Dangerous Liaisons: civilian agency, armed groups and international law
This project examines the concept of civilian agency in territories under the control of armed groups. Adopting a legal and interdisciplinary perspective, the project analyses the different ways in which civilians take on positions of leadership within their communities, interact with and join armed groups in civilian roles and exert agency within the legal framework itself, by advocating for their rights. It is funded by NWO (The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research).
Main researcher
Research outputs
Edited book:
- Fortin, Katharine & Heffes, Ezequiel, eds, Armed Groups and International Law: In the Shadowland of Legality and Illegality, Edward Elgar, Forthcoming, September 2023 with a foreword by Professor Marco Sassoli
Special issues:
- Guest-editor (together with Nikkie Wiegink, Chris van der Borgh and Martijn Oosterbaan) for special issue of Social Science and Humanities Open on rules and laws in protracted armed conflict, 2024
- Guest-editor (together with Antoine Buyse, Brianne McGonigle Leyh & Julie Fraser) for special issue of Utrecht Law Review on the Rule of Law From Below, 2021
Columns:
- The relationship between international human rights law and international humanitarian law: taking stock at the end of 2022, Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights
Articles:
- Fortin, Katharine, van der Borgh, Chris, Oosterbaan, Martijn & Wiegink, Nikkie, Rules and laws in contexts of protracted conflict: an interdisciplinary appraisal, Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2024
- Fortin, Katharine (2023) Mapping Calamities: Capturing the Competing Legalities of Spaces under the Control of Armed Non State Actors without Erasing Everyday Civilian Life, Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2023
- Fortin, Katharine (2021) Of Interactionality and Legal Universes: a Bottom-up Approach to the Rule of Law and its Application to Territory Controlled by Armed Groups, Utrecht Law Review, Sep 2021 (*)
- Fortin, Katharine, Buyse, Antoine, McGonigle Leyh & Fraser, Julie, The Rule of Law From Below: A Concept Under Development, Utrecht Law Review, Sep 2021
- Fortin, Katharine (2021) The Procedural Right to a Remedy when the State has Left the Building? A Reflection on Armed Groups, Courts and Domestic law, Journal of Human Rights Practice, Vol 14, Issue 2, 2022, 387-414 (* and Editors’ Choice)
Book chapters:
- Fortin, Katharine, Customary international humanitarian law: a transformative force in the landscape of IHL, ed. Sivakumaran, Sandesh, Making and Shaping of IHL, Lieber Studies Series, Vol X, 2024
- Fortin, Katharine & Heffes, Ezequiel, ‘Introduction‘ in K. Fortin & E. Heffes eds. Armed Groups and International Law: In the Shadowland of Legality and Illegality, Edward Elgar, 2023
- Fortin, Katharine, ‘Exploring the Civilian and Political Institutions of Armed Non-State Actors under IHL in an Age of Rebel Governance’ in K. Fortin & E. Heffes eds. Armed Groups and International Law: In the Shadowland of Legality and Illegality, Edward Elgar, 2023 (*)
Blog posts:
- Assessing the Civilian and Political Institutions of Armed Non-State Actors under International Law, July 2024, Just Security
- Un(customary) Law in the 21st century: quo vadis? – June 2024, Articles of War
- Al Hassan Symposium – Rebel Governance under the Spotlight – July 2023, Articles of War
- Al Hassan Symposium – Petite Sardine or Big Fish? Rebel Governance and the ICC Al Hassan Trial, July 2024
- State Responsibility and Rebels: An Interview with Kathryn Greenman – May 2022, Armed Groups and International Law
- Demythologizing the post WWII years and charting the untraveled paths of CA3 - April 2022, Opinio Juris
- Abducting Dissent: Kidnapping Public Officials in Occupied Ukraine – March 2022, Articles of War
- ‘Negotiating Survival Book Symposium: Dancing with whoever is there: civilian agency, neutrality and the principle of distinction’ – February 2022, Armed groups and International Law
- Conversation on War – November 2021, Opinio Juris
- A retelling of the history of internal conflicts: political fireworks, a post-script to the ‘dreaded article 1and an agenda for future research, May 2021, Armed Groups and International Law
- A participation revolution – time for more bottom up approaches in the compliance toolbox? – October 2020, Opinio Juris
Podcasts:
- Beyond Compliance in Conversation: Engaging Armed Groups, conversation with Floriean Weigand, Tilman Rodenhauser and Matthew Bamber-Zyrd
- Detention by Non-State Armed Groups, Podcast by ESIL Interest Group on Peace & Security, August 2023
- Justice Beyond the State, Justice Visions, October 2022