About Alex Batesmith

I am a teaching and research academic at the School of Law at the University of Leeds (UK) with a prior 20-year career as a legal professional in domestic and international criminal law, having previously practised as a barrister in the English criminal courts and a United Nations war crimes prosecutor in Kosovo and Cambodia as well as a consultant in post-conflict justice reconstruction in a dozen different countries around the world. I write about international criminal law and international / hybrid criminal tribunals, the motivations of lawyers, the role of emotion in the law, cause lawyering, and lawyers and the rule of law in authoritarian and post-conflict societies. I have a professional and personal interest in South-East Asia (especially Cambodia and Myanmar) and the Balkans. Outside work, I enjoy the great outdoors with my family and friends (camping, hiking and road cycling), photography and travel, and music of many types as both a radio listener / gig-goer and as a very average guitar player.

Alex Batesmith is a Lecturer in Legal Profession at the School of Law, University of Leeds, UK. His research focuses on lawyers, their professional self-identity and their motivations, and how these shape the institutions and the discipline in which they work. He has a particular interest in, and practitioner experience of, international criminal law and transitional justice. Twitter: @batesmith

Alex's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Alex:

Robert McCorquodale, "Business and Human Rights" (Oxford UP, 2024)

August 22, 2024

Business and Human Rights

Robert McCorquodale
Hosted by Alex Batesmith

Business and Human Rights Law is a rapidly growing area of law, which has dramatically transformed many parts of international law. In this new volume…

Justine Bendel, "Litigating the Environment: Process and Procedure Before International Courts and Tribunals" (Edward Elgar, 2023)

August 18, 2024

Litigating the Environment

Justine Bendel
Hosted by Alex Batesmith

In Litigating the Environment: Process and Procedure Before International Courts and Tribunals (Edward Elgar, 2023), Dr Justine Bendel scrutinises how…

Russell Sandberg and Daniel Newman, "Law and Humanities" (Anthem Press, 2024)

July 7, 2024

Law and Humanities

Russell Sandberg and Daniel Newman
Hosted by Alex Batesmith

In Law and Humanities (Anthem Press, 2024), Professor Russell Sandberg and Dr Daniel Newman provide an accessible introduction to the law and humaniti…

Chris Stephen, "The Future of War Crimes Justice" (Melville House, 2024)

May 15, 2024

The Future of War Crimes Justice

Chris Stephen
Hosted by Alex Batesmith

The Future of War Crimes Justice (Melville House, 2024), journalist and war correspondent Chris Stephen takes a colourful look at the erratic history …

Kalika Mehta, "Strategic Litigation and Corporate Complicity in Crimes Under International Law: A TWAIL Analysis" (Routledge, 2023)

March 20, 2024

Strategic Litigation and Corporate Complicity in Crimes Under International Law

Kalika Mehta
Hosted by Alex Batesmith

Kalika Mehta's book Strategic Litigation and Corporate Complicity in Crimes Under International Law: A TWAIL Analysis (Routledge, 2023) provides a com…

Priyasha Saksena, "Sovereignty, International Law, and the Princely States of Colonial South Asia" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 7, 2024

Sovereignty, International Law, and the Princely States of Colonial South Asia

Priyasha Saksena
Hosted by Alex Batesmith

In Sovereignty, International Law, and the Princely States of Colonial South Asia (Oxford UP, 2023), Dr Priyasha Saksena interrogates the centuries-ol…

Gary J. Bass, "Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia" (Knopf, 2023)

December 15, 2023

Judgement at Tokyo

Gary J. Bass
Hosted by Alex Batesmith

Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia (Knopf, 2023), a book ten years in the making, is the definitive account of th…

Agata Fijalkowski, "Law, Visual Culture, and the Show Trial" (Routledge, 2023)

October 30, 2023

Law, Visual Culture, and the Show Trial

Agata Fijalkowski
Hosted by Alex Batesmith
Listen:

Addressing the relationship between law and the visual, this book examines the importance of photography in Central, East, and Southeast European show…

Jacqueline Kinghan, "Lawyers, Networks and Progressive Social Change: Lawyers Changing Lives" (Bloomsbury, 2021)

July 11, 2023

Lawyers, Networks and Progressive Social Change

Jacqueline Kinghan
Hosted by Alex Batesmith
Listen:

Written by a lawyer who works at the intersection between legal education and practice in access to justice and human rights, this book locates, descr…