Dr Matthew Gillett
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Email
matthew.gillett@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 872312
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Location
5NW.8.11, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
Dr. Matthew Gillett is an academic and generalist international lawyer with extensive experience before the international courts. In 2022, he was appointed as a United Nations Special Mandate Holder (the Expert from the Western Europe and Others Group in the Human Rights Council's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention). He is currently the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group. For almost 15 years, he worked in international organisations in The Hague (particularly the International Criminal Court ("ICC") and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ("ICTY")), primarily as a Prosecution Trial Attorney and Appeals Counsel. He has also conducted investigations in various conflict zones, including as a Human Rights Officer with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ("UNAMA"). Matthew has published widely on matters relating to international law, peace and security and the environment. His works appear in publications such as the Journal of International Criminal Justice, the Washington University Global Studies Law Review, the International Criminal Law Review, the Criminal Law Forum, the Australian International Law Journal, the Journal of Law and Medicine, and the Yale Journal of International Affairs. His monograph titled "Prosecuting Environmental Harm before the International Criminal Court" was published by Cambridge University Press in June 2022. He has won multiple awards for his academic work, including the Inaugural Benjamin B. Ferencz Essay Competition and the Sherman Emerging Scholar prize. His publications have been cited before international and hybrid courts, including in filings and Decisions of the Colombia Special Jurisdiction for Peace ("Pre-Report on Charging Environmental Damage before the Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz"); the International Criminal Court (e.g. "Collective dislocation; crimes of displacement, property depravation and discrimination under international criminal law", Routledge; "The Call of Justice: Obligations under the Genocide Convention to Cooperate with the International Criminal Court”, CLF) and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (e.g. "Fast-Track Justice", JICJ; "The Special Tribunal for Lebanon Swiftly Adopts Its Rules of Procedure and Evidence", JICJ); see also International Court of Justice Bibliography no. 62 ("Prosecuting Environmental Harm before the International Criminal Court"). Matthew has led and participated in a range of projects, including inter-disciplinary work on hate speech (which resulted in the Hartford Guidelines on Speech Crimes), assisting the International Crimes Division of Uganda, assisting the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia, and training prosecutors in Kenya. His work encompasses: International Criminal Law; Human Rights; Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism; Procedure and Evidence; Open-Source investigations; the Environment; International Humanitarian Law; Mediation (as a qualified mediator); Speech Crimes; and Aggression. From February 2022 to February 2024, Matthew is the Principal Investigator on an AHRC research grant funded project titled: Legal, Human Rights, Cultural and Environmental aspects of founding a Biocultural Indigenous University in the Andean Amazon of Colombia. In December 2022, he served as a Ph.D. jury member for Sciences Po, Institut d’études politiques, France.
Qualifications
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PhD Leiden University,
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LL.M University of Michigan–Ann Arbor,
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LL.B University of Otago,
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B.A. (political science) University of Otago,
Appointments
University of Essex
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Senior Lecturer, Law School, University of Essex (27/9/2021 - present)
Other academic
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Senior Professional Practice Fellow, Law School, University of Otago (31/12/2022 - 10/2/2023)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Environmental Law
International Criminal Law
Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism
Conferences and presentations
Digital information and evidentiary epistemology
Invited presentation, European Society of International Law Annual Conference 2024, European Society of International Law, Vilnius, 5/9/2024
Denial of Statehood as a Indictor of Genocidal Intent
Invited presentation, 'Legal and Social Consequences of Crimes of International Law in Ukraine', 14/12/2023
Enforcing ecocide: how to prosecute environmental harm under international criminal law
Invited presentation, PROSECUTING ECOCIDE: PROSPECTS FOR ENFORCEMENT NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY, Madrid, Spain, 29/11/2023
Environmental Harm under the Draft Crimes Against Humanity Convention
Invited presentation, International Law Association ILW2023, International Law Weekend, 20/10/2023
Ecocide in the Anthropocentric Era
Invited presentation, University of Otago Bioethics Centre, 2/10/2023
SPEECH CRIMES IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Keynote presentation, International Law Presentation, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 13/7/2023
Reconciling Human Rights Fact Finding and Adjudication
Invited presentation, University of Essex Human Rights Centre 40th Anniversary, 8/7/2023
Prosecuting crimes in Ukraine before the International Criminal Court
Invited presentation, Bringing Justice for Ukraine, Crime of Aggression, War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity, Genocide, Poland, 19/5/2023
Ecocide: Prospects and Pitfalls
Invited presentation, Conference of the Bureau of International Crimes, Conference of the Bureau of International Crimes, Netherlands, 21/4/2023
Ecocide: Past, Present and Future
Keynote presentation, Asser Institute: Environmental Protection under International Law, Environmental Protection under International Law, The Hague, 14/12/2022
SPEECH CRIMES UNDER INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW
Invited presentation, Mnemonic Conference on Documenting International Crimes and Human Rights Violations, 2/12/2022
Child witnesses and victims of war
Keynote presentation, Barnahus workshop, 12/10/2022
Fact-finding and evidence of environmental harm in international criminal justice
Invited presentation, Enhancing Environmental Protection in Armed Conflicts, Ferrara, Italy, 19/9/2022
Workshop on Environmental Law and International Justice
Invited presentation, American University of Paris, 9/6/2022
Session 1: The situation in Ukraine
Invited presentation, War Crimes Committee Conference, 9/5/2022
Investigating Human Rights and Arbitrary Detention
Keynote presentation, United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) Workshop on Serious Crimes, Human Rights and Arbitrary Detention, 24/11/2021
Gender and Early Warning of Genocide
Invited presentation, Adjudicating Gender-Based Persecution at the ICC and Beyond - Northumbria, Adjudicating Gender-Based Persecution at the ICC & Beyond: A Monumental Step and the Challenges that Lie Ahead Conference, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, 7/10/2021
Environmental crimes and ICC jurisdiction
Invited presentation, IBA War Crimes Committee, 17/5/2021
Challenges to Prosecuting Paramilitaries: Insights from the former Yugoslavia and Syria
Invited presentation, Asser Institute Webinar, 3/6/2020
The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia with respect to the Crime of Genocide
Invited presentation, IX Ibero-American Week of International Justice, 3/6/2019
Report on Crime of Starvation
Invited presentation, IBA Conference 2019, 13/4/2019
Proof and Privacy in the Digital Age: The Use of Digitally-Derived Evidence at the International Criminal Court
Invited presentation, 8th Annual Cambridge International Law Conference, 20/3/2019
Proving the intentional destruction of cultural heritage in armed conflict and situations of forcible displacement
Invited presentation, Protecting Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict and Situations of Forcible Displacement: An (Emerging) Human Right?, 2/3/2019
The Role of the ICCBA in Supporting and Enhancing Positive Complementarity
Invited presentation, ICC Assembly of State Parties, 11/12/2018
Criminal Prosecutions and Accountability
Invited presentation, Human Rights, Transitional Justice, and Environmental Protection, 18/7/2018
Prosecuting Environmental Harm from Military Attacks, Illegal Exploitation of Species, and Toxic Dumping
Invited presentation, The International Criminal Responsibility of War’s Funders and Profiteers, 24/6/2017
Forcible displacement: law and evidence
Invited presentation, American Society of International Law Annual Conference, 10/4/2015
Atrocity and Accountability: the Impact of International Criminal Tribunals on Peacemaking and Reconciliation
Keynote presentation, Sherman Award Keynote Speech, 3/10/2013
Accountability for Aggression Under International Criminal Law
Invited presentation, 21ST ANNUAL ANZSIL CONFERENCE, 5/7/2013
Prosecuting environmental damage under international criminal law
Invited presentation, 4th Biennial Conference of the European Society of International Law, 3/9/2010
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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Human Rights Clinic (HU902)
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Law: War and Justice (LW219)
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Current Challenges in the Law of Armed Conflict (LW804)
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International Criminal Law 2: Advocacy and Litigation (LW809)
Publications
Journal articles (16)
Gillett, M. and Fan, W., (2024). Expert Evidence and Digital Open-Source Information: Bringing Online Evidence to the Courtroom (Dec 2023). Journal of International Criminal Justice. 21 (4), 661-693
Gillett, M., (2024). Reconciling the Dual-Faceted Mandates of Quasi-Judicial Human Rights Bodies: the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s Prima Facie Approach to Evidence. Human Rights Law Review. 24 (1), ngad045-
Gillett, M., (2023). Criminalizing Reprisals Against the Natural Environment. International Review of the Red Cross. 105 (924), 1463-1496
Gillett, M., (2023). Fact-Finding Without Rules: Habermas’s communicative rationality as a framework for judicial assessments of digital open-source information. Michigan Journal of International Law. 44 (3), 301-348
D’Alessandra, F. and Gillett, M., (2019). The War Crime of Starvation in Non-International Armed Conflict. Journal of International Criminal Justice. 17 (4), 815-847
Gillett, M. and Lostal, M., (2017). “Reflexiones Sobre el Caso Prlić et al.”. En Letra: Derecho Penal. 3 (5)
Gillett, M., (2017). Testing the Limits of the Law Against Those Who Test the Tribunal’s Limits. Journal of International Criminal Justice. 15 (4), 775-797
Gillett, M. and Ventura, M., (2014). “The Fog of War: Prosecuting Illegal Uses of Force as Crimes Against Humanity” (Winner of Inaugural Benjamin B. Ferencz Writing Prize 2012). Washington University Global Studies Law Review
Gillett, M., (2013). The Anatomy of an International Crime: Aggression at the International Criminal Court. International Criminal Law Review. 13 (4), 829-864
Gillett, M., (2012). The Call of Justice: Obligations Under the Genocide Convention to Cooperate with the International Criminal Court. Criminal Law Forum. 23 (1-3), 63-96
Gillett, M. and Schuster, M., (2011). Fast-track Justice: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon Defines Terrorism. Journal of International Criminal Justice. 9 (5), 989-1020
Gillett, M., (2010). “Victim Participation at the International Criminal Court”. Australian International Law Journal
Gillett, M. and Schuster, M., (2009). The Special Tribunal for Lebanon Swiftly Adopts Its Rules of Procedure and Evidence. Journal of International Criminal Justice. 7 (5), 885-909
Gillett, M., (2008). “Assisted Arrest: Ending Impunity at the ICC”. Yale Journal of International Affairs
Gillett, M. and Gillett, G., (2008). “Intent, the Ethos of a Caring Society and Justice”. Journal of Law and Medicine. 16 (2), 209-215
Gillett, M., (2003). “Analysing America’s War on Terrorism: Preemptive Self-Defence in International Law”. New Zealand Students’ Law Journal
Books (2)
Gillett, M., Grunfeld, K. and Ramuš Cvetkovič, I., (2025). Lex Ad Astra: Non-State Actor Accountability for Space Pollution. Brill. 978-90-04-72461-7
Gillett, M., (2022). Prosecuting Environmental Harm before the International Criminal Court. Cambridge University Press. 9781009070027
Book chapters (9)
Gillett, M., “Article 7(1)(b): Extermination”. In: Commentary on the Law of the International Criminal Court, (“Klamberg Commentary”). Case Matrix Network
Gillett, M., (2022). Animals in Protected Zones (part of Winner of European Society of International Law 2023 Collaborative Book Prize). In: Animals in the International Law of Armed Conflict. Editors: Peters, A., de Hemptinne, J. and Kolb, R., . Cambridge University Press. 9781316512043
(2018). Armed Conflict and Forcible Displacement. In: Armed Conflict and Forcible Displacement: Individual Rights under International Law. Editors: Proukaki, EK., . Routledge. 221- 244
Gillett, M., (2017). “Chapter 10: Eco-struggles: using international criminal law to protect the environment during and after non-international armed conflict”. In: Environmental Protection and Transitions from Conflict to Peace Clarifying Norms, Principles, and Practices. Oxford University Press. 0191087580. 9780191087585
Gillett, M., (2017). “Chapter 8: Collective Dislocation: Crimes of Displacement, Property-Deprivation and Discrimination under International Criminal Law”. In: International Law and the Rights of those Displaced by Armed Conflict
Gillett, M., (2017). Eco-Struggles. In: Environmental Protection and Transitions from Conflict to Peace. Oxford University PressOxford. 220- 254. 0198784635
Gillett, M., (2013). “Chapter 6: Environmental damage and international criminal law”. In: Securing the Rights of Future Generations: Sustainable Development and the International Criminal Law Regime in Practice
Gillett, M., (2013). Environmental Damage and International Criminal Law. In: Sustainable Development, International Criminal Justice, and Treaty Implementation. Cambridge University Press. 73- 99. 9781107032934
Gillett, M., (2012). “Prosecuting Environmental Damage under International Criminal Law”. In: Selected Proceedings of 2010 European Society of International Law Conference in Cambridge. 329- 338
Conferences (1)
Gillett, M., Ecocide: the prospects and pitfalls of prosecuting environmental harm under international criminal law
Reports and Papers (7)
Gillett, M., International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia: Manual on Developed Practices
Gillett, M., Environmental Harm as a Crime under the Rome Statute
Gillett, M., Situation in Ukraine: Hate Speech as the Crime Against Humanity of Persecution
Gillett, M. and Garahan, S., (2023). Written Evidence by Dr Sabina Garahan and Dr Matthew Gillett (IMB0015) on UK Illegal Migration Bill
Gillett, M., González Morales, F., Ashwini, KP., Obokata, T., Edwards, AJ. and Mullally, S., (2023). Joint Letter by United Nations Special Procedures concerning UK Illegal Migration Bill
Gillett, M., (2018). The Peace and Justice Initiative: submission on Speech Crimes for the Crimes Against Humanity Convention
Gillett, M. and Wilson, R., (2017). The Hartford Guidelines on Speech Crimes in International Criminal Law
Other (7)
Gillett, M., « Le travail du Bureau du Procureur devant les Tribunaux pénaux internationaux »,Institut International de Recherche sur la Conflictualité
Gillett, M., (2023).A Tale of Two Definitions: Fortifying Four Key Elements of the Proposed Crime of Ecocide - Opinio Juris,Opinio Juris
Gillett, M., (2023).The Kakhovka Dam and Ecocide,Verfassungsblog of International Law
Gillett, M., (2022).Redress for environmental destruction: is it time for an International Court for the Environment (ICE)?,FIFTEEN EIGHTY FOUR Academic perspectives from Cambridge University Press
Gillett, M., (2014).Has the Pre-Trial Chamber jeopardized the Gbagbo trial at the International Criminal Court?,Beyond the Hague
Gillett, M., (2007).“Intrepid Justice: Prosecutorial Discretion at the International Criminal Court”. New Zealand International Review
Gillett, M., (2007).““International Law Issues in the South Pacific” edited by Geoff Leane and Barbara von Tigerstrom (Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2005)”, (Book Review). New Zealand International Review
Grants and funding
2024
Crimes against cultural heritage in the Colombian conflict context
Instituto Colombo-Alem�n para la Paz (CAPAZ)
2023
Speech crimes in international criminal law - updating the Hartford guidelines
Peace and Justice Initiatve
Human Rights Fact-finding: determining the misuse of arbitrary detention against migrants and environmental defenders
University of Essex (QR Impact Fund)
2022
Legal, Human Rights, Cultural and Environmental aspects of founding a Biocultural Indigenous University in the Andean Amazon of Colombia
Arts and Humanities Research Council
