Legacy Today
This panel will discuss the legacy of Nuremberg Trials 80 years later while engaging with contemporary developments, critique and the role of the legal community. Speakers: James Gow is Professor of International Peace and Security in the Department of War Studies. Gerry Simpson is Professor in International Law at LSE. Maria Varaki is Lecturer in International Law in the Department of War Studies.
The Prohibition of the Use of Force at the End of the Liberal International Order
The Trump Administration’s military interventions in Venezuela and Iran represent a foundational crisis for both international law and the Liberal International Order. For substantiating the claim that the present moment in time is distinct from earlier cases of the US bending or ignoring international law, the talk will show how the abandonment and distortion of legal discursive practices unfolds and why this affects the Liberal International Order.
The Crime of Aggression and Challenges to International Jurisdiction
The Crime of Aggression and Challenges to the Exercise of International Jurisdiction: reforming the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and operationalizing the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine The crime of aggression is one the four core crimes under International Law listed in Article 5 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) of 17 July 1998.
The Imperial Peacecraft of International Law
As calls grow louder to revisit the rules governing international peace and security, now is the moment to address something deeper, namely the very association between international law and peace. The latter is a familiar picture. Reassuring, even. International law as peacecrafter: the shaper of norms, the patient builder of institutions. Jurists and diplomats constraining violence with prescriptive formulas.
The Politics of Reason-Giving in International Law
For decades, states resorting to force have felt compelled to justify their actions in the language of international law even when the arguments advanced were strained or widely regarded as unpersuasive. Paradoxically, such implausible legal claims were often interpreted as reaffirming the authority of international law: by arguing within its terms, states signaled that the law remained the relevant framework for evaluating their actions. This talk will examine an emerging shift.
ESC Rights and the Environmental Dimension of Sustainable Development: some Considerations on the Newly adopted General Comment of the CESCR
This presentation aims to illustrate, in a succinct manner, the contributions but also the critical aspects of the substantive content of the last general comment adopted by the CESCR in September 2025, a general comment on economic, social and cultural rights and the environmental dimension of sustainable development.
Book Launch – Presidential Visions of Transitional Justice: An American Legacy of Responsibility and Reconciliation | King's College London
Professor Ruti G. Teitel's Presidential Visions of Transitional Justice: An American Legacy of Responsibility and Reconciliation provides a wide-ranging look at how American Presidents not only influence foreign policy but leverage their power and influence to to address the challenges of political violence and transition globally.
The Role of the ILC and the IDI in the Development of International Law: Reflections on Recent Practice
The role in the development of international law of the International Law Commission (ILC) and Institut de Droit International (IDI) is not a new topic of inquiry, either for practitioners or scholarly observers. By way of a recent example, Cour de Cassation of France in its Ruling 24-84.393 on functional immunity of officials of a foreign State of 25 July 2025 refers side by side to the work of the IDI and ILC.
Four Puzzles of Aggression and Accountability
Speaker: Professor David Luban In this webinar, Professor David Luban will explore four puzzles about the crime of aggression. First, what specifically is the evil that brings aggression into the pantheon of core crimes, alongside war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide? The evils of the other core crimes need little explanation – but aggression seems like a crime against states rather than against people. Second, who can be tried for the crime of aggression?
Complementarity and Cooperation at the International Criminal Court
The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (OTP) recently launched a new Policy on Complementarity and Cooperation, in which the OTP becomes a hub for international criminal accountability efforts, and partners with national authorities and other accountability mechanisms. In his talk, Professor René Urueña will explore the Policy’s main innovations, provides examples of its implementation, and discusses its challenges, and opportunities.
Developments in the legal framework protecting the environment in relation to armed conflict
In the past decade, a surge of legal initiatives has addressed environmental protection in the context of armed conflict, a movement of attention unparalleled since the 1970s. Just as the laws developed in that era shaped conflict-related environmental governance for decades, contemporary efforts are likely to define the future.
What does it mean for an AI-enabled means or methods of warfare to comply with the laws of war?
The United Kingdom, along with other states, is committed to reviewing ex ante the lawfulness of any weapons, means, or methods of warfare that it develops and deploys.
The Power of International Law
After Ukraine and Gaza, how should we think about the power of international law? Does it have any? This talk will examine the different ways in which international law as a professional language, a set of institutions and practices, frames and informs the life of international actors. International law is not only, or even predominantly something that those actors “use” to advance their interests (though it is that, too).
AI in and around the Battlefield
The lecture will review the contours of the debate surrounding the introduction of AI technology in military contexts and its relationship to the right to life under international human rights law (IHRL).
75 years on: The Genocide Convention in International Courts
December 2023 was the 75th anniversary of the 1948 Genocide Convention, which obligates state parties to prevent and punish the crime of genocide and incitement to genocide. This presentation will examine some of the ways in which the Genocide Convention has been used in international courts in those 75 years.
The nexus between climate change, human rights and peace
Dr Ian Fry will discuss some of the drivers of conflict brought about by climate change. He will link this to human rights violations particularly in the context of climate change displacement and how this creates conflicts in many parts of the world. He will suggest that for peace to be ensured, the underlying causes of climate change must be addressed.
Ukraine: what the rules of war tell us about the deliberate targeting of civilians
Warning: this article is accompanied by an image that some may find distressing. “International law is not just an empty promise.” These are the words of Jean-Marc Thouvenin, one of Ukraine’s legal counsel, before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on February 27. Thouvenin was appearing during the recent oral hearings following the application of Ukraine for provisional measures based on the Genocide Convention.
Spotlight on COVID: A shift in law and leadership - present and future
How are leaders using legislation during the current pandemic and what will the decisions they make mean for future elections? Dr Maria Varaki, Lecturer in International Law at the Department of War Studies, looks at how states are currently using legislation, Artificial Intelligence and surveillance to control the pandemic and what impact good and bad leadership through these crises will have on future elections.
Afghanistan and the ‘interests of justice’; an unwise exercise?
It has been more than a week now that a reference to the ‘interests of justice’ has highjacked the international criminal law blogosphere.
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