The Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) is a research programme hosted by the Blavatnik School of Government.

Programme overview

The Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) is an interdisciplinary research programme that aims to strengthen law, norms and institutions to restrain, regulate and prevent armed conflict. ELAC seeks to develop a sophisticated framework of rules and stronger forms of international authority relating to armed conflict. Research activity addresses all aspects of armed conflict, including the recourse to war, the conduct of war, and post-conflict governance, transition and reconstruction.

About the programme

As part of this mission, ELAC recently established a Programme on International Peace and Security which aims to provide a space for research on the critical challenges facing the various international law and policy-making institutions affecting the maintenance and enforcement of international peace and security. Its research and programmatic activities will encompass elements of foreign, public policy, and security studies, as well as elements of related legal fields such as the law of international organisations, the law of armed conflict, but also international human rights law, and international criminal law. As necessary, the program will also engage regional bodies and institutions dealing with the same subjects, as well as domestic institutions with competence on foreign relations, the powers to conduct wars and covert action, as well as other relevant fields.

Founded at the Oxford Martin School and previously housed within the University of Oxford's Department of Politics and International Relations, the Institute is now hosted by the Blavatnik School of Government and retains links with both the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Philosophy.

Publications

Recent publications by the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict