Dr Daley J. Birkett is a Senior Lecturer and Course Director for the Law Coursework Masters programs at Macquarie Law School, overseeing the Master of Laws, Master of International Trade and Commerce Law, and Master of Laws in Corporations, Human Rights and Sustainability courses as well as the Graduate Certificate of Financial Integrity Law.

Daley holds a Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam, an LL.M. (cum laude) from Leiden University, and an LL.B. from Durham University. He is also recognised as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Outside academia, Dr Birkett has twice served as (Senior) Legal Consultant to the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT), advising the International Judges of the Supreme Court Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on international and comparative criminal law, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law.

Daley also serves on the Committee of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL) International Peace and Security Interest Group and the Governing Board of the Foundation for the Development of International Law in Asia (DILA).

Daley's research interests lie in the general area of public international law, with a particular focus on the law and practice of international(ised) criminal tribunals and the United Nations Security Council and the law regulating the use of force in relations between States (jus ad bellum).

Daley’s scholarship has appeared in leading journals, including the Leiden Journal of International Law, the Journal of International Criminal Justice, the Chinese Journal of International Law, and the Human Rights Law Review. He has also (co-)edited and/or contributed chapters to volumes published by Cambridge University Press, Routledge, and Brill. His most recent book, a monograph, was published by Eleven International Publishing in 2021.

A multi-award-winning researcher, Daley was a co-recipient of the 2020 Journal of International Criminal Justice Prize for his article, ‘Managing Frozen Assets at the International Criminal Court: The Fallout of the Bemba Acquittal’.

Dr Birkett is keen to hear from prospective HDR students in areas related to his research interests, particularly:

The law and practice of the permanent International Criminal Court and other international(ised) criminal tribunals;
The law and practice of the United Nations Security Council, especially in relation to Chapter VII powers;
The law governing the use of force between states (jus ad bellum); and
The implementation of international legal obligations, especially those stemming from the bodies of international human rights law and international criminal law, in states’ domestic legal orders.

Daley's teaching spans public international law, (international) criminal law, and international legal advocacy. In the world of mooting, besides acting as a regular judge at the International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition in The Hague, he has also advised teams competing in the same competition, in the Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot in Hong Kong, and in the Nuremberg Moot Court.

Dr Birkett is presently responsible for convening the following units at Macquarie Law School:

LAWS1300 – Criminal Justice
LAWS2000 – International Law
LAWS8015 – International Law