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Macquarie Law School

Academic Staff

Dr Alexander Zahar

Position: Senior Lecturer and Director of Postgraduate Coursework Programs
Tel: +612 9850 7077
Fax: +612 9850 7686
Email: alexander.zahar@mq.edu.au
Location: W3A 441

Profile

Alexander Zahar grew up in Athens, Greece. He completed his undergraduate studies, in Philosophy, in New Zealand, and his PhD, in Philosophy of Science, at University College London while on a British Council Commonwealth Scholarship. In Sydney, he worked at the Legal Aid Commission and the Department of Juvenile Justice, during which time he completed his LLB. He joined the United Nations as a lawyer, first at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and from 2003 to 2007 at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. In 2008-2010 he was Lecturer in Law at Griffith Law School. He joined Macquarie Law School as a Senior Lecturer in 2011.

Dr Zahar's research interests are in international climate change law, and in particular in the operation of the Clean Development Mechanism.  He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the international, peer-reviewed, journal Climate Law.  His most recent book, Australian Climate Law in Global Context (co-authored with Lee Godden and Jacqueline Peel), was published by Cambridge University Press in 2012.

Dr Zahar maintains strong links with The Hague, where he is helping the former Bosnian-Serb leader, Dr Radovan Karadzic, run his defence case; and with Bonn, where he serves as an Expert Reviewer of greenhouse gas inventories submitted by states pursuant to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

Qualifications

B.A. (Hons), LL.B. (NSW) , Ph.D. (UCL), Prof. Cert. Arbitration (U. Adel.)

Teaching Responsibilities 

Research Interests

  • International environmental law, in particular climate change law
  • Expert review of national greenhouse gas inventories and National Communications
  • State compliance under the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol
  • Operation of the Clean Development Mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region
  • International criminal law and international criminal defence
  • Laws of war
  • Human rights in criminal proceedings

Academic Journals

Dr Zahar is founder and editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal Climate Law.

Flyer with more information on Climate Law.

Articles for publication in the journal should be submitted directly to Dr Alexander Zahar by email.

Other Academic and Professional Activities

  • Greenhouse Gas Inventory Review Expert (UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol), with a specialisation in the Energy sector
  • Member of the defence team of Dr Radovan Karadzic (a defendant before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia)


Publications

Several of Dr Zahar's publications, including some not listed below, can be obtained from his SSRN site

Books and Monographs

  • Alexander Zahar, State Compliance in International Climate Change Law (Routledge Advances in Climate Change Research Monograph Series), Abingdon, UK: Routledge, forthcoming.
  • Alexander Zahar, Law and Governance Under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (Routledge Advances in Climate Change Research Monograph Series), Abingdon, UK: Routledge, forthcoming.
  • Alexander Zahar and Göran Sluiter (2008), International Criminal Law: A Critical Introduction, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (xlviii + 530 pp.)
  • Alexander Zahar, Lee Godden, and Jacqueline Peel (2012), Australian Climate Law in Global Context, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (xxxi + 455 pp.)

Edited Collections

  • Bert Swart, Alexander Zahar, and Göran Sluiter (eds) (2011), The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (xx + 550 pp.)

Book Chapters

  • Alexander Zahar and Susan Rohol (2005), 'The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)', in Samuel Totten (ed.), Genocide at the Millennium; Genocide: A Critical Bibliographic Review, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, pp. 209-239.
  • Alexander Zahar (2009), 'Superior Orders' and six other articles, in Antonio Cassese (ed.), The Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 525-27 (and 245-6, 260, 446-8, 514-15, 537-8).
  • Alexander Zahar (2009), 'Perpetrators and Co-Perpetrators of Genocide', in Paola Gaeta (ed.), The United Nations Genocide Convention-A Commentary, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 139-61.
  • Alexander Zahar (2010), 'Witness Memory and the Manufacture of Evidence at the International Criminal Tribunals', in Carsten Stahn and Larissa van den Herik (eds), Future Perspectives on International Criminal Justice, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press/TMC Asser Press, pp. 600-10.
  • Alexander Zahar and Göran Sluiter (2010), 'Genocide Law: An Education in Sentimentalism', in A. Dirk Moses (ed), Genocide, Routledge, 2010 (reprinting of ch. 5 of A. Zahar and G. Sluiter, International Criminal Law: A Critical Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2008).
  • Alexander Zahar (2010), 'The Problem of False Testimony at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda', in André Klip and Göran Sluiter (eds), Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals, Vol. 25: International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda, 2006, Mortsel, Belgium: Intersentia Publishing, pp. 509-22.
  • Alexander Zahar (2011), 'Civilizing Civil War: Writing Morality as Law at the ICTY', in Bert Swart, Alexander Zahar, and Göran Sluiter (eds), The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 469-504.
  • Alexander Zahar (2012), 'The Climate Change Regime', in S. Alam et al., eds, The Routledge Handbook of International Environmental Law, Routledge, pp. 349-373.
  • Nina Jørgensen and Alexander Zahar (2013), 'Deliberation, Dissent, Judgment', in G. Sluiter et al., eds, International Criminal Procedure: Principles and Rules, Oxford University Press (forthcoming).
  • Alexander Zahar (2013), 'Trial Procedure at the British Military Courts, Hong Kong, 1946-1948', in S. Linton, ed., Hong Kong's War Crimes Trials, Oxford University Press (forthcoming).
  • Alexander Zahar (2013), 'Australian Climate Change Law', in C. Carlarne et al., eds, Oxford Handbook of International Climate Change Law, Oxford University Press (forthcoming).
  • Alexander Zahar (2013), 'Pluralism and the Rights of the Accused in International Criminal Proceedings', in E. van Sliedregt, ed., Pluralism v. Harmonization: National Adjudication of International Crimes, Oxford University Press (forthcoming).

Refereed Journal Articles

  • Alexander Zahar (2001), 'Command Responsibility of Civilian Superiors for Genocide', Leiden Journal of International Law, Vol. 14, pp. 591-616.
  • Alexander Zahar (2005), 'The ICTR's "Media" Judgment and the Reinvention of Direct and Public Incitement to Commit Genocide', Criminal Law Forum, Vol. 16, pp. 33-48.
  • Alexander Zahar (2008), 'Legal Aid, Self-Representation, and the Crisis at the Hague Tribunal', Criminal Law Forum, Vol. 19, pp. 241-63.
  • Alexander Zahar (2009), 'International Court and Private Citizen', New Criminal Law Review, Vol. 12, pp. 569-89.
  • Alexander Zahar (2010), 'Does Self-Interest Skew State Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions? A Preliminary Analysis Based on the First Verified Emissions Estimates Under the Kyoto Protocol', Climate Law, Vol. 1, pp. 313-24.
  • Alexander Zahar (2010), 'Verifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Annex I Parties: Methods We Have and Methods We Want', Climate Law, Vol. 1, pp. 409-27.
  • Alexander Zahar (2013), 'International Environmental Institutions', Oxford Bibliographies Online, Oxford University Press (forthcoming).


Book Reviews and Conference Presentations

  • Alexander Zahar (2001), 'Focus on Rwanda [Review of several books on Rwanda and genocide]', Journal of Genocide Research, Vol. 3, pp. 293-300.
  • Alexander Zahar (2009), 'How Judges Think: Strengthening Defence Approaches to Joint Criminal Enterprise and Closing Arguments', Annual Conference of the Defence Bar of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo, 12 December 2009).


Institutional Reports

  • Alexander Zahar, et al. (2011), Report of the Individual Review of the Annual Submission of Sweden Submitted in 2010, UN Doc. FCCC/ARR/2010/SWE, United Nations, March 2011.
  • Alexander Zahar, et al. (2011), Report of the Individual Review of the Annual Submission of Iceland Submitted in 2010, UN Doc. FCCC/ARR/2010/ISL, United Nations, March 2011.
  • Alexander Zahar, et al. (2011), Report of the Individual Review of the Annual Submission of the Netherlands Submitted in 2010, UN Doc. FCCC/ARR/2010/NLD, United Nations, February 2011.
  • Alexander Zahar, et al. (2011), Report of the Individual Review of the Annual Submission of the Czech Republic Submitted in 2010, UN Doc. FCCC/ARR/2010/CZE, United Nations, February 2011.