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Professor Rain Liivoja

Professor

School of Law
Faculty of Business, Economics and Law
r.liivoja@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 58830

Overview

Rain Liivoja is a Professor and Deputy Dean (Research) at the University of Queensland Law School, where he leads the Law and the Future of War research group. Rain is also a Senior Fellow with the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and holds the title of Adjunct Professor of International Law at the University of Helsinki, where he is affiliated with the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights.

Rain's current research focuses on the legal challenges associated with military applications of science and technology. His broader research and teaching interest include general international law, the law of armed conflict and human rights law. He is the author of Criminal Jurisdiction over Armed Forces Abroad (Cambridge University Press 2017), and a co-editor of Autonomous Cyber Capabilities under International Law (NATO CCDCOE 2021), the Routledge Handbook of the Law of Armed Conflict (Routledge 2016) and International Law-making: Essays in Honour of Jan Klabbers (Routledge 2013). Rain is a Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies (published by Brill | Nijhoff).

Rain is a UQ Ally, a UQ Mental Health Champion and a member of the UQ Disability Inclusion Advocacy Network. He is the Deputy Chair of the Queensland Divisional Advisory Board of the Australian Red Cross.

Before joining the University of Queensland, Rain held academic appointments at the Universities of Melbourne, Helsinki and Tartu. In 2022–2023, he was a Visiting Legal Fellow at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has also been a visiting scholar at Georgetown University, the University of Oxford and the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, and a visiting lecturer at the Estonian Military Academy and the Riga Graduate School of Law. Rain holds an undergraduate degree in law from the University of Tartu, and a masters and a doctorate in public international law from the University of Helsinki. He completed a Graduate Certificate in University Teaching at the University of Melbourne.

Rain does not teach into courses sponsored by the Confucius Institute or the Ramsay Centre.

Qualifications

  • Member, Royal United Service Institute Queensland, Royal United Service Institute Queensland
  • Fellow, Royal Society of Arts, Royal Society of Arts
  • Member, International Law Association (Australian Branch), International Law Association (Australian Branch)
  • Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
  • Member, Estonian Council of Foreign Relations, Estonian Council of Foreign Relations
  • Member, Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law, Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law
  • Member, Australian Institute of International Affairs, Australian Institute of International Affairs
  • Graduate Certificate in University Teaching, University of Melbourne
  • Doctoral (Research) of International Law, University of Helsinki*
  • Masters (Research) of International Law, University of Helsinki*
  • Masters (Coursework) of International Law, University of Helsinki*
  • Bachelor of Law, Tartu University

Publications

View all Publications

Grants

View all Grants

Supervision

  • The Legal Review of Autonomous Weapons

    Doctor Philosophy

  • A Critical Analysis of the Deployment of Indonesian Military Forces in Domestic Counterterrorism Operations

    Doctor Philosophy

View all Supervision

Publications

Book

Book Chapter

  • Protecting warfighters from superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering

    Liivoja, Rain (2024). Protecting warfighters from superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering. Civility, barbarism and the evolution of international humanitarian law. (pp. 177-199) edited by Matt Killingsworth and Tim McCormack. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108764049.010

  • Being more than you can be: enhancement of warfighters and the law of armed conflict

    Liivoja, Rain (2022). Being more than you can be: enhancement of warfighters and the law of armed conflict. The future law of armed conflict. (pp. 83-102) edited by Matthew C. Waxman and Thomas W. Oakley. New York, NY, United States: Oxford University Press.

  • Riigikogu poolt ratifitseeritavad ja denonsseeritavad lepingud

    Liivoja, Rain (2022). Riigikogu poolt ratifitseeritavad ja denonsseeritavad lepingud. Eesti Vabariigi põhiseaduse kommentaarid. (pp. 1-14) Tallinn, Estonia: Estonian Academy of Sciences.

  • Riigipiir ja piirilepingud

    Liivoja, Rain (2022). Riigipiir ja piirilepingud. Eesti Vabariigi põhiseaduse kommentaarid. (pp. 1-11) edited by Uno Lõhmus. Tallinn, Estonia: Estonian Academy of Sciences.

  • Cyber autonomy and international law: an introduction

    Väljataga, Ann and Liivoja, Rain (2021). Cyber autonomy and international law: an introduction. Autonomous cyber capabilities under international law. (pp. 1-10) edited by Rain Liivoja and Ann Väljataga. Tallinn, Estonia: NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

  • International human rights law

    Liivoja, Rain (2021). International human rights law. Human rights of armed forces personnel: compendium of standards, good practices and recommendations. (pp. 37-56) Warsaw, Poland and Geneva, Switzerland: OSCE/ODIHR and DCAF.

  • The better instincts of humanity: humanitarian arguments in defense of international arms control

    Jevglevskaja, Natalia and Liivoja, Rain (2021). The better instincts of humanity: humanitarian arguments in defense of international arms control. Lethal autonomous weapons: re-examining the law and ethics of robotic warfare. (pp. 103-119) edited by Jai Galliott, Duncan MacIntosh and Jens David Ohlin. New York, NY United States: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780197546048.003.0008

  • The role of commanders and individual accountability

    Liivoja, Rain (2021). The role of commanders and individual accountability. Human rights of armed forces personnel: compendium of standards, good practices and recommendations. (pp. 294-308) Warsaw, Poland and Geneva, Switzerland: OSCE/ODIHR and DCAF.

  • Memory modification as treatment for PTSD: neuroscientific reality and ethical concerns

    Liivoja, Rain and Kroes, Marijn C. W. (2020). Memory modification as treatment for PTSD: neuroscientific reality and ethical concerns. Ethics of medical innovation, experimentation, and enhancement in military and humanitarian contexts. (pp. 211-234) edited by Daniel Messelken and David Winkler. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-36319-2_13

  • Emerging technologies of warfare

    Liivoja, Rain, Leins, Kobi and McCormack, Tim (2016). Emerging technologies of warfare. Routledge handbook of the law of armed conflict. (pp. 603-622) edited by Rain Liivoja and Tim McCormack. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203798362

  • Private military and security companies

    Amstel, Nelleke van and Liivoja, Rain (2016). Private military and security companies. Routledge handbook of the law of armed conflict. (pp. 623-639) edited by Liivoja, Rain and McCormack, Tim. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203798362

  • Trying civilian contractors in military courts: a necessary evil?

    Liivoja, Rain (2016). Trying civilian contractors in military courts: a necessary evil?. Military justice in the modern age. (pp. 81-105) edited by Duxbury, Alison and Groves, Matthew. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/cbo9781107326330.006

  • Military justice

    Liivoja, Rain (2014). Military justice. The Oxford handbook of criminal law. (pp. 326-349) edited by Markus D. Dubber and Tatjana Hörnle. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199673599.013.0015

  • Preface

    Liivoja, Rain and Petman, Jarna (2014). Preface. International law-making. (pp. xl-xlii) edited by Rain Liivoja and Jarna Petman. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203074879

  • Competing histories: Soviet war crimes in the Baltic States

    Liivoja, Rain (2013). Competing histories: Soviet war crimes in the Baltic States. The hidden histories of war crimes trials. (pp. 248-266) edited by Kevin Heller and Gerry Simpson. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199671144.003.0012

  • Law and honor: normative pluralism in the regulation of military conduct

    Liivoja, Rain (2013). Law and honor: normative pluralism in the regulation of military conduct. Normative pluralism and international law: exploring global governance. (pp. 143-165) edited by Jan Klabbers and Touko Piiparinen. New York, United States: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139567121.009

  • Treaties, Custom and Universal Jurisdiction

    Liivoja, Rain (2013). Treaties, Custom and Universal Jurisdiction. International Law-making: Essays in Honour of Jan Klabbers. (pp. 298-312) edited by Liivoja, Rain and Petman, Jarna. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203074879

  • Australia: regulating private military and security companies

    McCormack, Tim and Liivoja, Rain (2012). Australia: regulating private military and security companies. Multilevel regulation of military and security contractors: the interplay between international, European and domestic norms. (pp. 507-526) edited by Christine Bakker and Mirko Sossai. Oxford: Hart Publishing. doi: 10.5040/9781472565860.ch-022

  • Chivalry without a horse: military honour and the modern law of armed conflict

    Liivoja, Rain (2012). Chivalry without a horse: military honour and the modern law of armed conflict. The law of armed conflict: historical and contemporary perspectives. (pp. 75-100) edited by Rain Liivoja and Andres Saumets. Tartu: Tartu University Press.

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • The Legal Review of Autonomous Weapons

    Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • A Critical Analysis of the Deployment of Indonesian Military Forces in Domestic Counterterrorism Operations

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

This staff member is a UQ Expert for media in the following fields:

international law, law of armed conflict

They are happy to lend their expertise to your articles or broadcasts and share their research discoveries and insights with the community via media channels.

For additional assistance with story ideas, general advice and information or help with seeking further experts, please email the UQ Media Team or telephone (07) 3365 1120.

Links

ResearcherID: A-4546-2018

ORCID: 0000-0002-0226-0936

Scopus ID: 25422354200

Google Scholar ID:

Personal Profile: Link

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