Dr Erin Pobjie
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Email
e.pobjie@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 874899
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Location
4SB.6.18, Colchester Campus
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Academic support hours
Thursdays from 4 - 5pm via Zoom during the Spring Term
Profile
Biography
Dr Erin Pobjie is Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in International Law at Essex Law School, specialising in international peace and security law. Her research examines how international law shapes responses to contemporary security challenges, including the use of force, space security, hybrid threats, and climate and energy security. She is the author of Prohibited Force: The Meaning of ‘Use of Force’ in International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2024), and serves as Co-Rapporteur of the International Law Association’s Committee on the Use of Force. Dr Pobjie also regularly peer-reviews for leading journals, including the American Journal of International Law and the European Journal of International Law. She currently holds the British Academy Global Innovation Fellowship at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin, where she works on legal and strategic responses to emerging threats, with a focus on space security, hybrid operations, and the vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure and energy systems. She is also a Senior Research Affiliate at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law and a Non-Resident Fellow at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, where she contributes to the Space Security Programme. Her career spans academia, international organisations, and legal practice, including work with the International Criminal Court and the United Nations. She regularly engages with policy audiences, presenting her research to governments, defence ministries and international organisations on legal frameworks for emerging security challenges. She is a qualified lawyer admitted to practice in Australia.
Qualifications
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PhD in International Law (summa cum laude) University of Cologne,
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LLM in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Distinction) University of Essex,
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Bachelor of Arts (Development Studies), Bachelor of Laws (Honours) University of Melbourne,
Appointments
University of Essex
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Lecturer (Assistant Professor), School of Law (1/10/2021 - present)
Other academic
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British Academy Global Innovation Fellow (Technology & International Affairs), Center for Climate and Foreign Policy, German Council on Foreign Relations (23/9/2024 - present)
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Fellow, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) (1/1/2024 - present)
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Senior Research Affiliate, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (1/10/2021 - present)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
the use of force by States (jus ad bellum)
outer space security
victims of aggression
international human rights law
international peace and security law
UN collective security
new and emerging technologies and use of force
Current research
Space Security
The meaning of prohibited force in international law
international peace and security law
military uses of outer space
UN collective security framework
Conferences and presentations
Use of force in outer space
Invited presentation, UN Outer Space Conference 2024, Geneva, Switzerland, 10/9/2024
Prohibited Force: the meaning of 'use of force' in international law
International Law and the Regulation of Resort to Force: Exhaustion, Destruction, Rebirth?, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic, 14/9/2023
The meaning of prohibited 'use of force' in international law
Cornell Law School Inter-University Conference, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States, 13/4/2023
Covid-19 as a threat to international peace and security: The role of the UN
Invited presentation, Seminar for senior officers on ‘International security: Military policy and decision making processes within NATO, UN and EU’, 25/2/2021
Victims of aggression
Invited presentation, Aggression and its victims: Exploring recent developments in international law’, NUI Galway, 15/2/2021
Climate change and the UN Security Council
Invited presentation, Joint workshop on climate change and international security, MPIL and German Federal Foreign Office, 3/12/2020
Publications
Publications (1)
Pobjie, E., (2022). The Meaning of Prohibited 'Use of Force' in International Law
Journal articles (1)
Pobjie, E., (2021). COVID-19 and the Scope of the UN Security Council’s Mandate to Address Non-Traditional Threats to International Peace and Security. Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht / Heidelberg Journal of International Law. 81 (1), 117-146
Books (2)
Pobjie, E., (2024). Prohibited Force The Meaning of 'Use of Force' in International Law. Cambridge University Press. 100902289X. 9781009022897
King, E., Letschert, R., Garkawe, S. and Pobjie, E., (2022). Victim Advocacy before the International Criminal Court. Springer. 3030567311. 9783030567316
Book chapters (5)
Pobjie, E., (2024). Military Uses of Outer Space. In: Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Editors: Peters, A., . Oxford University Press
Pobjie, E., Declercq, F. and van Steenberghe, R., (2018). The Israeli Raid against the PLO Headquarters in Tunis – 1985. In: The Use of Force in International Law A Case-Based Approach. Oxford University Press. 395- 402. 019878435X. 9780198784357
Pobjie, E., Declercq, F. and Van Steenberghe, R., (2018). The Killing of Khalil al-Wazir by Israeli Commandos in Tunis—1988. In: The Use of Force in International Law. Editors: Ruys, T., Corten, O. and Hofer, A., . Oxford University Press. 403- 407. 019878435X
Pobjie, E., (2018). Moving Images: A Reflection on the Use of Force by UN Peacekeepers in Haiti. In: The Irish Yearbook of International Law. Editors: de Londras, F. and Mullally, S., . Bloomsbury
Pobjie, E., (2017). Victims of the crime of aggression. In: The Crime of Aggression: A Commentary. Editors: Kreß, C. and Barriga, S., . Cambridge University Press. 816- 860. 9781107015265
Reports and Papers (2)
Pobjie, E., (2024). Понятие запрещенного "применения силы" в международном праве
Pobjie, E. and Azcárate Ortega, A., (2024). Outer Space and Use of Force - Space Security Legal Primer 1
Other (3)
Pobjie, E., (2021).Intervention in Civil Wars Symposium: Beyond Humanitarian Intervention – Human Rights and Jus Ad Bellum,Opinio Juris
Pobjie, E., (2021).The Threat from Outer Space: Russia Tests Kinetic DA-ASAT Weapon,Just Security
Pobjie, E., (2020).Covid-19 as a threat to international peace and security: The role of the UN Security Council in addressing the pandemic,EJIL: Talk!
Grants and funding
2025
International Law Association Committee on the Use of Force: Military Assistance Upon Request
University of Essex (QR Impact Fund)
2024
Global Innovation Fellowship (Technology and International Affairs)
British Academy
Use of Force and the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space.
University of Essex (Research England - PSF)
Non-Resident Consultant: Space security, report authorship & workshop organisation
United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
Contact
Academic support hours:
Thursdays from 4 - 5pm via Zoom during the Spring Term
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