Dapo Akande is the Chichele Professor of Public International Law, a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC). He is a Member of the United Nations International Law Commission and a barrister at Essex Court Chambers. He has held visiting professorships in the US, Europe and Australia including at Yale Law School and as the 2015 Sir Ninian Stephen Visiting Scholar at the University of Melbourne Law School’s Asia-Pacific Centre for Military Law.
Dapo is a generalist international lawyer who has worked across many areas of the field, including the law of international organizations, the law of armed conflict, international criminal law, the law relating to cyber operations, international dispute settlement. He is one of the authors of Oppenheim’s International Law: The United Nations (2017, OUP), which was awarded the 2019 Certificate of Merit by the American Society of International Law. He is co-editor of the Oxford Guide to International Humanitarian Law (2020 OUP); of Human Rights and 21st Century Challenges: Poverty, Conflict and the Environment (2020, OUP) and the Practitioners Guide to the Application of Human Rights Law in Armed Conflict (2016, OUP). He was a member of the International Group of Experts that prepared the Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations (2017, CUP). Dapo has led several research projects. He is a convenor of the Oxford Process on International Law Protections in Cyberspace. From 2012 to 2017 he was Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Human Rights for Future Generations and from 2014 to 2019 was one of the leaders the European Research Council-funded project “The Individualisation of War: Reconfiguring the Ethics, Law and Politics of Armed Conflict”. He is a member of the International Advisory Panel for the American Law Institute’s project on the Restatement Fourth, The Foreign Relations Law of the United States.
Dapo is founding editor of EJIL:Talk! the widely read scholarly blog of the European Journal of International Law. He has served on the editorial or advisory boards of several leading international law journals, including the American Journal of International Law, the European Journal of International Law and the African Journal of International and Comparative Law. He has also served in leadership or board positions of scholarly societies and civil society organizations, including as Trustee of the Rhodes Trust; Counsellor of the American Society of International Law; Trustee of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law; on the Advisory Board of the International Centre for Transitional Justice; and member of the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability.
He has acted as advocate, counsel or adviser in cases before international tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the European Court of Human Rights, the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization panels. He has also acted as a consultant/advisor in cases in national courts, including the UK Supreme Court. Dapo regularly provides advice on international law issues to states, international organizations and civil society organizations. He been a member of several boards and advisory committees for governments and international bodies including, the Advisory Committee on International Law of the United States State Department; the UK Ministry of Defence AI Ethics Advisory Panel; the Ukrainian Government Working Group on compensation for damage caused to Ukraine as a result of the armed aggression by the Russian Federation; the ICRC’s Global Advisory Board on Digital Threats During Conflict. In 2017/18, he was legal adviser to the UK Parliament’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Drone’s inquiry into the Use of Armed Drones. From 2016 -2018, he was on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Human Rights.
Dapo is frequently asked to speak to the media on issues of international law, and has been invited to address several international bodies including the UN Security Council, the Human Rights Council, the Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law (CAHDI) of the Council of Europe.
- Jackson M and Akande D, ‘The Right to Life and the Jus Ad Bellum: Belligerent equality and the Duty to Prosecute Acts of Aggression‘ (2022) International & Comparative Law Quarterly
- D. Akande and A. Tzanakopoulos , ‘Use of Force in Self-Defence to Recover Occupied Territory: When Is It Permissible?’ (2021) 32 European Journal of International Law 1299
- D. Akande and Talita de Souza-Dias, ‘A New Approach to the”Interests of Justice” in the Ten Years Ahead of the Rome Statute‘ (2018) ICCForum.com
- D. Akande, ‘An Analysis of why the ICC does not have Jurisdiction over the Crime of Aggression Committed by Nationals of ICC Parties which have not Ratified the Kampala Aggression Amendments‘ (2018) ICCForum.com
- D. Akande, ‘Immunity of Heads of States of Nonparties in the Early Years of the ICC‘ (2018) 112 American Journal of International Law Unbound 172
- D. Akande and A. Tzanakopoulos, ‘The Crime of Aggression before the International Criminal Court: Introduction to the Symposium‘ (2018) 29 European Journal of International Law 829
- D. Akande and A. Tzanakopoulos, ‘Treaty Law and ICC Jurisdiction over the Crime of Aggression‘ (2018) 29 European Journal of International Law 939
- D. Akande and Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, ‘Humanitarian Actors’ Engagement with Accountability Mechanisms in Situations of Armed Conflict’ (2017) 2016 Anuário Português De Direito Internacional 105
- R. Higgins, P. Webb, D. Akande and S. Sivakumaran J. Sloan, Oppenheim’s International Law: The United Nations (Oxford University Press 2017)
- D. Akande and E. Gillard, ‘Arbitrary Withholding of Consent to Humanitarian Relief Operations in Armed Conflict‘ (2016) 92 International Law Studies 483
- D. Akande, “International Organizations”, in Evans (ed.) International Law (Oxford University Press, 2018, 4th ed)
- D. Akande and E. Gillard, “The Oxford Guidance on the Law Relating to Humanitarian Relief Operations in Situations of Armed Conflict: An Introduction” (2017) Anuário Português De Direito Internacional 2016 23
- D. Akande and E. Gillard, “Promoting Compliance with the Rules Regulating Humanitarian Relief Operations in Armed Conflict: The Law and Some Policy Considerations”, (2017) 50 Israel Law Review 119
- D. Akande, ‘Introduction to Symposium on Koh & Buchwald, “The Crime of Aggression: The United States Perspective”‘ (2016) AJIL Unbound 226
- D. Akande and E. Gillard, ‘Oxford Guidance on the Law Relating to Humanitarian Relief Operations in Situations of Armed Conflict‘ (2016) Commissioned and Published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- D. Murray, D. Akande, C. Garraway, F. Hampson, N. Lubell and E. Wilmshurst, Practitioners’ Guide to Human Rights Law in Armed Conflict (Oxford University Press 2016)
- D. Akande, ‘Selection of the International Court of Justice as a Forum for Contentious and Advisory Proceedings (Including Jurisdiction)‘ (2016) 7 Journal of International Dispute Settlement 320
- D. Akande, ‘The Impact of the Genocide Convention on the Obligation to Implement ICC Arrest Warrants‘ in R. Steinberg (ed), Contemporary Issues Facing the International Criminal Court (Brill Nijhoff 2016)
- D. Akande and A. Tzanakopoulos, ‘The International Court of Justice and the Concept of Aggression‘ in C Kress and S Barriga (eds), The Crime of Aggression: A Commentary (Cambridge University Press 2016)
- C. Heyns, D. Akande, L. Hill-Cawthorne and T. Chengeta, ‘The Right to Life and the International Law Framework Regulating the Use of Armed Drones‘ (2016) 65 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 791
- D. Akande and L. Hill-Cawthorne, ‘The Lieber Code and the Regulation of Civil War in International Law‘ (2015) 53 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 638
- D. Akande, ‘International Organizations‘ in Evans (ed), International Law (Oxford University Press 2014)
- D. Akande and Thomas Lieflaender, ‘Clarifying Necessity, Imminence, and Proportionality in the Law of Self-Defense‘ (2013) 107 American Journal of International Law 563
- D. Akande, ‘The Effect of Security Council Resolutions and Domestic Proceedings on State Obligations to Cooperate with the ICC‘ (2012) 10 Journal of International Criminal Justice 299
- D. Akande, ‘Classification of Armed Conflicts: Relevant Legal Concepts‘ in Wilmshurst (ed), International Law and the Classification of Conflicts (OUP 2012)
- D. Akande, ‘US/NATO Targeting of Afghan Drug Traffickers: An Illegal and Dangerous Precedent?‘ in Gaston (ed), The Laws of War and 21st Century Conflict (Idebate Press 2012)
- D. Akande, C. Jalloh and M. du Plessis, ‘Assessing the African Union Concerns about Article 16 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court‘ (2011) African Journal of Legal Studies 5
- D. Akande and Sangeeta Shah, ‘Immunities of State Officials, International Crimes and Foreign Domestic Courts: A Rejoinder to Alexander Orakhelashvili‘ (2011) 22 European Journal of International Law 857
- D. Akande, ‘The Genocide Convention and the Obligation of Cooperation with the International Criminal Court‘ (2011) UCLA Human Rights and International Criminal Law Online Forum (2011)
- D. Akande and Sangeeta Shah, ‘Immunities of State Officials, International Crimes and Foreign Domestic Courts‘ (2010) 21 European Journal of International Law 815
- D. Akande, Max du Plessis and Charles Jalloh, ‘An African Expert Study on the African Union’s Concerns About Article 16 of the Rome Statute of the ICC‘ (2010) Institute for Security Studies
- D. Akande, ‘Clearing the Fog of War? The ICRC’s Interpretive Guidance on Direct Participation in Hostilities‘ (2010) 59 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 180
- D. Akande, ‘International Organizations‘ in Evans (ed), International Law (3rd ed.) (OUP 2010)
- D. Akande, ‘Prosecuting Aggression: The Consent Problem and the Role of the Security Council‘ (2010)
- D. Akande and M. Milanovic and others, ‘Submission to the Iraq Inquiry on the UK’s Legal Justification for the Iraq War and Lord Goldsmith’s Legal Advice‘ (2010) Submission to the Chilcott Inquiry on Iraq
- D. Akande, ‘What Exactly Was Agreed in Kampala on the Crime of Aggression?‘ (2010) 2 Equality of Arms Review 23
- D. Akande, ‘Sources of International Criminal Law‘ in Cassese , Akande, et al (ed), Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice (OUP 2009)
- D. Akande, ‘The Legal Nature of the Security Council Referrals to the ICC and its Impact on Al Bashirs Immunities‘ (2009) 7 Journal of International Criminal Justice 333
- D. Akande, ‘Arrest Warrant Case; Pius Nwaoga v. The State’ in Cassese, Akande, et al (ed), Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice (OUP 2009)
- D. Akande, ‘Civil Remedies for International Crimes‘ in Cassese, Akande, et al. (ed), Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice (OUP 2009)
- A.Cassese, G. Acquaviva, D. Akande and others (eds), Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice (Oxford University Press 2009)
- D. Akande, ‘The Protective Principle; The Active Nationality Principle; The Passive Personality Principle; The Territoriality Principle’ in Cassese, Akande, et al (ed), Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice (OUP 2009)
- D. Akande, ‘Act of State Doctrine’ in P. Cane (ed), The New Oxford Companion to Law (OUP 2008)
- D. Akande, ‘The Bashir Indictment: Are Serving Heads of State Immune from ICC Prosecution?‘ (2008) Debating International Justice in Africa: Oxford Transitional Justice Research Essays, 2008-2010 87
- D. Akande, ‘Are there Limits to the Powers of the Security Council? in Old Questions and New Challenges for the UN Security System‘ (2007) V Journal of International Law and Policy
- D. Akande, ‘The Application of International Law Immunities in Prosecutions for International Crimes‘ in Harrington, Milde & Vernon (ed), Bringing Power to Justice? The Prospects of the International Criminal Court (McGill-Queens University Press 2006)
- D. Akande, ‘The Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Nationals of Non-Parties: Legal Basis and Limits’ in Bekou & Cryer (ed), The International Criminal Court (Ashgate 2005)
- D. Akande, ‘International Law Immunities and the International Criminal Court‘ (2004) 98 (3) The American Journal of International Law 407
- D. Akande and S Williams, ‘International Adjudication and National Security Issues: What Role for the WTO’ (2003) 43 Virginia Journal of International Law 365
- D. Akande, ‘The Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Nationals of Non-Parties: Legal Basis and Limits‘ (2003) (2003)1 Journal of International Criminal Justice 618
- D. Akande, ‘The Role of the International Court of Justice in the Maintenance of International Peace’ in N. White (ed), Collective Security Law (Ashgate 2003)
- D. Akande, ‘The Settlement of International Disputes: Institutions and Procedures, Collier and Lowe (OUP, 1999).’ (2001) 64 Modern Law Review 140 [Review]
- D. Akande, ‘Africa Have Your Say‘ (2000) BBC BBC World Service Duration: 54 mins
- D. Akande, ‘The Era of International Criminal Responsibility’ in (ed), The Hutchinson Almanac (2000)
- D. Akande, ‘Prosecuting Heads of States: The Implications of the Milosevic and Pinochet Cases\”,‘ (1999) 5 Strategic Comments (International Institute for Strategic Studies)
- D. Akande, ‘Review of The International Court of Justice: Its Future Role After Fifty Years, Muller, Raic and Thuránszky (eds.), (Martinus Nijhoff, 1997).’ (1998) 69 British Yearbook of International Law 524 [Review]
- D. Akande, ‘The Competence of International Organizations and the Advisory Jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice‘ (1998) 8 European Journal of International Law 437
- D. Akande, ‘Nuclear Weapons, Unclear Law? Deciphering the Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion of the International Court’ (1997) 68 British Yearbook of International Law
- D. Akande, ‘The International Court of Justice and the Security Council: Is there Room for Judicial Control of Decisions of the Political Organs of the United Nations’ (1997) 46 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 309
- D. Akande, ‘The Legal Imperatives toward Supranationalism Inherent in the Process of Economic Integration’ (1996) 8 Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the African Society of International and Comparative Law 103
- D. Akande, ‘The Role of the International Court of Justice in the Maintenance of International Peace’ (1996) 8 African Journal of International and Comparative Law 592
- D. Akande, ‘Review of National Treaty Law and Practice: France, Germany, India, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Kingdom, Monroe Leigh and Merritt R. Blakeslee (eds.), (ASIL, 1995)’ (1995) 7 African Journal of International and Comparative Law 215 [Review]
- D. Akande, S. Davis, M. Guerts and T. Doyle, ‘New Trends in United Nations Peacekeeping” – a section in Recent Developments in International Law 1993’ (1994) European Law Students Association Law Review 71
