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Noah Weisbord

Full Professor

New Chancellor Day Hall
3644 Peel Street
Room 616
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3A 1W9

514-399-9447 [Office]
noah.weisbord [at] mcgill.ca (Email)

Noah Weisbord

Biography

Noah Weisbord is Professor of Law at McGill University. His research examines how legal systems distinguish legitimate from illegitimate violence—from self-defence and policing to aggressive war, cyber operations, and emerging military technologies. His work spans criminal law, international criminal law, and the law governing the use of force, with a particular focus on accountability, intergroup conflict, and the future of legal responsibility in an age of technological change.

His scholarship combines doctrinal, comparative, historical, and socio-legal methods with field-based engagement in international institutions. He participated in diplomatic negotiations that led to the definition and activation of the crime of aggression at the International Criminal Court and continues to contribute to international discussions concerning accountability for aggressive war, cyber operations, and emerging technologies.

Professor Weisbord is the author of The Crime of Aggression: The Quest for Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents, and Autocrats (Princeton University Press, 2019; paperback edition, 2025). The book examines the century-long effort to hold political and military leaders criminally responsible for aggressive war and has been widely reviewed in leading scholarly and public forums.

His recent scholarship explores the crime of aggression, self-defence in domestic and international law, cyberwarfare, and the legal challenges posed by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. His work has appeared in journals including the American University International Law Review, Journal of Human Rights Practice, Cardozo International and Comparative Law Review, Harvard International Law Journal, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Law and Contemporary Problems, McGill Law Journal, and Queen’s Law Journal.

Professor Weisbord serves on the Council of Advisors on the Application of the Rome Statute to Cyberwarfare and has participated in expert consultations convened by institutions including Chatham House, the Council on Foreign Relations, the United States Institute of Peace, and the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court. His commentary on international and criminal law has appeared in media outlets including The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Le Devoir, CBC, CTV, Global News, and the BBC.

Employment 

  • Professor, McGill University, Faculty of Law, 2026-present

  • Associate Professor, McGill University, Faculty of Law, 2023-2026 

  • Associate Professor, Queen’s University, Faculty of Law, 2018-2023 

  • Visiting Professor, Queen’s University, Faculty of Law, 2017-2018 

  • Associate Professor, Florida International University College of Law, 2013-2017 

  • Assistant Professor, Florida International University College of Law, 2010-2013 

  • Visiting Assistant Professor, Duke Law School, 2008-2010 

  • Teaching Fellow, Harvard Law School, 2005-2006 

Education 

  • Doctorate in Juridical Science (S.J.D.), Harvard Law School, 2004-2011 

  • Master of Laws (LL.M.) Program, Harvard Law School, 2003-2004 

  • Master of Social Work (M.S.W.), McGill University, 1999-2003 

  • Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.), McGill University, 1999-2003 

  • Bachelor of Common Law (LL.B.), McGill University, 1999-2003 

  • Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.), McGill University, 1997-1998 

  • Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. in Psychology), McGill University, 1994-1997 

Research

  • International Criminal Law 

  • Crime of Aggression

  • Use of Force in International Law 

  • International Courts and Accountability

  • Cyberwarfare and International Law 

  • Artificial Intelligence and Legal Accountability 

  • Comparative Self-Defence Law 

  • Criminal Law and Criminal Justice

  • Evidence

Recent Professional Accomplishments

  • Winner of The David Watson Memorial Award for “Licence to Khill: What Appellate Decisions Reveal About Canada’s New Self-Defence Law,” presented annually for the paper published in the Queen’s Law Journal judged to make the most significant contribution to legal scholarship 

  • “Who’s Afraid of the Lucky Moose? Canada’s Dangerous Self-Defence Innovation,” cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Khill (2021) 

  • Co-Chair of the Anti-Racism Working Group at Queen’s University, 2020-2021. 

  • Member of the Council of Advisers on the Application of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to Cyberwarfare, 2019-Present 

  • Publication of The Crime of Aggression: the Quest for Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents and Autocrats (Princeton University Press, 2019) 

  • Keynote Lecture, 2017 Annual McGill Law Graduate Conference, “Self-Defense in Climates of Fear.” 

  • Invited expert participating in the activation of International Criminal Court jurisdiction over the crime of aggression alongside genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, United Nations Headquarters, 2017 

Selected Publications 

Books (Monograph)

  • Noah Weisbord, The Crime of Aggression: the Quest for Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents and Autocrats (Princeton University Press, 2019)

Articles 

  • Noah Weisbord, “Diplomatic Practices: Activating the Crime of Aggression,” 40 American University International Law Review (Forthcoming 2025).

  • Noah Weisbord, “Benjamin Ferencz in the Cold War,” 8(3) Cardozo International and Comparative Law Review (Forthcoming 2025).

  • Noah Weisbord, “Unwilling or Unable: Newfangled Self-Defence Against ISIS in Syria,” Journal of Human Rights Practice 1 (SOAS) (2024).

  • Noah Weisbord, “Licence to Khill: What Appellate Decisions Reveal About Canada’s New Self-Defence Law,” 46(1) Queen’s Law Journal 97 (2020) 

  • Noah Weisbord, “Who’s Afraid of the Lucky Moose? Canada’s Dangerous Self-Defence Innovation,” 64(2) McGill Law Journal 349 (2018) (published summer 2020). 

  • Noah Weisbord, “A Practitioner’s Bildungsroman: Book Review of Payam Akhavan’s In Search of a Better World: A Human Rights Odyssey,” Journal of Human Rights Practice (July 2019) 

  • Noah Weisbord, “Bargaining Practices: Negotiating the Kampala Compromise,” 76 (3) Law & Contemporary Problems, 85 (Winter 2014) 

  • Noah Weisbord, “Judging Aggression,” 50(1) Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 82 (Winter 2012) 

  • Noah Weisbord & Matthew Smith, “The Reason Behind the Rules: From Description to Normativity in International Criminal Procedure,” 36 North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation 255 (Winter 2011) 

  • Noah Weisbord, “The 1990s and the Use of Force: Anxiety, Realignment and New Justifications,” 22 (1) Global Change, Peace & Security 129 (February 2010) 

  • Noah Weisbord, “Conceptualizing Aggression,” 20(1) Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law 1 (Fall 2009) 

  • Noah Weisbord, “Prosecuting Aggression,” 49 Harvard International Law Journal 168 (Winter 2008) 

Chapters 

  • Noah Weisbord, “Civil Society,” in The Crime of Aggression: A Commentary, Claus Kreß and Stefan Barriga, eds. (Cambridge University Press, 2017) 

  • Noah Weisbord and Carla Reyes, “War Crimes,” in International Crime and Justice, Mangai Natarajan, ed. 321 (Cambridge University Press, 2011) 

Opinion and Editorial 

Recent publications

  • “Diplomatic Practices: Activating the Crime of Aggression,” American University International Law Review (2025)

  • “Unwilling or Unable: Newfangled Self-Defence Against ISIS in Syria,” Journal of Human Rights Practice (2025)

  • Noah Weisbord, “Diplomatic Practices: Activating the Crime of Aggression,” 40 American University International Law Review (Forthcoming 2025).

  • Noah Weisbord, “Benjamin Ferencz in the Cold War,” 8(3) Cardozo International and Comparative Law Review (Forthcoming 2025).

  • Noah Weisbord, “Unwilling or Unable: Newfangled Self-Defence Against ISIS in Syria,” Journal of Human Rights Practice 1 (SOAS) (2024).

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