Robert McLaughlin

About/Bio

Rob McLaughlin is Professor of Military and Security Law at the University of NSW (Canberra) and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University College of Law. Prior to that, he spent several decades in the Royal Australian Navy as a Seaman officer and a Legal officer, and two years as Head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Maritime Crime Program.

Recently Published

Attribution of Naval Mine Strikes in International Law

On Thursday, June 13, two ships were damaged within forty-five minutes by (current evidence suggests) limpet mines, while transiting the Gulf of Oman at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. The Japanese product tanker, Kokuka Courageous sustained damage from either a limpet mine or a projectile, just as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Iranian Supreme Leader…

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The Legal Status and Characterisation of Maritime Militia Vessels

A recent report has described how Royal Australian Navy helicopter pilots were targeted with lasers during a night flight in the South China Sea. The lasers were allegedly directed from Chinese fishing vessels – the primary cadre from which the so-called Chinese ‘maritime militia’ is drawn. Further, the incident occurred - according to another report -…

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