To Örebro University

Drawing on Judith Butler’s Frames of War and the concept of grievable lives, this paper examines how armed actors manipulate humanitarian aid to create hierarchies of suffering and legitimacy. Focusing on Southern Sudan during the Second Civil War, it shows how the Sudan People’s Liberation Army financed its resistance through a criminalised economy in which humanitarian aid was diverted, taxed, or stolen and resold at inflated prices. Civilians were framed as beneficiaries of liberation while being materially embedded in an exploitative wartime economy. 

The paper traces how criminal economies mediate access to aid and shape the recognisability of suffering, exposing the entanglement of humanitarianism with militarized economies and rebel governance. Comparative cases from Bosnia and Afghanistan demonstrate how such framing renders some lives visible and others expendable. It argues that diverted and politicised aid reinforces war economies and legitimises those controlling distribution, undermining humanitarian commitments to universality and shared precarity.

In recent years, research has documented a growing feminization of migration, with focus on those specific forms of migration, such as the commercialized migration of women as domestic workers and care givers, that often result in the trafficking of women for labour and sexual exploitation. Many women who migrate lack residence permits and, thereby, receive the status of undocumented migrants. Undocumented female migrants are without any substantial legal or social protection in their host societies and, therefore, are highly subject to exploitation, violence, and health and social problems; this is a situation that obviously harms them as individuals attempting to live in a new country, but that extends beyond national boundaries in its effects, to also harm members of their families in their countries of origin. Current nationalized legal and social policy frameworks need to be sensitive to the complex and transnational nature of the living conditions of undocumented migrant women. This chapter draws attention to the precarious living conditions and complex socio-legal challenges that impact the everyday lives of undocumented migrant women in the Nordic countries, with particular emphasis on Sweden. Based on comprehensive research review of undocumented migrant women’s living conditions in Sweden, the study explores the current role of legal and social policy frameworks for providing protection to this vulnerable group. The authors argue that there is an urgent need for interdisciplinary (socio-legal) and intersectional perspectives, for studying and understanding the complexity of the intersection of power relations influencing the living conditions of undocumented women. The findings of this study, and its gender-based intersectional approach, aim to encourage further research, as well as to sensitize legal and social policy professions in their endeavours to reduce and eliminate the racialized and gender-based oppression and discrimination of undocumented female migrants in Sweden.

This article examines how digitisation can contribute to the protection and enforcement of the identity rights of adopted children. More specifically, it assesses the relationship between technologies such as blockchain and digital identity systems, and online legal services, and international and European texts such as the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights (ECHR). In addition to this analysis, the article highlights the tensions between conflicting interests regarding access to one's origins, privacy and data confidentiality. The prevalence of one interest over another depends on the discretionary power of states. The aim is to reveal how digital technology can help to resolve these issues. When based on reliable legal guarantees that respect children's interests, digital spaces can ensure the effectiveness and respect of children's rights. This is particularly true in the case of international or irregular adoptions. The paper examines the promises and challenges of digital innovation and proposes ways in which this technology can be used to respect and enforce the right to identity of adopted children.

L’article interroge l’apport que peut avoir la numérisation sur le respect et l’effectivité des droits identitaires des enfants adoptés. Plus précisément, il s’agit d’apprécier les rapports que les technologies telles que la blockchain, les systèmes d’identité numérique et les services juridiques en ligne entretiennent avec les textes internationaux et européens comme la Convention internationale relative aux droits de l’enfant (CIDE), la Convention européenne de sauvegarde des droits de l’homme (CESDH) ou encore les actes de l’Union européenne. Outre cette analyse, l’article met en lumière les tensions qu’il existe entre les intérêts antagonistes que sont le droit d’accès à ses origines, la protection de la vie privée, la confidentialité des données, dont la prévalence de l’un sur l’autre relève d’autant plus d’un pouvoir plus ou moins discrétionnaire des États. L’intérêt est alors de révéler l’apport que peut constituer le Numérique pour répondre à cette problématique. En effet, lorsqu’ils sont fondés sur des garanties juridiques éprouvées et respectueuses des intérêts de l’enfant, les espaces numériques sont un moyen d’assurer l’effectivité et le respect des droits de ce dernier. Cet enjeu se mesure tout particulièrement s’agissant des adoptions internationales ou irrégulières. L’étude examine tant les promesses que les défis de l’innovation numérique et propose de s’appuyer sur cette technologie pour respecter et faire respecter le droit à l’identité des enfants adoptés. 

The problems resulting from mechanisms of institutional racism within Swedish social services have harmed many families of migrant background and created serious problems with the integration of those families into Swedish society. This article investigates the experiences of eight Muslim mothers in Sweden who were accused of Shaken Baby Syndrome and later acquitted. All the women were separated from their children for extended periods and held in pre-trial detention. Employing a qualitative, feminist-informed methodology, this study explores how an intersection of structural discrimination, flawed medical assumptions, and institutional racism served to shape their experiences. It reveals how racialised and gendered identities rendered these mothers inherently suspect, positioning them as unfit caregivers within a child welfare system that privileges (contested) biomedical narratives over contextual understanding. The article highlights the epistemic and emotional consequences of relying on scientifically disputed diagnostic criteria in child protection, and how such reliance perpetuates systemic injustice. The findings underscore the need for critical reform in both social work and legal frameworks, to address systemic injustice and prevent the unwarranted separation of families.

Drawing on Judith Butler’s Frames of War and the concept of grievable lives, this paper examines the situation in Southern Sudan during the Second Civil War (1983-2005). Much of the South Sudan People’s Liberation Army’s funding for its armed resistance came from a criminalised economy that diverted humanitarian aid intended for the civilian population. In its most extreme form, this aid was stolen and resold to civilians at inflated prices. The civilians were framed, in the literal sense of the word. Similar patterns of aid exploitation were observed by the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone and armed actors in Somalia, where humanitarian assistance was systematically redirected to sustain violence. These criminal economies formed an integral part of guerrilla governance.

The new state of South Sudan, which emerged after five decades of violent resistance against the Government of Sudan in Khartoum, tops the corruption statistics, two-thirds of the population remains dependent on humanitarian aid, and the country is in a widespread political and economic crisis, exacerbated by the non-international armed conflict in the neighbouring country Sudan. From the perspective of the civilian population, there is a continuum of violence and harm, which first was framed as a necessity to liberate the country from oppression of the Arab government in the north. Later, it was reframed as a battle of power and recognition. These frames guide the interpretation of a situation, and the framing involves a “highly reflexive overlay of the visual field” (Butler, p. 9). The visualities include starvation, governance mismanagement, and exploitation.

This paper explores how armed criminal economies shape access to humanitarian aid and how this determines whose suffering is seen and valued. It links grievances to guerrilla governance, revealing how war economies obscure or highlight lives deemed worthy of grief.

This article critically examines the legal dimensions of identity rights foradopted children, with particular emphasis on the right to birth identification,registration, and access to original birth certificates. It explores howthese rights are frequently compromised, especially in contexts involvingstatelessness, displacement, or cross-border adoption, and assesses the profoundimplications for the child’s legal identity. Drawing on international legalinstruments, notably the United Nations Convention on the Rights of theChild (CRC) and its General Comments, the article highlights the persistentfailure of states to ensure effective implementation of identity rights protections.It argues that the absence of accurate and accessible birth registrationmechanisms not only undermines a child’s identity but also perpetuates legalinvisibility, hinders access to remedies, and exacerbates the marginalizationof vulnerable populations.

Juristprogrammet vid Örebro universitet firar 20 år och detta uppmärksammas med en jubileumsantologi!

Under dessa två decennier har programmet utvecklats till en dynamisk och betydelsefull utbildningsmiljö, präglad av engagerade lärare, nyfikna och kritiskt tänkande studenter samt ett omgivande samhälle i ständig förändring. Antologin speglar programmets resa, från de ursprungliga idéerna och visionerna till dagens framstående utbildning, med rötterna djupt förankrade i rättsvetenskapen och blicken riktad mot framtidens utmaningar.

Titeln Lagar och vägar symboliserar både de stabila fundament som juridiken vilar på och de nya stigar som ständigt öppnas när samhället förändras. Rättsvetenskapen är en hörnsten i universitetets verksamhet och spelar en avgörande roll i samhällsutvecklingen genom att analysera, problematisera och kritiskt granska rättsregler, rättspraxis och rättsliga principer. Som akademisk disciplin står den för kunskap, analys och reflektion – egenskaper som är centrala för såväl forskning som utbildning.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been a cornerstone of international justice since its establishment in 2002, with the Rome Statute providing a framework for prosecuting genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. A crucial aspect of the ICC's mandate is providing reparations and support to victims of these atrocities, primarily through the ICC Victims Trust Fund. However, the effectiveness of this mechanism depends heavily on the participation, support, and legislative frameworks of ICC member states. This article provides an overview of the current state of research on ICC member states' engagement with the ICC Victims Trust Fund, examining the legislative and policy frameworks that facilitate or hinder support for victims. By synthesizing existing literature, this article aims to identify best practices, challenges, and areas for improvement in member states' participation and support for the ICC Victims Trust Fund, ultimately contributing to a more robust and victim-centered international justice system.

Juristprogrammet vid Örebro universitet firar 20 år och detta uppmärksammas med en jubileumsantologi!

Under dessa två decennier har programmet utvecklats till en dynamisk och betydelsefull utbildningsmiljö, präglad av engagerade lärare, nyfikna och kritiskt tänkande studenter samt ett omgivande samhälle i ständig förändring. Antologin speglar programmets resa, från de ursprungliga idéerna och visionerna till dagens framstående utbildning, med rötterna djupt förankrade i rättsvetenskapen och blicken riktad mot framtidens utmaningar.

Titeln Lagar och vägar symboliserar både de stabila fundament som juridiken vilar på och de nya stigar som ständigt öppnas när samhället förändras. Rättsvetenskapen är en hörnsten i universitetets verksamhet och spelar en avgörande roll i samhällsutvecklingen genom att analysera, problematisera och kritiskt granska rättsregler, rättspraxis och rättsliga principer. Som akademisk disciplin står den för kunskap, analys och reflektion – egenskaper som är centrala för såväl forskning som utbildning.