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Dr Francis Grimal

Reader in Law

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Dr Francis Grimal, Lecturer in Law at The University of Buckingham, top UK university for student satisfactionLLB (Hons) (Nottingham), LLM (Reading), PhD (Reading)
Reader in Public International Law

Dr Grimal completed his doctorate in International Law at the University of Reading in 2009, and he is a member of the Committee of the International Law Association’s British Branch on Nuclear Weapons, Non-Proliferation and Contemporary International Law. His research interests include threats of force, use of force, self-defence, cyber warfare, UAV / combat drones, nuclear non-proliferation, international humanitarian law, artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons. Dr Grimal has published in North American and European international law journals.

Dr Grimal is Co-Editor-in-Chief for the JUFIL – Journal on the Use of Force and International Law. The Journal on the Use of Force and International Law (JUFIL) is a peer reviewed journal covering all aspects of the law governing the use of force (jus ad bellum), as distinct from other related areas of international law. Please click here to see the Advisory & Editorial Board.

Publications:

Sole Authored Books

  • Threats of Force: International Law and Strategy (Abingdon: Routledge, 2012)

Major Articles

  • Concurrent application and artificially intelligent target selection. Journal on the Use of Force and International Law, (2024) 1–22 (co-authored with Michael Pollard)
  • Embodied artificial intelligence and jus ad bellum necessity: Influence and imminence in the digital age Georgetown Journal of International Law, 53(2), pp. 209-275 (2022) (co-authored with Michael Pollard)
  • The Duty to Take Precautions in Hostilities, and the Disobeying of Orders: Should Robots Refuse?”, Fordham International Law Journal 44 (3), pp. 671-734 (2021) (co-authored with Michael Pollard).
  • “Embodied AI” and the Direct Participation in Hostilities: a Legal Analysis”, Georgetown Journal of International Law 51(3), pp. 513-564 (2020) (co-authored with Michael Pollard).
  • “The Incremental Militarization of Outer Space: A Threshold Analysis.”, Chinese Journal of International Law, 17(1), pp.45-72 (2018) (co-authored with Jae Sundaram)
  • “Combat Drones: Hives, Swarms, and Autonomous Action?.”, Journal of Conflict and Security Law, 23(1), pp.105-135 (2018) (co-authored with Jae Sundaram)
  • “Cyber warfare and autonomous self-defence” Vol 4, (2017), 314-343  Journal on the Use of Force and International Law (co-authored with Jae Sundaram)
  • “Missile defence shields: Automated & anticipatory self-defence?”, Journal of Conflict and Security Law 19.2 (Summer 2014), 317-339.
  • “The protection of nationals abroad: lawfulness or toleration? A commentary”, Journal of Conflict and Security Law 16(3) (2011), 541-554 (co-authored with Graham Melling).
  • “British action in Libya 2011: The lawful protection of nationals abroad?”, Denning Law Journal 23 (2011), 165-177 (co-authored with Graham Melling).
  • “The threat of force as an action in self-defense under international law”, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 44 (2011), 285-329 (co-authored with James A. Green). 

Chapters in Edited Books

  • “Jus ad bellum: Nuclear weapons and the inherent right of self-defence” in Nuclear Weapons, Non-Proliferation & Contemporary International Law: Essays and Commentaries Volume II: General Issues (The Hague: Asser Press, 2015), 337-350. Read more in our Publication of the week section (9 Nov 2015).

Editorial Comment

Blog Comment

Book Reviews

  • Review of Jackson Maogoto, Technology and the Law on the Use of Force (Routledge, 2015), Journal on the Use of Force and International Law 3.1 (2016), 177-184; co-authored with James A. Green.

Conference Papers

  • Discussant at the International Law Association’s British Branch on Nuclear Weapons, Non-Proliferation and Contemporary International Law ‘Round Table 3’ on International Law, Nuclear Energy, and Nuclear Weapons in London, 15 February 2013.
  • Discussant at the International Law Association’s British Branch on Nuclear Weapons, Non-Proliferation and Contemporary International Law ‘Round Table 1’ on International Law, Nuclear Energy, and Nuclear Weapons in Brighton, 10 April 2010.
  • “Threats of Force and Iran’s Nuclear Programme” presented at Oxford Brookes University, 12 December 2007.

Selected Publications

  • Francis Grimal & Graham Melling, “British action in Libya 2011: the lawful protection of nationals abroad?”
  • James Green & Francis Grimal, “The threat of force as an action in self-defense under international law”
  • Francis Grimal & Graham Melling, “The protection of nationals abroad: lawfulness or toleration? A commentary”
  • Francis Grimal, Threats of Force: International Law and Strategy
  • Francis Grimal, “Missile Defence Shields: Automated and Anticipatory Self-Defence?”, Journal of Conflict and Security Law 19.2 (2014), 317-339
  • Francis Grimal, “Jus ad bellum: Nuclear weapons and the inherent right of self-defence”, in Nuclear Weapons, Non-Proliferation & Contemporary International Law: Essays and Commentaries Volume II: General Issues (The Hague: Asser Press, 2015), 337-350
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