Janina is the Dame Louise Richardson Chair in Global Security at the Blavatnik School of Government. She is a Fellow at Trinity College and Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict (ELAC).

She is an expert on international law on the use of force and on global security. Her work is published in leading journals of international law and political science. Her research currently spans three streams. 

First, she writes about the legal requirements for the conduct of military operations, speaking to debates International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and general international law. 

Second, she investigates how moral and legal norms affect the reality of war. She examines the capacity of law to constrain military decision-making, how norms shape public opinion and the attitudes of conflict-affected populations in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iraq and elsewhere. 

Third, Janina investigates why we need the rule of law in international relations. What can law do to prevent and constrain war? This work contributes to debates in just war theory and jurisprudence.

Prior to joining the Blavatnik School of Government, Janina was an Assistant Professor at the London School of Economics, from 2015-2017. From 2017-2023, she was the John G. Winant Professor (Associate until 2022) at the Department of Politics and IR at the University of Oxford and Nuffield College. 

Janina frequently briefs governments and international organizations, and speaks about international law and global security to global media. Please see her Media page for details. She is currently co-leading an expert process co-organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) regarding the concept of military objective under IHL.

Janina’s work has won several awards, including in 2021, a Philip Leverhulme Prize for researchers "whose work has had international impact and whose future research career is exceptionally promising." She is currently a Global Advisor to the Annual Committee of the American Society of International Law (ASIL), a member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationales Recht (DGIR) and of the European Nuclear Study Group.