Our New Visiting Fellow: Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

I have a long association with the Geneva Academy, having worked closely with its MAS in Transitional Justice, taught a summer school programme, and participated in many conferences and events for many years. Having a sabbatical from my University in Spring 2022, created the perfect opportunity to spend more time in Geneva, combining my role as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights with the pursuit of some academic projects. Being a Fellow at the Geneva Academy also gives me the opportunity to connect with colleagues having similar academic interests as well as a number of my Special Rapporteur colleagues who also hold Visiting Fellowships.

I am completing a monograph on the law of occupation focused on the gender dimensions of occupation. I hope to complete this book over the Spring and I can think of no better place to do it than at the Geneva Academy.

Occupation remains a thorny and challenging legal and political practice. My book particularly addresses transformative occupations and the ways in which an exceptional practice (occupation) becomes normalized over time. As a feminist international law scholar, I am particularly aware of the lack of attention paid to women’s experience of occupation in international law scholarship. This book plans to remedy that deficit.

I hope the impact will be to reshape our understanding of the law of occupation from a gender perspective.

I expect to write a great deal, to engage with colleagues, and to have the time to think in a considered way on the complex legal issues my book engages. As Special Rapporteur, I also hope to have the time to engage with colleagues on some of the pressing challenges facing my mandate.