Beyond Diplomacy and Legality: The Implications of the Continued Judicalization of Peace and Security (GLOJPES)

An interdisciplinary workshop on how international courts shape conflict, justice, and diplomacy, uniting scholars to debate the power and limits of legalaction

The project at a glance

Start date:

01 Jan 2025
Duration in months:

1
Funding:

Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS)
Principal Investigator(s):

Harrison MBORI

Josip GLAURDIC

Markos KONSTANTINIDIS

About

In an era marked by intensifying global conflicts, the role of international courts and tribunals in shaping responses to war and insecurity has markedly grown. From Sudan and Ukraine to Myanmar and Gaza, litigants have increasingly turned to judicial mechanisms to frame, contest, and potentially resolve violent crises. This trend – what we call the judicialization of peace and security – raises urgent questions at the intersection of law, politics, and diplomacy. This interdisciplinary workshop will bring together legal scholars, political scientists, and practitioners to examine the implications of this development. Is recourse to international adjudication a genuine path toward justice and conflict resolution – or a new frontier of geopolitical contestation, where law becomes another instrument of power? Participants will explore concepts such as lawfare and judicialization of peace, mapping recent conflict-related cases before courts like the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and assessing the motivations, strategies, and consequences of international legal action. Through comparative case studies, theoretical debate, and methodological exchange, the workshop will offer a space for early-career scholars to critically engage with the strategic, normative, and institutional dimensions of conflict adjudication. In doing so, it seeks to contribute to a richer understanding of how international legal processes both constrain and enable actors in wartime, and how they reshape the post-conflict political landscape. Ultimately, the event aims to generate new research questions, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and lay the foundation for a broader research agenda that interrogates the promise and limits of legality in global peace and security.