Professor Douglas Guilfoyle joined UNSW Canberra in 2018. His principal areas of research are maritime security, the international law of the sea, and international and transnational criminal law. Particular areas of specialism include maritime law-enforcement, the law of naval warfare, international courts and tribunals, and the history of international law.
He is a 2022-2025 Australian Research Council Future Fellow, working on the project...view more
Professor Douglas Guilfoyle joined UNSW Canberra in 2018. His principal areas of research are maritime security, the international law of the sea, and international and transnational criminal law. Particular areas of specialism include maritime law-enforcement, the law of naval warfare, international courts and tribunals, and the history of international law.
He is a 2022-2025 Australian Research Council Future Fellow, working on the project "Small States' use of law of the sea litigation against greater powers" (FT210100186). He is also a non-resident fellow at the Sea Power Centre - Australia and was a Visiting Legal Fellow at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2018-2019).
He is the author of Shipping Interdiction and the Law of the Sea (CUP 2009) and International Criminal Law (OUP 2016); and the editor of Modern Piracy: Legal Challenges and Responses (Elgar 2013). His research work is informed by his consultancy to various government and international organisations.
He was previously a Professor of Law at Monash University, Reader in Law at University College London, and has worked as a judicial associate in the Australian Federal Court and the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal. He has also practised as a commercial litigation solicitor in Sydney.
He was a Gates Cambridge Trust scholar and Chevening scholar during his graduate study at the University of Cambridge.
My Grants
Australian Research Council Future Fellowship: ‘The use of strategic law of the sea litigation by small States against greater powers’ ($948,000), 2022-2025
Australian Research Council Discovery Project: ‘Legal Regulation of Marine Autonomous Vehicles’ ($158,000), 2020-2023 (with N Klein, R McLaughlin and S Karim)
British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship, 2012-2013
My Qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy (International Law), University of Cambridge, 2007
Master of Laws (International Law), University of Cambridge, 2004
Bachelor of Arts (Hons I) and Bachelor of Laws (Hons I) Australian National University, 2000
My Awards
Gates Cambridge Scholar, 2004-2007
British Council Chevening Scholar, 2003-2004
My Research Activities
My research is focused on maritime security and the law of the sea, transnational and international crime, international courts and tribunals, and the role of international law in international politics. My current ARC Future Fellow project "Small States' use of law of the sea litigation against greater powers", examines how small States use UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) dispute settlement mechanisms to gain political advantages in conflicts with greater powers, including Security Council permanent members. It aims to understand how UNCLOS can be leveraged to defend coastal State rights in strategic disputes concerning sovereign rights, unresolved boundaries, and military affairs.
My prior work has been concerned with maritime security broadly, including the South China Sea dispute, counter-piracy, maritime interdiction operations, the law of naval warfare, and the protection of submarine cables. My interest in transnational and international crime crosses over from the maritime domain to international criminal law generally, including questions of the effectiveness of international criminal tribunals and the law of superior responsibility.
I am a frequent contributor to leading international law blogs such as EJIL:talk and Opinio Juris.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4505-9554