Michael KearneyResearch
Michael’s research interests are broadly in the area of public international law, particularly international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and human rights as well as legal theory. Of particular interest is the role and impact of international law on the question of Palestine, categories of conflict, and issues related to crimes of incitement, propaganda for war, and freedom of expression.
Selected Publications
On the Situation in Palestine and the War Crime of Transfer of Civilians into Occupied Territory 28 Criminal Law Forum 1 (2017)
Palestine and the International Criminal Court: Asking the Right Question in Richard Steinberg (ed) Contemporary Issues Facing the International Criminal Court (Brill Nijhoff, 2016).
Originally published in 1 UCLA Human Rights and International Criminal Law Online Forum (2010). http://uclalawforum.com/gaza
Propaganda for War, Prohibition of in Wolfrum & Lachenmann (eds) The Law of Armed Conflict and the Use of Force: The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (Oxford University Press, 2016) 1045 - 55. Originally published online at Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Public International Law (OUP, 2012).
Humanitarian action through legal institutions in McGinty & Perterson (eds) The Routledge Companion to Humanitarian Action (2015).
‘Any Other Contribution’: Ascribing Liability for Cover-Ups of International Crimes 24 Criminal Law Forum 3 (2013).
Position Paper on the Scope of the International Criminal Court’s Jurisdiction over the Situation in Palestine (August 2013). Submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor by Al-Haq and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights: http://www.alhaq.org/images/stories/PDF/2012/Al-Haq_and_PCHR_Position_Paper-International_Criminal_Court_.pdf
Beyond Occupation: Apartheid, Colonialism & International Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Co-author, Pluto Press 2012).
Propaganda in the Jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in Dojcinovic (ed) Propaganda, War Crimes Trials and International Law: From Speakers' Corner to War Crimes (Routledge, 2012) http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1505305
Palestine & the Politics of International Criminal Justice (with John Reynolds) in Schabas (ed) Ashgate Research Companion to International Criminal Law: Critical Perspectives (Ashgate, 2012) http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1505305
Propaganda for War, Prohibition in Wolfrum (ed) Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Public International Law (Oxford University Press, 2012).
Why Statehood Now: A Reflection on the ICC’s Impact on Palestine’s Engagement with International Law in Meloni & Tognoni (eds) Is There a Court for Gaza? A Test Bench for International Justice (TMC Asser Press, 2012).
Palestine & the International Criminal Court in Kot (ed) Palestine and International Law: New Approaches (UNDP/ Birzeit University Press, 2011).
Review Essay: The 'War on Terror': Law and the Defence of the State 26 Intelligence and National Security 2-3 (2011).
Lawfare, Legitimacy & Resistance: The Weak and the Law XVI Palestine Yearbook of International Law (2010) 79-130.
The Trial of Kerem Çakan: The Turkish Judiciary and Honour Killings: Trial Observation Report (London: Kurdish Human Rights Project, 2010, 44pp). http://www.khrp.org/khrp-news/human-rights-documents/2010-publications.html
‘Al-Haq Position Paper on Issues Arising from the Palestinian Authority’s Submission of a Declaration to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute’ December 2009 (with Stijn Denayer): http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1523722
Occupation, Colonialism, Apartheid: A Re-assessment of Israel’s Practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories under International Law (Co-author: Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa: 2009, 294 pp) E-copy at: http://www.alhaq.org/attachments/article/236/Occupation_Colonialism_Apartheid-FullStudy.pdf
The Violence of Construction: International Law and Israel’s Annexation Wall in Monacella & Ware (eds) Fluctuating Borders: Memory and the Emergent: New Possibilities for International Borders (RMIT, Melbourne, 2008).
The Prohibition of Propaganda for War in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2007). Awarded Francis Lieber Certificate of Merit by the American Society of International Law, 2008. http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199232451.do
The Prohibition of Propaganda for War in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 23 Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 4 (2005) 551-570.
The Violence of Construction: Israel’s Wall and International Law 2 Al-Mashriq: A Quarterly Journal of Middle East Studies 8 (2004).
The Extraterritorial Jurisdiction of the European Convention on Human Rights 5 Trinity College Law Review (2002) 158.
Online Only Publications
Propaganda for War and Contemporary International Law. Presentation to the OSCE expert meeting on Propaganda for War and Hatred and Freedom of the Media, Vienna, 12 February 2016. www.osce.org
We Asked an Expert Whether Britain’s Secret Drone Strike in Syria Was Legal, www.vice.com September 2015.
Initial Thoughts on the ICC Prosecutor’s Mavi Marmara Report, www.opiniojuris.org 8 November 2014.
Palestine's statehood options: a dialogue, www.opendemocracy.net 6 November 2014.
In Defence of 'Motherfucker': A response to 'Is the Salaita situation really about “academic freedom”?' 26 September 2014. www.dovjacobs.com
‘What would happen if Palestine joined the International Criminal Court?’ Electronic Intifada. 20 August 2014. https://electronicintifada.net/
‘In Palestine, R2P Isn’t Dead. It Could Never Have Existed’in Symposium: Israel, Palestine and the Responsibility to Protect. 24 July 2014.LSE Middle East Centre http://blogs.lse.ac.uk http://justiceinconflict.org
‘Get Real: ‘Human Rights’ Court ‘Oks’ Torture’. 4 February 2014. Sussex Centre for Responsibilities, Rights and the Law Blog. http://responsibilitiesrightsandlaw.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/get-real-human-rights-court-oks-torture/
LJIL Symposium Vol 25-3: ‘Wording in International Law: A Comment’. Opinio Juris Blog. 9 October 2012. http://opiniojuris.org
‘The Situation in Palestine’. Opinio Juris Blog. 5 April 2012. http://opiniojuris.org
‘UN finds Israel guilty of Apartheid – time for lawyers to act’ Palestine News (Spring 2012). http://www.palestinecampaign.org
'Palestine and the International Criminal Court' The Jurist 21 May 2010 (Op-Ed with Victor Kattan). http://jurist.org
‘Michael Kearney on the Palestinian Declaration’. Opinio Juris Blog. 6 May 2010. http://opiniojuris.org
‘The Violence of Construction: Israel’s Wall and International Law.’ Electronic Intifada. 4 November 2003. http://electronicintifada.net
Selected Presentations
Incitement and the Denial of (Non-violent) Resistance The Occupation at 50: Pasts, Presents, Futures Conference, University of Sussex, May 2017.
Anarchism, Law, and the State International Law and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Exceptionalism and Responsibility Conference, University College Cork, April 2017.
Restrictions on Researching Public International Law and its Application to Israel and Palestine SLS Public International Law Cluster Research in Progress Seminar. March 2017.
Organiser: Sussex Centre for Human Rights Roundtable: Academic Freedom, International Law, Prevent, and 'Balance' May 2016.
Syria and the Unresolved Problems of the Spanish Civil War Sussex Centre for Human Rights Research Seminar Series, Sussex Centre for Human Rights Research, April 2016.
Propaganda for War and Contemporary International Law. Presentation to the OSCE expert meeting on Propaganda for War and Hatred and Freedom of the Media, Vienna, February 2016.
Syria 2011-15 / Spain 1936-39, Postgraduate Roundtable on 'Islamic State and International Humanitarian Law' International Humanitarian Law Unit, University of Nottingham, November 2015.
Accomplice Liability and the Criminal Responsibility of Legal Professionals for Torture Conference: ‘Protection of Prisoners and Detainees: An International Responsibility and Obligation’ Palestine Bar Association, Jordan, September 2015.
Palestine, the ICC, and International Criminal Law International Criminal Court Summer School, Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway, June 2015.
Roundtable on Palestine and International Justice, London School of Economics Centre for International Relations. March 2015.
Law in the Hands of the Weak: Narrating A Palestinian Doctrine of International Law eSymposium Suum Cuique Tribuere: The International Complexities of Social Justice in the 21st century (by videolink), University of Woolongong, Australia. November 2014.
Celebrity Human Rights Defenders: Chuck D contra Scarlett Johansson Human Rights in the UK Media: Representation and Reality: Modern Law Review Seminar University of Liverpool, September 2014.
An Anarchist Take on International Law Critical Legal Conference, University of Sussex, September 2014.
Anarchism and International Law, Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway, April 2014.
Corruption & The Law, One World Week Seminar University of Sussex, March 2014.
Palestine, International Law, War Crimes & Settlers, University College Cork, March 2014.
The significance of international law to Palestine, University of Southampton, February 2014.
Representing Law, School of Law & School of Media, Film and Music, University of Sussex, February 2014.
'Atrocity Propaganda' Misinformation, the Media and the Middle East, University of Sussex, November 2013.
The Law in These Parts: International Law and the Occupied Palestinians, University of Sussex, October 2013.
Palestine, Israel, and International Law: The International Criminal Court and Beyond, Trinity College Dublin, October 2013.
NGOs, Civil Society, and the International Criminal Court, Regents University, London, October 2013.
Is International Law Relevant for Palestine?, Brighton Palestine Solidarity Campaign, April 2013.
Considering Apartheid and the International Criminal Court, University College Cork, March 2013.
Humanitarian Crises and International Law: The Responsibility to Protect and Prosecute, University of Leeds, November 2012.
International Law & Occupied Territory, University of Sussex Friends of Palestine, November 2012.
Children in Chains Seminar, Scottish Friends of Palestine / Educational Institute of Scotland, Edinburgh, November 2012.
Is there a Court for Gaza?, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights Seminar, Amnesty International London, June 2012.
Systems of Segregation, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights Seminar, Garden Court Chambers, London, March 2012.
International Law & the Status Quo, Kings College Law Society, February 2012.
Statehood and the International Criminal Court, Talking Statehood Seminar, London School of Economics SU, November 2011.
Propaganda & Joint Criminal Enterprise at the ICTY, IHL Dialogue Series, LSE November 2011.
The Role of International Criminal Law in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka, Association of Sri Lankan Lawyers in the UK, London, October 2011.
The Palestinian Bundle: Statehood & Recognition, International Law Association Spring Conference, Sheffield UK, April 2011.
The Role of Poverty in Uprisings, LSE Amnesty International SU, April 2011.
Lawfare & Palestine, School of Advanced Studies Seminar Series in Human Rights & Law, London, January 2011.
From picture to frame: Law as a Substitute for Ideology, On the Front Line of Accountability: War Reporting and Related Contemporary Issues in International Humanitarian and Criminal Law, TMC Asser Institute, The Hague, January 2011.
Reflections on Human Rights Activism, Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York, 2010.
The Case for Palestinian Jurisdiction, Office of the Prosecutor Roundtable, The International Criminal Court at The Hague, October 2010.
Palestine and the Politics of the ICC, Supranational Criminal Law Lecture Series, TMC Asser Institute, The Hague 2010.
Palestine and the International Criminal Court, Palestine and International Law: New Approaches, Birzeit University, Palestine, 2010.
A Functional Interpretation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, UNDP & OHCHR Seminar, Ramallah, 2010.
The International Humanitarian Law Paradigm in the OPT: Lawfare, Legitimacy & Resistance, Tools for Justice: Applying Human Rights & IHL to the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territory, ICAHD, Bethlehem, 2010.
The Prohibition of Apartheid in International Law, Al Quds University, Jerusalem 2010.
Lawfare, Legitimacy & Resistance: The Significance of International Law for the Palestinian Struggle. Alternative Information Centre Seminar Series, Bethlehem, 2010.