Patryk I. Labuda

I am an assistant professor of international law and international relations at Central European University in Vienna. I was previously an assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam, and have held positions at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, New York University School of Law, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, University of Zurich, Polish Academy of Sciences, and Free University of Berlin.

Specialized in international (criminal) law, peace and security studies, and global history, I have two main strands of research: 1) the impact of global governance institutions, especially international criminal tribunals and UN peace operations, on domestic law and politics; 2) double standards in international law and Second World approaches to international law, which inform my work on shifts in the global order from a post-colonial Global South-East(ern European) perspective. In the policy realm, I support justice initiatives and promote exchanges between the Global South(s) and Global East(s), drawing on 14 years of work and research experience in Africa (with a regional focus on the law, politics and history of DR Congo, Central African Republic, and the Sudans). 

In 2024, I was elected to a four-year term on the Board of the European Society of International Law.

Je travaille en français et en anglais. Wykładam po polsku. 

Photo credit: International Nuremberg Principles Academy 2017

In addition to an award-winning book with Oxford University Press, my work has featured in the Yale Journal of International Law, Leiden Journal of International Law, European Journal of International Law, Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, Journal of International Criminal Justice, Journal of Conflict and Security Law, Journal on the Use of Force and International Law, and leading academic presses (here). A regular contributor to mainstream and social media, I have written nearly fifty posts, newspaper articles and shorter pieces, in addition to recording various podcasts (here). 

Follow my work on X (former Twitter).

TwitterLinkedIn

Al Jazeera

Radio France Internationale

Just Security

Justice Info

My book International Criminal Tribunals & Domestic Accountability. In the Court's Shadow (2023) can be ordered at OUP and Amazon

Winner of International Law Association American Branch 'Best First Book Award'.

More on the book's arguments at book project and a few blurbs below:


'deftly exposes the paradox of the increasing turn to domestic prosecutions of international crimes... Labuda’s thoughtful book is a must read for anyone interested in the future of international criminal law.' 

Charles C. Jalloh, Distinguished University Professor, Florida International University


'In offering both broad historical context and fine-grained case study illustration, Labuda expands our understanding of complementarity in both theory and practice. Whatever one's opinion about the appropriate relationship between the International Criminal Court and national judiciaries, this book is an eye-opening and essential read.' 

Kim Thuy Seelinger, Research Associate Professor, Washington University; Special Adviser on Sexual Violence in Conflict to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court


'a timely book...[that] assesses the relocation of the anti-impunity agenda closer to the locus of the crimes at the state level, and interrogates the important role that societal actors have to play in engaging national institutions in pursuing redress and accountability for atrocities. This is a superlative study that needs to be engaged with by analysts, policy-makers and practitioners of international criminal justice.' 

Tim Murithi, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Cape Town, Professor of African Studies, University of the Free State and Stellenbosch University in South Africa

'Labuda’s work is to law what Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro is to the canvas – Labuda illuminates, places candles in the darkness, and reveals what is obscured. This excellent book offers wise counsel about how international criminal law enforcement can combat the increasingly illiberal swagger of our political times.'

Mark A. Drumbl, Class of 1975 Alumni Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University



In Search of Second World Approaches to International Law (SWAIL)

21-22 February 2025, Vienna, Austria


See call for papers (deadline 31 October 2024).

In search of SWAIL - Second World Approaches to International Law. In searching for SWAIL, this project takes as its point of departure that Eastern Europe occupies a liminal space within the discipline of international law. Neither of the ‘core’, nor of the ‘periphery’, the region occupies a liminal, semi-peripheral, and largely invisible mental space, that results in its ‘dual exclusion’ from both mainstream Western and non-Western approaches to international law. In recovering Eastern Europe’s place and role in international law, this project not only aims to develop a more nuanced understanding of international law’s past, present and future, and to unsettle some mainstream and critical narratives that have come to dominate the discipline in the last two decades; it aims also to foster bridges with scholars from other regions and is geared to countering imperialism by addressing epistemic injustice in international law vis-à-vis Eastern Europe.

Part of a larger project on Eastern Europe’s place and role in international law, this first workshop is organized by the Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Law Studies with the generous support of the ‘Memocracy’ project (Volkswagen Stiftung grant no. 120221) and Central European University, Department of International Relations. Please submit an abstract, max. 500 words, and a brief bio to Patryk Labuda (labudap@ceu.edu) and Marek Jan Wasiński (mwasinski@wpia.uni.lodz.pl) by 31 October 2024. Selected participants will be notified by mid-November and will be invited to submit outlines of 1000-2000 words by 31 January 2025. The workshop will allow in-person and virtual attendance. There is a limited budget for travel and accommodation assistance. If you would like to be considered for this funding, please specify that in your email.

Double Standards and International Law 

Second Workshop

15-17 May 2025, Geneva, Switzerland


See call for papers (deadline 15 October 2024, call is now closed).


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