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Rain Liivoja

@liivoja.com
1.1K followers 632 following 178 posts

International law, military operations and military technology | he/him | 🇪🇪🇦🇺 Professor @uqlaw.bsky.social | Director @apils.org | Adjunct Professor @helsinki.fi 📍Meanjin/Brisbane, Australia 🔗 liivoja.com

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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 9h
My thoughts on the recent efforts to define "killer robots"
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Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security — APILS @apils.org · 07/10/2026
This week, Opinio Juris is publishing a series of posts analysing the recent report of the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems. Part 1. Introduction: opiniojuris.org/2026/10/05/s...
opiniojuris.org
Symposium on the CCW GGE LAWS: The End of the Beginning – An Introduction
[Jessica Dorsey is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Utrecht University School of Law and Managing Editor of Opinio Juris. Rain Liivoja is a Professor at the University of Qu…
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Douglas Guilfoyle @djag2.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Academic selfie: at #ANZSIL2026 with @liivoja.com @anhertogen.bsky.social, Monique Cormier and Alison Duxbury. All the ANZSIL council office holders in a row!
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 15/06/2026
The inevitable challenge to UK's social media ban for under-16s under the Human Rights Act / European Convention on Human Rights is going to be fascinating www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
theguardian.com
Starmer confirms social media ban for under-16s, saying this is a ‘big moment for our country’ – UK politics live
Prime minister defends going for full ban, saying social media is making children unhappy and unsafe
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 23/09/2025
Misleading headline — there's no international framework; rather some kind of a framework for international students. *But* the story helpfully shows the Gov't continuing struggle to grasp why int'l students come to metropolitan unis and why rents increase futurecampus.com.au/2025/09/20/h...
futurecampus.com.au
New International Framework Aims to Reshape Australian HE
A new framework for international education is set to reposition the sector.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 15/09/2025
Health care professionals in Melbourne have been denied an opportunity to discuss the impact of war on children's health — seemingly to appease supporters of Israel. Seriously? www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
Complaint letter emerges after Melbourne hospital’s decision to cancel ‘children and war’ panel angers staff
Exclusive: Letter to CEO argued event would pose a risk of ‘moral injury, vicarious trauma and harmful workplace behaviours’ to staff and patients
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Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security — APILS @apils.org · 09/09/2025
We have published a report of the 3rd Expert Meeting on the Legal Review of Autonomous Weapon Systems held in March 2025. The report provides an insight into current State practice on legal reviews, and a snapshot of non-governmental initiatives and scholarly contributions doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
The cover of the report features the logo of APILS, the title of the report and the names of the authors on an abstract blue background
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 07/09/2025
The debacle at ANU must be enormously distressing for colleagues over there. Senior leaders still fail to grasp that a university's two biggest assets are its people and its reputation. And if you lose one, you also lose the other www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/educati...
thesaturdaypaper.com.au
Exclusive: Inside the Australian National University’s leadership crisis
Amid mounting scandals and a loss of confidence in her management, the Australian National University vice-chancellor is negotiating an exit from her role.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 07/09/2025
If true, this means that Russian authorities will have written records of the political views and activities of these asylum seekers on their return to Russia. Yet we all know what Putin's regime does to dissident. Some of these people will likely die in some penal colony in Siberia
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 07/09/2025
Concise explanation from @aapfactcheck.bsky.social as to why the recognition of the State of Palestine does not breach international law. I'm glad to have been able to contribute a few comments
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 16/08/2025
The good folks at TWAIL Review maintain a helpful list of readings on #internationallaw and #Palestine, which includes writings by—*checks notes*—actual Palestinian scholars twailr.com/internationa...
twailr.com
International Law & the Question of Palestine: A Reading List
A resource for anyone researching, teaching or writing about international law’s impacts, iniquities and incapacities in Palestine.
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Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law @anzsil.org · 16/08/2025
Join us for a joint IILAH/MCF/ILA/ANZSIL OIELIG webinar on the 2025 UN Oceans Conference — Reflections on Proposed Actions to Sustainably Use the Oceans, on 20 August 2025, at 1–2PM AEST / 3–4PM NZST #internationallaw www.eventbrite.com.au/e/iilah-webi...
eventbrite.com.au
IILAH Webinar: The 2025 United Nations Oceans Conference
The 2025 United Nations Oceans Conference – Reflections on Proposed Actions to Sustainably Use the Oceans
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 15/08/2025
This does help explain Judge Sebutinde's recent dissents regarding Palestine. But divine revelation is not really a recognised method of interpreting international law www.middleeasteye.net/news/icj-vic...
middleeasteye.net
ICJ vice-president: 'The Lord is counting on me to stand on the side of Israel'
Judge Julia Sebutinde says signs of the end times 'are being shown in the Middle East'
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 15/08/2025
With NATO #CCDCOE support, I had the pleasure of collaborating with Aleksi Kajander and Maarja Naagel on a project looking at the legal requirements and tech standards for the #cybersecurity of weapon systems. Our paper is now out in OUP's Journal of Cybersecurity academic.oup.com/cybersecurit...
An image of an unmanned ground vehicle (Milrem THeMIS) and a remote-controlled weapon station. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 15/08/2025
Reason 783 to ditch Meta "products"
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 15/08/2025
Great speakers and a highly topical issue 👇🏼
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 16/03/2025
How far down the path to a constitutional crisis does this take the US? www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/u...
nytimes.com
Brown University Surgeon and Professor Are Deported to Lebanon Despite a Judge’s Order
Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist and Brown University professor who had a valid visa, was expelled in apparent defiance of a court order.
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Karin Schall @karinschall.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Yesterday’s chalking…
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 27/01/2025
So coffee is about to become more expensive in the US? That's tough. Lucky cocaine isn't subject to tariffs — that would really cause havoc on Wall Street.
nytimes.com
Trump Hits Colombia With Tariffs in Feud Over Military Deportation Flights
Gustavo Petro said the United States should not treat Colombian migrants as criminals and that he had already turned away U.S. military flights carrying deportees.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 27/01/2025
Judges occasionally use academic writings as unpaid and uncredited research assistance, which is unfortunate. But this is next level — both in terms of the source and the way in which it is used. Also, terrible for the credibility of the ICJ at a critical time
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 26/01/2025
A notable numerologist and financial wizard now lectures us on space travel and Australian history. What extraordinary talent we have in the Australian parliament!
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 24/01/2025
Let me see if I have this right. It would be inappropriate for a Foreign Minister, who has shown compassion for the Palestinians, to take part in commemorating the suffering of the Jews? And this is coming from a person who accuses everybody else of being divisive? The irony is lost on no one
abc.net.au
Dutton says Wong should not represent Australia at Auschwitz commemoration
The opposition leader said the government's stance on the Gaza war made the foreign minister "the most inappropriate person" to attend.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 05/01/2025
Salaries of senior university executives are certainly obscene. But — chronic public underfunding has forced universities to be entrepreneurial and operate like businesses. The corporate salaries mirror that change
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 23/12/2024
This would also be beneficial in Australia, where politicians overwhelmingly serve the interests of older voters. But, for the same reason, it seems unlikely
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 23/12/2024
So an invasion of Panama and Denmark are now on the US government'a agenda for 2025? Super
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 22/12/2024
While the buck stops with Putin, the Russian population isn't blameless. As @andrewchak.bsky.social points out, the majority of Russians approve of Putin's imperialism w/r/t Ukraine. For them, "invading another country to seize land and subjugate its people doesn’t even register as problematic."
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 22/12/2024
Dear Australian journalists — if you're writing about a judicial decision, for the love of all that's holy, please provide a link to the actual decision (not just your earlier thoughts on the same case, as insightful as those might be). Thank you!
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 21/12/2024
Important study with some really interesting results. I assume that the difference across age groups reflects the increasing willingness to self-identify and self-report at LGBT+. We've come a long way 🌈
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 21/12/2024
I didn't always agree with Michael Leunig but I frequently found his work insightful and often just delightfully heartwarming. He will be missed. This piece, Kindness, has always been one of my favourites. I was so pleased to get a signed and inscribed print for someone who was important to me.
Kindness by  Michael Leunig
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 20/12/2024
Supposedly "this case presents the kind of violence that requires an additional message of deterrence to prevent copycat killers." Hence, the label of terrorism. The US criminal justice works in mysterious ways.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 17/12/2024
Insightful piece from the team at @sipri.bsky.social about the China-led assault (my words, not theirs) on export control regimes. Conveniently, this takes place under the guise of a putative right to benefit from international cooperation in science and technology for peaceful uses.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 17/12/2024
Here's a thoughtful piece about three possible future scenarios for Georgia — the bad, the ugly, and good, I suppose
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 16/12/2024
Check out the call for papers for the 32nd ANZSIL Annual Conference — International Law: Silence, Forgetting and Remembrance: www.anzsil.org.au/32nd-ANZSIL-... We'll be freezing our hineys off in Canberra 2–4 July 2025 but the incredible ANZSIL spirit will make it worthwhile!
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 16/12/2024
Israel's annexation of parts of Golan Heights in 1981 was, and continues to be, a breach of international law (as per Security Council resolution 497). The same applies to further annexations of Syrian territory and new settlement. This is a blatant and illegal land grab.
bbc.com
Israel to expand Golan Heights settlements after fall of Assad
Israel says the move is necessary following the takeover of neighbouring Syria by an Islamist-led rebel alliance.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 15/12/2024
Who comes up with these kinds of headlines? Ireland is not humiliated. Ireland is standing out as a country that has a principled and values-based approach to foreign policy.
express.co.uk
Ireland humiliated as Israel closes Dublin embassy over 'anti-semitic rhetoric'
Israel's foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar says the closure is due to the 'extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish Government' and 'anti-semitic rhetoric'.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 15/12/2024
Israel's foreign minister claims that Ireland's recognition of the State of Palestine and its participation in ICJ proceedings against Israel constitute “extreme anti-Israel policies”. No — “extreme policies” are those that the Netanyahu government has been carrying out in Gaza.
nytimes.com
Israel Shutters Its Embassy in Ireland, Citing ‘Anti-Israel Policies’
Amid mounting international criticism of its military conduct in Gaza, Israel says it will deepen ties with countries it considers friendly toward it.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 15/12/2024
Two Russian oil tankers have reportedly broken in half and started sinking in the Kerch Strait. I am instantly reminded of this classic piece of Australian television
youtu.be
Clarke and Dawe - The Front Fell Off [DVD Quality]
YouTube video by GrayT!
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 13/12/2024
Is the actual aim here to kill and maim people with vaccine-preventable diseases? Do Kennedy and Siri own funeral homes and hospitals that would profit from this needless death and suffering? I can't think of any other rational explanation
nytimes.com
RFK Jr.’s Lawyer Has Asked the FDA to Revoke Polio Vaccine Approval
Aaron Siri, who specializes in vaccine lawsuits, has been at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s side reviewing candidates for top jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 13/12/2024
Yikes, I missed the news that Queensland Health somehow misplaced a large number of virus samples. Especially in a country obsessed with biosecurity, this seems like a serious mishap
abc.net.au
Live virus samples lost in major Queensland lab breach
An investigation has been launched after it was revealed 323 virus samples went missing from Virology Laboratory in 2021 in a "major breach" of biosecurity protocol.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 13/12/2024
Ben Saul is absolutely right about Israel's bombardment of Syria: "There is absolutely no basis under international law to preventively or preemptively disarm a country you don't like."
youtu.be
UN experts say Israeli strikes on Syria violate international law
YouTube video by Middle East Eye
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 13/12/2024
The latest in a series of cases where Australian courts, following UK courts, refuse to consider the hiring of domestic workers to be part of a diplomatic agent's official functions. Accordingly, immunity rationed materiae does not apply to employment disputes once the diplomatic agent leaves office
judgments.fedcourt.gov.au
Danaratna v Arunatilaka (Penalty) [2024] FCA 1431
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 12/12/2024
I had a sobering conversation with one of my PhD students today. They had reached the conclusion that academia is no longer an attractive post-PhD career option. I fear that they are right
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POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 09/12/2024
Kaja Kallas has a reputation as one of Europe’s fiercest Russia hawks. The question hanging over her now is to what extent she’ll be able to continue to make waves in her new role as the EU's foreign policy chief. 🔗 www.politico.eu/article/kaja...
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Douglas Guilfoyle @djag2.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Come join us! Yes, someone put me and @imogenmarjorie.bsky.social in charge of conference. The call for papers is out for ANZSIL 2025. Theme: "International Law: Silence, Forgetting and Remembrance". Submissions close 10 February* *before inevitable extensions anzsil.org.au/32nd-ANZSIL-...
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Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · 09/12/2024
The AI Act's national security exception raises legal and practical challenges. PLIXAVRA VOGIATZOGLOU argues that it might contravene CJEU case law and prove difficult to implement. verfassungsblog.de/the-ai-act-n...
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 09/12/2024
Could someone please recommend right-of-centre news outlets that engage in thoughtful, serious journalism? I genuinely want to diversify the viewpoints that I'm exposed to but I don't want to wade through anti-scientific, fascist, homo/transphobic etc propaganda. Much obliged
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 09/12/2024
Horrifying yet unsurprising
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 09/12/2024
This was a great conversation 👇
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 08/12/2024
Assad may be out of reach (for now) but those who tortured and murdered at his behest also need to be held accountable news.un.org/en/story/202...
news.un.org
Report exposes systematic torture in Syrian detention facilities
The UN General Assembly-mandated team investigating serious crimes in Syria released a new report on Friday, documenting systematic torture and abuse across over 100 Government detention facilities.
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Rain Liivoja @liivoja.com · 08/12/2024
With Assad reportedly fresh off the plane in Moscow, Putin's regime is already trying to cosy up to the rebels — presumably in the hope of saving Russian military bases in Syria www.bbc.com/news/live/cw...
bbc.com
Assad is in Moscow after fleeing Syria and will be given asylum, Russian state media report
Russia was a key ally of Assad's regime - the former president and his family will now reportedly get asylum there.
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