The Iran War and the End of the Rules Based International Order

Session Outline
The joint US-Israel war on Iran represents a major threat to the rules Based International Order that has been so fundamental to the multilateral system since the end of World War II. The Panel will discuss the damage this unnecessary war has caused to the international legal framework in relation to:
(1) The prohibition on the resort to military force except in self-defence or with UNSC approval;
(2) International Humanitarian Law and the limitations on the way war is conducted;
(3) Impunity for atrocity despite the international legal framework for criminal accountability.

Key Takeaways

• Understanding the applicable international legal framework and some of the ways in which the US and Israel are flagrantly violating it in the war on Iran;
• Reflecting on possible implications for the future of the rules based international order;
• Identifying some possible implications for Australia in relation to the perpetration of this war.

About the presenters

Tim McCormack is a Professor of International Law at the University of Tasmania and the former Special Adviser on War Crimes to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Dr Matt Killingsworth is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Tasmania currently researching the history of the laws of war and new forms of international criminal justice. He is the immediate past Chair of the Tasmanian Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Committee, and is a regular contributor to local and national media.

Regina Weiss is a barrister at Old Mercury Chambers. Regina was nine years in The Hague and five years in Canberra. She is a graduate of UTAS and commenced her legal career as Associate to the Honourable Chief Justice Alan Blow. She was a Federal Prosecutor with the Commonwealth DPP in Hobart, and then moved to The Hague. From 2007 to 2016, Regina prosecuted war crimes and crimes against humanity as a trial lawyer at the International Criminal Court. In addition to trial advocacy and case preparation at the seat of the court in The Hague, Regina also worked on the ground in situation countries with witnesses and victims, predominantly in east Africa.

Moderator: Julia Flint, Crown Counsel, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Julia Flint is a Law graduate of the University of Tasmania. Julia’s honour thesis was on Australia’s obligation to investigate war crimes, under the supervision of Professor Tim McCormack. She worked as a legal research assistant in the fields of a International Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law, and domestic Criminal Law and Policy. Julia was Associate to the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania, Alan Blow AO. Julia is the Chair of the Australian Red Cross (Tasmania) International Humanitarian Law Advisory Committee.