Sheila Paylan

About/Bio

Sheila Paylan is a public international law, human rights, and gender expert. She has served more than 15 years as a legal advisor for the United Nations, and regularly consults for a variety of international organizations, NGOs, think tanks, and governments.

Recently Published

Is All Self-Defense Worth Exercising Under International Law? Revisiting the Use of Force in Nagorno-Karabakh from a Human Rights Perspective

The international law of self-defense is a central branch of international law implicating fundamental matters of sovereignty. In the 20th Century, it also became associated with a broader defense of international peace and security, although these are notoriously hard to define. The jus contra bellum has emerged as premised on a simultaneously complex yet simple idea: states must…

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