Profile of Invited Expert “OBrien”

Profile

Full Name

Melanie O’Brien, Ph.D.

Position

Senior Lecturer in International Law

Organization

University of Western Australia Law School

URL

https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/melanie-obrien

Biography

Dr. Melanie O’Brien is Senior Lecturer in International Law at the University of Western Australia, an award-winning teacher of International Humanitarian Law, Public International Law, and Legal Research. Her research examines the connection between human rights and the genocide process; and sexual and gender-based crimes against women in atrocities. Her work on forced marriage has been cited by the International Criminal Court, and she has been an expert panellist on genocide prevention for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Dr. O’Brien has conducted fieldwork and research across six continents.

Dr. O’Brien is on the Editorial Board of Human Rights Review, and the WA International Humanitarian Law Committee of the Australian Red Cross. She is incoming President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) and co-convened the 2017 IAGS conference at the University of Queensland, serving on the Editorial Board of Genocide Studies and Prevention 2013–2017.

Dr. O’Brien is an admitted legal practitioner who has previously worked at several Australian universities; the National Human Rights Institution of Samoa; and the Legal Advisory Section of the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court. She is the author of Criminalising Peacekeepers: Modernising National Approaches to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (2017, Palgrave) and tweets @DrMelOB.

Selected Citations to Published Materials

Melanie O’Brien, The Rohingya Crisis: Accountability for Decades of Persecution, in Genocide and Victimology 51 (Yarin Eski ed., Nov. 19, 2020), available paywall, doi.
Melanie O’Brien & Gerhard Hoffstaedter, “There We Are Nothing, Here We Are Nothing!”—The Enduring Effects of the Rohingya Genocide, 9 Soc. Sci. 209 (Nov. 16, 2020), available online, doi.
Melanie O’Brien, Criminalising Peacekeepers: Modernising National Approaches to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (Palgrave, 2017), available online.
Melanie O’Brien, “Don’t Kill Them, Let’s Choose Them as Wives”: The Development of the Crimes of Forced Marriage, Sexual Slavery and Enforced Prostitution in International Criminal Law, 20 Int’l J. of Hum. Rts. 386 (Oct. 2015), paywall, archived, doi.
Melanie O’Brien, Prosecutorial Discretion as an Obstacle to Prosecution of United Nations Peacekeepers by the International Criminal Court: The Big Fish/Small Fish Debate and the Gravity Threshold, 10 J. Int’l Crim. Just. 525 (Jun. 28, 2012), paywall, archived, doi.

History

Member for: 2 years 45 weeks

Home Page Index of Issues

Current Issue Main Page

Issue Background Materials Page

Featured Comments

michelleg30: Transitional Justice as an Alternative to Prosecution in the Israel–Palestine Conflict I. Introduction War is not “pareto optimal.”1 According to the “bargaining theory of war,” a sustainable peace agreement is more beneficial to both sides than continued conflict.2 Transitional justice, the “processes and mechanisms associated with a society’s attempt to come to terms with a legacy of... (more)
huangz2024: The Matter of Statehood on the Palestine Issue I. Introduction In 2021, the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) received a request from the Prosecutor related to territorial jurisdiction over Palestine and issued its response and decision to the request. The main conclusion of the decision was to extend the jurisdiction to “the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank,... (more)
Katharina Schapfeld: Preventing Genocide: What Are the Duties of State Parties Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and How Could They Be Fulfilled in the Current Situation? I. Introduction “There can be no more important issue, no more binding obligation, than the prevention of genocide.”1 The year 2023 doesn’t only mark the 75th anniversary of the... (more)
freyaschmidt: How Can Israel Ensure Proportionality in its Response to Hamas’ Attacks? I. Introduction With Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the situation that has been smoldering for decades has entered the next round. It is accompanied by countless legal questions that revolve around the legal classification of Palestine and thus the admissibility of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the role of international (... (more)
Jordan Murphy: The Claim of Genocide Filed Against Israel: The Elements of a Genocide Charge and its Application to the Situation in Palestine Speaking on the claim of genocide filed against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2023, Palestine representative Gilles Devers asserted that the requisite criteria having been established in Gaza is not an opinion but “a reality of law.”1 Such a claim is a strong one: only two cases have... (more)
AA375: The Israel/Hamas Situation Through the Lens of the ICC Introduction The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established to investigate, prosecute, and try individuals for the most serious crimes, namely the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.1 The ICC has a responsibility to tackle situations of high gravity affecting the interests of the international community... (more)
Pilgrim: Palestinian Statehood Under the Montevideo Convention: An Unconventional Approach I. Introduction For the International Criminal Court (ICC) to have jurisdiction over the situation in Gaza and Israel after the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023, Palestine must be a State.1 The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (Montevideo Convention) provides a four-element test for Statehood.2 To be a State under... (more)
Kellan Grant: I. Introduction On October 7, 2023, a widespread surprise attack on Israel was launched by Hamas leaders, commanders, and militants in which they invaded Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip. Since then, an ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has ensued. Devastatingly, many civilians in both Israel and the Palestine area have lost their lives as a result. Since October 7, 2023, there have been numerous assertions made that various crimes are being,... (more)
Joan Komolafe: What is the Threshold of the Right to Defend Oneself? An Analysis of the Current Israeli–Palestine Conflict, Under the Legal Definitions of the Rome Statute I. Abstract Few hostilities have consumed the international psyche and caused as much polarization as the Israel and Palestine conflict. In particular, the intensification of violence between Israel and Gaza in October of 2023 has caused a global re-examination of... (more)
MelissaHernandez: The October 7th attacks launched what appears to be one of the worst humanitarian crises in the last decades. With more than 1,200 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, killed in a single day, and about 240 hostages, this day is being characterized as “the deadliest day for Jews since the holocaust.”1 On the other hand, the Hamas attack triggered an Israeli response that has resulted in more than 11,000 deaths in Gaza, which would surpass the total number of... (more)
msperling: Palestine at the International Criminal Court: Overzealous Jurisdiction Preventing Peacemaking Introduction On October 7, 2023, fighters affiliated with the Hamas government of the Gaza Strip attacked Israel, raping, torturing, and kidnapping Israeli men, women, and children. Around 1200 people, a vast majority of whom were civilians, were killed, and 240 were taken hostage. More than 130 of the hostages are still in captivity or have since been... (more)