Law with a focus on international and operational law

Research at the Centre for Operational Law and International Law is focused on the international law aspects of military operations, and our research combines both theoretical and practical approaches, thus creating synergies between basic and applied research.

Our work includes research and education on the rules of international humanitarian law, including the right to use military force (ius ad bellum), international humanitarian law aspects of international peace operations, the laws of war (ius in bello), human rights in armed conflict, peace operations and other crisis situations, and accountability issues in international military operations at different levels of conflict and in different contexts.

The international humanitarian law research is an integral part of the overall research body at the Swedish Defence University, which is characterised by diversity and a shared focus on the conditions of crisis and armed conflict. The integration of international humanitarian law research is expressed in interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with researchers from other departments at the Swedish Defence University. In addition, we collaborate with other research institutes and initiatives, both in Sweden and abroad.