On 14 November 2023, Warwick Law School held a roundtable discussion titled “The Russia-Ukraine War and Frontiers of Law”, organised by Professor Andrew Williams, Dr Solange Mouthaan and Dr Aisel Omarova.

This event gathered together participants from diverse backgrounds and expertise, including academics, representatives of different NGOs and practitioners. Attendees were drawn from a range of different countries such as Switzerland, USA, UK and Ukraine.

The first session “Evidence gathering and new (or digital) technologies” was chaired by Sir Howard Morrison (QC KCMG), who has personal experience of evidence gathering in Ukraine. The main speakers in this session were:

• Professor Andrew Williams (Professor at the School of Law, University of Warwick)
• Dr Nataliia Hendel (Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights)
• Dr Patrick Smith (British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in Film & Television Studies at the University of Warwick)
• Maksym Demydenko (Ukraine War Archive)

The contributions covered a range of features of collecting, storing and sharing evidence related to the Russia-Ukraine war. The participants discussed different online platforms for uploading evidence and the issue of ethical barriers to using them.

The second session “Children affected by the war in Ukraine” was chaired by Dr Solange Mouthaan (Associate Professor at the School of Law, University of Warwick) whose research expertise allowed her to guide the session at the highest level. The main speakers of this session were:

• Professor Mark Drumbl (Professor at School of Law, Washington and Lee University)
• Professor Natalia Krestovska (Professor at the National University Odesa Maritime Academy)
• Dr Aisel Omarova (Associate Professor at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Law, University of Warwick)
• James Denselow (Head of Conflict Team, Save the Children UK)

This session was devoted to different violations of children’s rights that are currently happening during the Russia-Ukraine war, e.g. forcible transfer and/or deportation of Ukrainian children, significant violation of the rights to identity, to education etc. Special attention was given to restorative justice for minors in Ukraine in peace and war.

The organisers of the roundtable aim to produce a report to be published by the Centre for Human Rights in Practice as well as to be disseminated among relevant institutions and organisations. Some of the themes for further analysis emerging from discussions revolve around the right to identity and its moral and ethical implications.