Author Archives: Mark Kersten

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About Mark Kersten

Mark Kersten is an Assistant Professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada, and a Senior Consultant at the Wayamo Foundation in Berlin, Germany. Mark is the founder of the blog Justice in Conflict and author of the book, published by Oxford University Press, by the same name. He holds an MSc and PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a BA (Hons) from the University of Guelph. Mark has previously been a Research Associate at the Refugee Law Project in Uganda, and as researcher at Justice Africa and Lawyers for Justice in Libya in London. He has taught courses on genocide studies, the politics of international law, transitional justice, diplomacy, and conflict and peace studies at the London School of Economics, SOAS, and University of Toronto. Mark’s research has appeared in numerous academic fora as well as in media publications such as The Globe and Mail, Al Jazeera, BBC, Foreign Policy, the CBC, Toronto Star, and The Washington Post. He has a passion for gardening, reading, hockey (on ice), date nights, late nights, Lego, and creating time for loved ones.

Both Defendant and Partner for Climate Change? Fighting Royal Dutch Shell in Civil Court

Niké Wentholt and Luna Bonvie join JiC for this guest post on recent civil litigation against Shell over climate change inaction in The Netherlands. Niké is a Postdoc and Luna is a project assistant for the ‘Dialogics of Justice’ project, … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Environment, Guest Posts, International Law | Tagged | Leave a comment

“We had no precedent to work from” – An Interview with Former ICTY Judge and ICC Assembly of States Parties President, O-Gon Kwon

The following is an interview, conducted by Shehzad Charania, with O-Gon Kwon, former Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and President of the ICC Assembly of States Parties (ASP). For Shehzad’s other interviews with prominent figures … Continue reading

Posted in Assembly of States Parties, ICTY, International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Justice, International Law, Interview, Interviews | Tagged | Leave a comment

This time, the situation in Palestine is different. This time, the ICC is Watching.

It feels like déjà vu. Israel launching forced evictions, raids of Al Aqsa mosque, and persecution of Palestinians. Hamas firing rockets fired into Israel. Israel bombing densely populated areas of Gaza, claiming that Hamas uses civilians as “human shields”. Palestinians … Continue reading

Posted in Gaza, International Criminal Court (ICC), Israel, Palestine, War crimes | 1 Comment

“These conflicts will be resolved by law or war.” An Interview with former ICC Judge Howard Morrison

The following is an interview, conducted by Shehzad Charania, with former ICC Judge Sir Howard Morrison. Shehzad is is the Director of the Attorney General’s Office and International Law Adviser to the PM’s Office. His other interviews with ICC luminaries … Continue reading

Posted in Guest Posts, ICTY, International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Justice, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Interviews | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Where the Roads Meet: The Relationship between International Criminal Law and International Environmental Law

David Krott joins JiC for this guest post on the nexus between international criminal law and international environmental law. David is as a research assistant at the FH Aachen (Germany) and am PhD candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels, specialising … Continue reading

Posted in Ecocide, Environment, Guest Posts, International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Justice | Tagged | 4 Comments

The United Nations and Sri Lanka: A Human Rights Saga

Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan joins JiC for this guest post on the United Nations, Human Rights, and Sri Lanka. Thamil, LLM. (Maastricht University), PhD (NUI Galway), is the incoming Teaching Associate in IHRL at University of Nottingham. Prior to this lectureship at GCD, he … Continue reading

Posted in Guest Posts, Human Rights, Sri Lanka | 2 Comments

Arenas of Interaction: The Relationship between International Criminal Law and International Human Rights Law

The following is a guest post by Emily Tsui. Emily is a Juris Doctor/ Master of Global Affairs candidate at the University of Toronto. The following is the author’s reflection of her experience at the 2021 Online Winter Courses of … Continue reading

Posted in Guest Posts, Human Rights, International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Justice | 2 Comments

Canada’s Pursuit of Syria over Torture May be Symbolic. But Here’s Why It Matters

Last month marked the tenth anniversary of the brutal civil war in Syria. The number of atrocities committed over that span is bewildering. In all probability, every single human rights violation and international crime enshrined in international law has been … Continue reading

Posted in Canada, International Court of Justice (ICJ), Syria, The Netherlands, Torture | 1 Comment

Polite Hypocrisy? The Rocky Road Ahead for Biden and the ICC

If you listen closely, you might just hear a collective sigh of relief from advocates of international justice and staff at war crimes tribunals. Finally, the Trump administration is gone, and its vicious attacks on the International Criminal Court (ICC) … Continue reading

Posted in Donald Trump, International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Justice, United States | Tagged | 6 Comments

Can Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace be considered slow? A preliminary comparative study of trials for international crimes

Shoshana Levy is a lawyer in International Criminal Law and International Humanitarian law, expert on transitional justice and on Colombia’s transition to peace. The opinions expressed in this article are solely her own. The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP), Colombia’s transitional … Continue reading

Posted in Colombia, International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Justice, Special Jurisdiction for Peace | 2 Comments