Professor Dale Stephens

• Biography/ Background

  Professor Dale Stephens CSM FAAL has been with the Law School since 2013. He is also a Captain in the Royal Australian Navy Reserve who spent over 20 years as a permanent officer in the Royal Australian Navy before taking up his appointment at the Law School. He has occupied numerous staff officer positions throughout his career in the Australian Defence Force (ADF), including Fleet Legal Officer, Command Legal Officer (Naval Training Command), Chief Legal Officer Strategic Operations Command, Director of Operational and International Law, Deputy Director of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Military Law (a joint venture with Melbourne University Law School), Director Navy Legal and Director of the Military Law Centre. He has deployed twice to East Timor (INTERFET & UNTAET) and twice to Iraq (Baghdad) in senior legal officer positions and has provided extensive advice to Government at the strategic level.  He is the recipient of the Conspicuous Service Medal and the (US) Bronze Star, the (US) Meritorious Service Medal as well as ADF and UN commendations for his service. 

  During his time in the ADF, Dr Stephens was involved in providing legal advice regarding numerous operational, disciplinary and administrative law issues, including fisheries, customs and immigration matters within Australia's maritime zones, combined operations with other military forces, UN Peace Operations, drafting Rules of Engagement, implementation of international treaties including the International Criminal Court Convention as well as numerous weapons reviews. 

  In the early 2000's Professor Stephens was part of the Australian delegation to UNESCO negotiating the Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention.  In the mid 2000's he taught at the U.S. Naval War College located in Newport, Rhode Island as a faculty member of the International Law Department. In 2010 was seconded to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as a senior advisor on Afghanistan.  In more recent years he has taught National Security Law as well as a number of military law subjects at the ANU College of Law.

  Professor Stephens principally teaches and researches in the areas of International Law, International Humanitarian Law, Space Law, The Law of the Sea, as well as Military Operations Law. He is the recipient of both Faculty and University Awards for his teaching. He was a board member of the Australian Yearbook of International Law for over a decade.

  Professor Stephens is Director of The University of Adelaide Research Unit on Military Law and Ethics (RUMLAE) and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. 

  He was Chair of the SA Red Cross IHL Advisory Committee from 2012 to 2024.  In 2021 he was the recipient of the Red Cross Distinguished Service Award.

  He is Director of the Adelaide Military Law Program and has successfully supervised a number of military and civilian students in their PhD programs. He was Chair of the Woomera Project Governance Board (and a participating Editor) that oversaw the publication of the Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military and Space Actvities and Operations (OUP 2024). He is currently participating in the San Remo Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare update project. 

  He was awarded his Masters degree from Harvard Law School in 2004 and his Doctorate from Harvard Law School in 2014. 

   

• Qualifications

  SJD - Harvard University Law School (Dissertation : Lawfare or Law Fair? The Role of Law in Military Decision Making) (2014).

  LL.M - Harvard University Law School (2004)

  LL.M - Melbourne University Law School (2003) 

  GDLP - South Australian Institute of Technology (1989)

  LL.B (Hons) - The University of Adelaide Law School (1988)

  B.A. - Flinders University (1984).

• Awards & Achievements

  2024 University Commendation for Enhancement of and Innovation in Student Learning

  2021 Red Cross Distinguished Service Award 

  2019 Fellow Australian Academy of Law

  2016 Joint Winner (with Prof Melissa de Zwart and Dr Rebecca La Forgia) Executive Dean Award for Excellence for Team Teaching for Cyberwar, Surveillance and Security MOOC.

  2016  Distinguished Practice in Teaching Award for IHL and Advocacy course.

  2008  Bronze Star (U.S.)

  2005  Joint Winner, Judge Advocate-General Prize for Team Excellence (Joint Operations Command Legal Team).

  2004  Meritorious Service Medal (U.S.) 

  2003  Conspicuous Service Medal

  2002  Maritime Commander's Commendation 

  2001  United Nations Peacekeeping Force Commander's Commendation 

• Research Interests

  International Law, Law of Armed Conflict, Law of the Sea, Military Operations Law, Use of Force, Space Law. 

• Publications

  Adelaide University Research Tuesday Presentation (A/Prof Dale Stephens): Modern Lawfare : http://blogs.adelaide.edu.au/researchtuesdays/2012/09/19/modern-lawfare/

  Research 21 Presentation (Autonomous Weapons and the Role of Law - A/Prof Stephens): https://www.adelaide.edu.au/professions/research/research21/

  Books/Monographs:

  Dale Stephens, Jack Beard, David Koplow (Eds), The Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Activities and Operations (OUP, 2024).

  Robin Creyke, Dale Stephens & Peter Sutherland (Eds), Military Law in Australia - 2nd Edition (Federation Press, 2024). 

  Dale Stephens & Matthew Stubbs (Eds), The Law of Naval Warfare (LexisNexis, 2019).

  Robin Creyke, Dale Stephens & Peter Sutherland (Eds), Military Law in Australia (Federation Press, 2019). 

  Dale Stephens & Paul Babie, Co-Editor and Contributer, Imagining Law: Essays in Conversation with Judith Gardam (Adelaide University Press, 2016). 

  Dale Stephens, The Use of Force in Peacekeeping Operations - The East Timor Experience (APCML Monograph, Melbourne, 2005)

  Chapters:

  Dale Stephens and Joanna Jarose, ‘Law of Naval Operations: Contemporary Issues’, in R. Creyke; D. Stephens & P. Sutherland (Eds), Military Law in Australia (2nd Edition)(Federation Press, 2024).

   

  Dale Stephens and Joanna Jarose, ‘Right Intent: The Value of Morality and religion in the Modern Law of Armed Conflict’ in P. Babie & R. Sarre (Eds), Religion Matters - Volume 2, (Springer, 2024).

    

  Dale Stephens and Matthew Stubbs, 'Military Law' in Michael Kirby (ed), The Laws of Australia (Thomson Reuters, 2023). 

   

  Matthew Stubbs, & Dale Stephens, ‘Opportunities for Enhancing Naval Cooperation in the Indian Ocean
  Region in the Presence of Strategic Competition’ In J. F. Bradford, J. Chan, S. Kaye, C. Schofield, & G. Till (Eds.), Maritime Cooperation and Security in the Indo-Pacific Region Essays in Honour of Sam Bateman  Brill Nijhoff (2022).

  Dale Stephens, 'Ensuring Respect and Targeting' in E. Massingham and A. McConacie (Eds), Ensuring Respect for International Humanitarian Law (Routledge, 2021). 

  Dale Stephens, 'Combined Exercises and International Humanitarian Law Training: Fostering a Culture of Norm Compliance?', in S. Linton, T. McCormack and S. Sivakumaran (Eds), Asia-Pacific Perspectives on International Humanitarian Law (CUP, 2020).  

  Dale Stephens and Tim Quadrio, '"Do as I say not as I do" - Navigational Freedom and the Law of the Sea Convention' in D. Rothwell and D. Letts (Eds) Law of the Sea in South East Asia: Environmental, Navigational and Security Challenges (Routledge, 2020).

  Dale Stephens and Emily Crawford, 'Emerging Technologies and Areas of Operations in Cyber and Outer Space', in R. Creyke, D. Stephens and P. Sutherland (Eds) Military Law in Australia (Federation Press, 2019).

  Dale Stephens and Matthew Stubbs, 'The Woomera Manual: Clarifying the Law of Militray Space Operations to promote Sustainable Uses of Outer Space' in M. Spencer (Ed), Project Asteria 2019: Space Debris, Space Traffic Management and Space Sustainability (Air Power Centre, 2019).

  Dale Stephens and Matthew Stubbs, 'Naval Warfare Zones: Immediate Area of Naval Operations and Maritime Exclusion Zones' in D. Stephens and M. Stubbs (Eds), The Law of Naval Warfare (LexisNexis, 2019). 

  Dale Stephens and Thomas Wooden, 'War Crimes: Increasing Compliance with International Humanitarian Law through International Criminal Law?' in P. Kastner (Ed.) International Criminal Law in Context (Routledge, 2017)

  Dale Stephens (with Rob McLaughlin and Paul Muggleton), Chap 12 'Australian Defence and Military Operations Law and Practice', in Don Rothwell & Emily Crawford (Eds.) International Law in Australia 3rd Edition, (Thomson Reuters, 2016) ISBN: 978045528310.  

  Dale Stephens, 'The Role of Courts and Tribunals' in Robin Warner & Stuart Kaye (Eds.) Routledge Handbbook of Maritime Regulation and Enforcement (Routledge, 2016).

  Dale Stephens, 'Accountability for Violations of the Law of Armed Conflict and the Question of the Efficacy of International Criminal Law in Ameliorating Violence in Armed Conflict' in Jadranka Petrovic (Ed.), Accountability for Violations of international Humanitarian Law - Essays in Honour of Tim McCormack (Taylor & Francis, 2016). 

  Dale Stephens (with Rob McLaughlin), 'International Humanitarian Law in the Maritime Context: Conflict Characterization in Judicial or Quasi-Judicial Contexts' in Derek Jinks, Jackson Nyamuyu Maoqoto & Solon Solomon (Eds.) Applying International Humanitarian Law in Judicial and Quasi-Judicial Bodies: International and Domestic Aspects (TMC Asser Press 2014). 

  Dale Stephens (with Judith Gardam), 'Concluding Remarks: Establishing Common Ground between Feminism and the Military', Gina Heathcote and Dianne Otto (Eds.) Rethinking Peacekeeping, Gender Equality and Collective Security (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

  Dale Stephens, Editorial Contributor, Harvard Manual on International Law Applicable to Air and Missile Warfare (Cambridge University Press, 2013).

  Dale Stephens, 'The Accomodation, Disjunction and Felt Experience of Law in Military Operations' (2012) Working Paper 5.1 in Strengthening The Rule of Law Through the United Nations Security Council, Reg Net/ANU found at: http://regnet.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publications/attachments/2015-05/Dale_5.1_0.pdf 

  Dale Stephens (with Tristan Skousgaard), 'Naval Demonstrations', 'Military Reconnaissance' and 'Flags and Uniforms', Max Planck Encyclopaedia Of Public International Law (Oxford University Press, 2009).

  Dale Stephens, 'Law of Naval Warfare and Zones' & 'UN Security Council and Maritime Zones' in Jaques, R (Ed.), Maritime Operational Zones (U.S. Naval War College, 2006).

  Articles

  Dale Stephens and Lachlan Blake, 'Good Fences Make Good (Space) Neighbours', (2021) 8(2) Griffith Journal of Law and Human Dignity, 212 - 236.  

  Dale Stephens and Matthew Stubbs, 'Professor Ivan Shearer AM RFD FAAL RAN (Rtd) 1938 - 2019', (2020) 40(2) Adelaide Law Review 389-92.

  Dale Stephens and Melissa de Zwart, 'The Space (innovation) Race: The Inevitable Relationship between Military Technology and innovation', (2019) 20(1) Melbourne Journal of International Law, 1-28. 

  Dale Stephens, 'Roots of Restraint in War: The Capacities and Limits of Law and the Critical Role of Social Agency in Ameliorating Violance in Armed Conflict', (2019) 10(1) Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, 1-18.

  Dale Stephens, 'The International Legal Implications of Military Space Operations: Examining the Interplay between International Humanitarian law and the Outer Space Regime', (2018) (94) International Law Studies 75-101.  

  Dale Stephens, 'Law and War in Outer Space' (2018) 40(2) Law Society of SA Bulletin 32. 

  Dale Stephens, 'Naval Power in the Indian Ocean: Rising Tension, Maritime Governance and the Role of Law', (2016) 37(2) Adelaide Law Review 307 - 324.

  Dale Stephens (with Cassandra Steer), 'Conflicts in Space: International Humanitarian Law and its Application to Space Warfare' (2015) Vol XL Annals of Air and Space Law 71. 

  Dale Stephens, 'The Age of the Manual - The Impact of the Manual on International Law Applicable to Air and Missile Warfare' (2015) 45 Israel Yearbook on Human Rights 19.

  Dale Stephens, 'Behaviour in War: The Place of Law, Moral Inquiry and Self-Identity' (2014) Vol. 96, No. 895/896 International Review of the Red Cross 751, available on CJO2015. doi:10.1017/S1816383115000235. 

  Dale Stephens, 'The Age of Lawfare' (2011) 87 U.S. Naval War College International Law Studies Series, 327. 

  Dale Stephens, 'Military Involvement in Law Enforcement', (2010) 92 (No. 878) International Review of the Red Cross 453.

  Dale Stephens, 'Counterinsurgency and Stability Operations: A New Approach to Legal Interpretation' (2010) 86 U.S. Naval War College International Law Studies Series 289. 

  Dale Stephens (with Stefan Gruber) 'Cooperation, Friction and Safeguarding: Australia and Indonesia's Security Relationship' (2010) 11(1) Harvard Asia Pacific Review 35.  

  Dale Stephens, 'Blurring the Lines: The Interpretation, Discourse and Application of the Law of Armed Conflict' (2009) 12 Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 85. 

  Dale Stephens (with Simon Bronitt), 'Flying Under the Radar - The Use of Lethal Force Against Hijacked Aircraft: Recent Australian Developments' (2008) 7(2) Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal 265.

  Dale Stephens (with Angeline Lewis), 'The Targeting of Civilian Contractors under the Law of Armed Conflict' (2006) 9 Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 25. 

  Dale Stephens, 'Coalition Warfare - Challenges and Opportunities' (2006), 82 U.S. Naval War College International Law Studies Series 245.  

  Dale Stephens, 'Comparative Approaches to Security and Maritime Border Control', (2006) 81 U.S. Naval War College International Law Studies Series 19.

  Dale Stephens (with Michael Lewis), 'The Law of Armed Conflict - A Contemporary Critique' (2005) 6 Melbourne Journal of International Law 55. 

  Dale Stephens, 'The Lawful Use of Force by Peacekeeping Forces: The Tactical Imperative' (2005) 12 International Peacekeeping 157. 

  Dale Stephens, 'The Legal Efficacy of Freedom of Navigation Assertions' (2004) Israel Yearbook on Human Rights 127. 

  Dale Stephens, 'Human Rights and Armed Conflict - The Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in the Nuclear Weapons Case' (2001) 4 Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal 1.

  Dale Stephens, 'The Impact of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention on the Conduct of Peacetime Naval/Military Operations' (1999) 29 California Western International Law Journal 283.

  Dale Stephens and Mark Fitzpatrick, 'Legal Aspects of Contemporary Naval Mine Warfare', (1999) 21 Loyola of Los Angeles International & Comparative Law Journal 553.

  Dale Stephens, 'Rules of Engagement and the Concept of Unit Self Defence', (1998) 45 Naval Law Review 126. 

  Book Reviews

  Dale Stephens, 'Redefining the Modern Military - The Intersection of Profession and Ethics', (2019) 40(3) Adelaide Law Review, 911-914

  Dale Stephens, 'International Law, Cases and Materials with Australian Perspectives' by Don Rothwell, Stuart Kaye, Afshin Akhtarkhaven & Ruth Davis (Eds.), (2013) 31 Australian Yearbook of International Law.

  Dale Stephens, 'International Law on Peacekeeping - A Study of Article 40 of the UN Charter' by Hitoshi Nasu, (2011) 29 Australian Yearbook of International Law.

  Dale Stephens, 'Of War and Law' by David Kennedy, (2007) 8(2) Melbourne Journal of International Law 490.

  Dale Stephens, 'The Royal Australian Navy in World War II' (David Stevens Ed.), (2005) 58 U.S. Naval War College Review 153.

  Dale Stephens (with Rosalind Dixon), 'The Dark Sides of Virtue: Reassessing International Humanitariansim' by David Kennedy, (2005) 181 Military Law Review 153. 

  Dale Stephens (with Rosalind Dixon), 'The Dark Sides of Virtue: Reassessing International Humanitarianism' by David Kennedy (2004) 5 Melbourne Journal of International Law 507.

   

   

• Professional Associations

  Fellow - Australian Academy of law

  Director - Adelaide Research Unit on Military Law and Ethics (RUMLAE) 

  Former Chair - SA Red Cross IHL Advisory Committee

  Former Head - SA/NT Combined Navy Reserve Legal Panel

  Former Member - Australian Yearbook of International Law Editorial Board

   

   

• Community Engagement

  Deputy Chair - Woodcroft College Council (2012 - 2019).

Entry last updated: Wednesday, 8 Jan 2025

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