dr. Ville Kari

Bio

I am a scholar of international law and legal history. I have three law degrees from the University of Helsinki as well as the title of varatuomari, trained on the bench of the judiciary.

Prior to my current position at Tilburg University, I was part of the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights, and remain an affiliated fellow with the ECI. I have also been a visiting fellow at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Sciences Po Paris, University of Melbourne, and the University of Cambridge.

Besides my academic work, I am a rapporteur for the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat at the annual Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings. In the past I have also worked at a district court, a public prosecutor's office, the European Parliament, and in legal publishing.

Expertise

• Public international law
• History of international law
  • Classical law of civil war
  • Prize law, claims commissions and arbitrations
  • Empire and international law
  • Property and international law
• Law of the sea
• Antarctic law
• Comparative law (previously)

Teaching

I am primarily responsible for teaching the history and theory of international law at Tilburg Law School, and I am currently working on an academic textbook on the subject. All my current teaching contributes to the text.

Overall, I seek to teach living international law through its history, instead of framing history as a separate aspect of international law. I therefore try to emphasise the use of cases, treaties, awards and other first hand legal documents to concretely illustrate the practices, skills, argumentation and professional language of international lawyers through the ages.

I hold my office hours on Tuesday afternoons on Zoom. Students will find the link on Canvas; others may request it by email. LL.M. students considering a thesis in the history and theory of international law are warmly welcome to discuss possible topics in advance before making their choice.

Courses

• History and Theory of International Law
• GLB: History of International Law
• GLB: Global Legal History

Recent publications

1. Putinin sota ei kestä kansainvälisen oikeuden valoa

   Kari, V. (2022). Putinin sota ei kestä kansainvälisen oikeuden valoa. Helsingin Sanomat.

2. [Review of the book Contingency in international law: On the possibil…

   Kari, V. (2022). [Review of the book Contingency in international law: On the possibility of different legal histories, Ingo Venzke and Kevin Jon Heller (eds.), 2021]. Journal of the History of International Law, 24(3), 453-458.

3. War in Ukraine - Documents, texts, materials

   Kari, V. (Author). (2022). War in Ukraine: Documents, texts, materials. Web publication/site, Doctors' Commons International. https://www.doctorscommons.com/documents/

4. Doctors' Commons International

   Kari, V. (Author). (2021). Doctors' Commons International. Web publication/site http://www.doctorscommons.com

5. Etelämannersopimuksesta [On the Antarctic Treaty]

   Kari, V. (2020). Etelämannersopimuksesta [On the Antarctic Treaty]. Oikeus, 49(1), 6-23.