Associate Professor
Imogen Saunders
Associate Professor
LLB (Hons) BSc PhD

Dr Imogen Saunders is a leading international law researcher. Her work has been published in field leading journals such as the American Journal of International Law, the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law and the Australian Yearbook of International Law. Her monograph on General Principles of Law as a source of international law (Article 38(1)(c) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice) is now out with Hart. Imogen is part of the three institution Backlashes Against International Law research collaboration. As well as the Backlash project, Imogen is currently working on projects on COVID-19 and international law and the history of women in international law.

Imogen completed her undergraduate degrees in law and science at the University of Western Australia, and was awarded her PhD from the Australian National University in 2013. She teaches international law and international trade law in the LLB/JD and LLM programs. She is currently the Director of the Centre for International and Public Law at the ANU College of Law.

Appointments

  • Director, Centre for International and Public Law, ANU College of Law.
  • Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, 2020
  • Senior Lecturer, ANU College of Law, 2018
  • Lecturer, ANU College of Law, 2013
  • Associate Lecturer, ANU College of Law, 2012

Significant research publications

View more publications on the ANU Researchers website

Link to ANU researchers profile

Related websites

SSRN Researchers page

View more publications on the ANU Researchers website

Link to ANU researchers profile

Research biography

Dr Imogen Saunders is an international law researcher with a strong international record of scholarship that addresses sources of international law, contemporary issues of international law (including the application of international law in new and emerging areas) and the history of international law. Her research draws on doctrinal analysis and archival work. She is currently working on projects on backlashes against international law, COVID-19 and international law and the history of women in international law.

Research projects & collaborations

  • Navigating the Backlash against Global Law and Institutions - a collaberation between the Australian National University, the University of Maryland and Indiana University.
  • COVID-19 and International Law - an ANU research collaberation.

Books & edited collections

Refereed journal articles

Book chapters

  • ‘Sarah Wambaugh – Life at the Frontiers of International Law’ in Tallgren, Immi (ed), Portraits of Women in International Law: New Names and Forgotten Faces? (Oxford University Press, under contract, forthcoming end of 2021)
  • 'The Limits of the Natural State Doctrine: Rocks, islands and artificial intervention in a changing world' in Donald R. Rothwell and David Letts (eds), Law of the Sea in South East Asia: Environmental, Navigational and Security Challenges (Routledge, 2019)
  • 'General principles of law and a source-based approach to the regulation of international security institutions’ in Hitoshi Nasu and Kim Rubenstein (eds), Legal Perspectives on Security Institutions (Cambridge University Press, 2015).
  • 'International disaster relief law and Article 38(1)(c) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice: the forgotten source of international law' in David Caron, Michael Kelly and Anastasia Telesetky (eds), The International Law of Disaster Relief (Cambridge University Press, July 2014)

Conference papers & presentations

  • 'The Pandemic Paradox in International Law' (ANU Webinar with H Charlesworth, J Farrall and A Roberts, October 2020)
  • ‘Backlashes to the International Rules Based Order in Space’ delivered at Navigating the Backlash against Global Law and Institutions (ANU Global Research Partnerships Scheme Workshop between ANU, University of Indiana and the University of Maryland) Indiana University, 15 October 2019
  • ‘When is an island not an island? Territory in the South China Sea – Rocks, Islands and Artificial Islands’ ANU Centre for Military and Security Law Conference, The Law of the Sea in the Asia Pacific Region: Opportunities, Threats and Challenges, Canberra, August 2017
  • 'Territoriality and international law: Implications for the East China Sea' Inaugural joint Australian National University and Korean Association of the Law of the Sea workshop: Maritime delimitation, islands, security and dispute settlement: Korean and Australian perspectives on contemporary issues in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, Canberra, May 2016
  • 'General Principles of Law from 1875 to 1920 and beyond: tracing a legacy of war and peace through the development of the third source of international law.' Paper presented, Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law 22nd Conference: Towards International Peace through International Law, Canberra, July 2014
  • 'General Principles of Law and Disaster Risk Reduction: Applying Source Theory to International Disaster Relief Law' Paper written and Presented, Four Societies of International Law Conference, University of California, Berkeley, September 2012

Case notes & book reviews

Other

PhD supervision

Dr Imogen Saunders is available to supervise PhD students in the area of public international law.

Current courses

YearCourse codeCourse name
2023

LAWS4264

Class #4101

Advanced International Law
2023

LAWS2250

Class #5147

International Law
2023

LAWS6250

Class #5432

International Law
2023

LAWS4302

Class #7152

International Law Clinic
2023

LAWS6302

Class #7153

International Law Clinic
2023

LAWS8229

Class #4124

International Trade Law
2023

LAWS4226

Class #4123

International Trade Law

Previous courses

YearCourse codeCourse name
2021

LAWS2250

Class #5210

International Law
2021

LAWS6250

Class #5545

International Law
2021

LAWS4302

Class #7231

International Law Clinic
2021

LAWS6302

Class #7222

International Law Clinic
2021

LAWS4226

Class #4280

International Trade Law
2020

LAWS4010

Class #1418

Jessup Moot
2021

LAWS8229

Class #3550

International Law of World Trade
2019

LAWS8182

Class #1689

Principles of International Law
2020

LAWS6010

Class #1426

Jessup Moot

Past courses

  • Convener, International Law (LLB/JD)
  • Convener, International Law Clinic (LLB/JD)
  • Convener, International Trade Law (LLB/JD)
  • Convener, International Trade Law (LLM)
  • Convener, Priniciples of International Law (LLM)
  • Co-Convener, Property Law (LLB/JD)
  • Faculty Adviser, Phillip C Jessup Moot Competition (LLB/JD)

How my works connects with public policy

I regularly publish commentary on international law and public policy. Recent publications include:

Imogen Saunders

Research themes

International Law

Contacts

imogen.saunders@anu.edu.au
ANU College of Law, Bld 5, Fellows Rd, Acton ACT 2600