Dr Antonio Coco

Biography

Antonio Coco is Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in Public International Law at the University of Essex, where he joined in 2020. He also serves as Director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes in Human Rights and Deputy Director (Education) of the Human Rights Centre. He holds a PhD in Law from the University of Geneva (summa cum laude, 2019), an LL.M. in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights from the Geneva Academy (summa cum laude, 2012), and a Master's Degree in Law from the University of Catania (summa cum laude, 2010). During his doctoral studies, he was a Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School, supported by a fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation. His research spans public international law, international criminal law, and international humanitarian law, with a particular focus on the regulation of emerging technologies, including cyberspace and artificial intelligence. His work also engages with core areas of public international law, including the law on the use of force, state responsibility, and international human rights law. His recent work examines state responsibility and individual criminal responsibility for technology-enabled conduct. His scholarship has been widely cited, including by the International Criminal Court and the UN International Law Commission's Special Rapporteur on Crimes Against Humanity. He is the author of The Defence of Mistake of Law in International Criminal Law (Oxford University Press, 2022) and has published extensively in leading journals. Since 2020, he has served as Managing Editor of the Journal of International Criminal Justice. He is a member of the Sino-European Expert Working Group on International Law in Cyberspace and co-founder of the Oxford Process on International Law Protections in Cyberspace, an expert initiative whose outputs have been referenced in United Nations processes. His research has informed policy and practice through collaborations with governments, international organisations, and the private sector, including projects for which he has secured funding and held leading roles, supported by partners such as Microsoft, the Government of Japan, and the World Food Programme. Before joining Essex, he was Departmental Lecturer in Public International Law at the University of Oxford and a Junior Research Fellow at St Peter's College, Oxford. He was also a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict. He previously taught at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, first as a Teaching Assistant in international criminal law and public international law during his doctoral studies, and subsequently as a Visiting Lecturer teaching a course on institutions of international criminal justice. He also contributed to the University of Amsterdam research project 'Rethinking Secondary Liability for International Crimes'. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is admitted to practice law in Italy.

Qualifications

• PhD in Law University of Geneva, (2019)

• LLM Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, (2012)

• Master's Degree in Law University of Catania, (2010)

Appointments

University of Essex

• Lecturer, Law Scool, University of Essex (2/1/2020 - 30/9/2023)

• Senior Lecturer, Law School, University of Essex (1/10/2023 - present)

Other academic

• Visiting Fellow, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford (1/9/2019 - present)

• Junior Research Fellow, St Peter's College (1/9/2019 - 30/8/2020)

• Departmental Lecturer, University of Oxford (1/10/2017 - 31/8/2019)

• Teaching Assistant, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (1/9/2012 - 30/9/2017)

• Visiting Researcher, Law School, Harvard University (1/2/2016 - 31/1/2017)

• Visiting Lecturer, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (1/9/2018 - 31/8/2020)