Contact
Expertise Summary
Victor Kattan is Assistant Professor in Public International Law at the University of Nottingham School of Law.
Victor obtained his LL.B. from Brunel University London with Honours, his LL.M from the University of Leiden School of Law, and his Ph.D in international law from the School of Law at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, where he was awarded a scholarship from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Victor is a member of the Editorial Board of the Asian Journal of International Law and is Area Editor for the Middle East and Islam for Oxford Bibliographies of International Law. He was awarded the inaugural Asian Society of International Law Younger Scholar Prize for the best article published in the Asian Journal of International Law.
Victor is the author of one monograph, four edited books, and more than thirty single authored articles that have been published in peer reviewed journals. These include publications in Political Geography, the Melbourne Journal of International Law, the American Journal of International Law, the Leiden Journal of International Law, the Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, the Asian Journal of International Law, and the Journal of the History of International Law. He has also published widely on social media, including scholarly blogs, such as EJIL: Talk! and Opinio Juris. His scholarship has been cited by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), states in advisory proceedings before the ICJ, Special Rapporteurs to the UN Human Rights Council, the Congressional Research Service, and leading academics.
Victor's recent publications include an edited book with Brian Cuddy, titled Making Endless War: The Vietnam and Arab-Israeli Conflicts in the History of International Law (Michigan University Press, 2023). His also the editor with Amit Ranjan of The Breakup of India and Palestine: The Causes and Legacies of Partition (Manchester University Press, 2023).
In addition to his scholarly work, Victor has published op-eds in newspapers, including Ha'aretz, the South China Morning Post, The Straits Times, the Guardian, the LA Times, and Arab News. He has appeared on television, including ABC, Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Arabic, and Al Jazeera Balkans, Bloomberg, the BBC, Channel News Asia, CNBC Asia, and CNN. He has also been interviewed on radio, including the BBC World Service, BBC Radio Scotland, and BBC Radio Nottingham.
Victor joined the School of Law at Nottingham University in July 2020 from Southeast Asia where he was based for several years at the School of Law and the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore. He moved to Singapore from Jerusalem where had been legal adviser to the Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Department in Ramallah on secondment from the United Nations Development Program. In that capacity, he advised the Palestinian leadership on treaty accession when it was conferred observer statehood by the UN General Assembly.
Victor is the recipient of numerous academic awards and grants, including an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant to complete a PhD, two postdoctoral awards at NUS Law, and the highly competitive Nottingham Research Fellowship. At the NUS Middle East Institute he was the Head of the Transsystemic Law Research Cluster in which he oversaw an annual research budget and organized four major international conferences.
Throughout his academic career Victor has acted as a research consultant for several organizations and has written reports for the European Council of Foreign Relations, the Oxford Research Group, the Human Sciences Research Council, and a number of governments. He is an associate member of Temple Garden Chambers in London.
Victor's expertise encompasses the legal aspects of territorial disputes, the history of international law, including the law of the United Nations, international humanitarian law, and the use of force.
Teaching Summary
Victor is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). He is the LLM Specialism Convenor in International Law and Public International Law. Victor teaches on the LLB in Public Law and Public… read more
Research Summary
Victor is writing a book on apartheid as a crime against humanity for Oxford University Press. He welcomes applications from students wishing to pursue their doctorates in the areas of public… read more
Selected Publications
Victor is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). He is the LLM Specialism Convenor in International Law and Public International Law. Victor teaches on the LLB in Public Law and Public International Law and is the convener of the LLM course Principles of Public International Law.
At the National University of Singapore, Victor was the convener of the course on The Use of Force in International Law. At Yale-NUS College, Victor was the convener of the course on Law, War, and Peace in the Middle East.
At the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Victor was a tutor on the postgraduate course in Public International Law at the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy.