Education

PhD in Law
LLM in International Law
MSt. in Human Rights, University of Oxford (Commonwealth Scholar)
MBA in Human Resource Management

Profile

Dr. Sanoj Rajan is a professor of International Law and Human Rights with over two decades of experience at the intersection of scholarship, legal practice, and humanitarian policy. He has recently served as Distinguished Professor of Law at Zhejiang Gongshang University (China) and is currently a Rotary Peace Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the International Christian University, Tokyo, where his research examines accountability, legal ethics, and the use of artificial intelligence in armed conflict. He previously held senior roles as Associate Director at the Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR) program, Harvard University, and as Head of Academic Programs for South Asia at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), leading academic partnerships and capacity-building across ten countries. He has also worked as a professor and Dean in two Law Schools in India.

Dr. Rajan’s teaching and research span International Criminal Law (ICL), International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Human Rights Law, Refugee Law, and Statelessness and Citizenship Law. He has designed and taught core and advanced courses in these fields in India, East Asia, and the wider Asia–Pacific, including specialised programs for armed forces, prosecutors, and humanitarian professionals. His pedagogy is student-centred and experiential, integrating case analysis, evidence evaluation, and simulations that mirror the work of investigators, counsel, and judicial actors in international and hybrid proceedings. He has supervised doctoral and master’s theses on ICL and IHL, and mentored moot teams and clinical projects focused on strategic litigation and accountability.

Dr. Rajan has 50+ publications, including four books. His volume International Humanitarian Law in India: A Handbook (Thomson Reuters) is widely used by academics and practitioners. His work on refugee protection, surrogacy and statelessness has informed public debate and contributed to policy development in India. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law and Refugee Law (Indian Society of International Law) and has acted as a contributor for the updated ICRC Commentaries to the Geneva Conventions and a peer reviewer for the Statelessness & Citizenship Review (Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne). He is a founding governance board member of the Statelessness Network Asia Pacific, and a former member of the UNHCR Expert Committee on Deprivation of Nationality on National Security Grounds.

Dr. Rajan has delivered invited lectures and training in 100+ institutions across multiple jurisdictions, including at The International Criminal Court, The Hague—a recognition of his standing in the field and his ability to translate complex legal questions into practice-relevant insights. His international engagements include visiting professorships and academic collaborations with Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, the Indian Society of International Law, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, and the International Christian University in Kinshasa.

Research Interests

Public International Law, International Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law, Refugee Law and Statelessness Law

Publications

Selected Publications
• Sanoj Rajan, 2020, International Humanitarian Law in India: A Handbook, Thomson Reuters, Asia Pacific, 2190 pages. ISBN 978-93-90529-04-9.
• Sanoj Rajan (ed.), 2018, Contemporary Global Refugee Crisis: A Legal Perspective, Thomson Reuters, Asia Pacific, 243 pages. ISBN:978-93-86373-64-6.
• Sanoj Rajan, 2016, Legal Analysis on The Risks Of Statelessness Amongst Hill Tamil Refugees In India and Possible Solutions, Ansal University School of Law. ISBN: 9781521721858.
• Sanoj Rajan, 2024, “Shaping the Humanitarian Sphere: The Profound Influence of UDHR on International Humanitarian Law”, in the Book Human Rights after 75 Years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Reflections from the Global South, Md. Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan and Borhan Uddin Khan (eds), Brill | Nijhoff, pp 259-278, ISBN 9789004517967, 9004517960.
• Sanoj Rajan and Sheena Sivadasan, 2023, “Kalaripayattu: The Indigenous Martial Art of Ancient Malabar and Laws of War” in the Book ‘The Laws of Yesterday’s Wars’. Volume II, Samuel C. Duckett White (eds), Brill Njoff, 2024. pp. 118-139. ISBN 978-90-04-51255-9
• Sanoj Rajan, 2022, “Failed notions and lost opportunities: Revisiting India’s standpoint on the International Criminal Court” in the Book, Human Rights and International Criminal Law, Md. Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan and Borhan Uddin Khan (eds), Brill | Nijhoff, pp. 253-301, ISBN 978-90-04-44745-5.
• Sanoj Rajan, 2019, “International Humanitarian Law in the Indian Military and Civilian Justice System” in the Book, Perspectives on International Humanitarian Law from & on the Asia-Pacific Region, Suzannah Linton, Tim McCormack and Sandesh Sivakumaran (eds), Cambridge University Press, pp.475-90. ISBN 978-1-108-49724-4.
• Sanoj R.ajan, Ntizoyimana, JC., Kanyange, L. et al. Burundi’s commitment to the right to life: a critical examination of domestic laws and international obligations. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 1585 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05659-1
• Sanoj Rajan, ‘From Chaos to Clarity: How Conflict Classification Enhances Peacebuilding’, Impact News, International Centre for the Treatment of Violence, February 28, 2025, available here.
• Sanoj Rajan, The New Frontier of War: International Counterterrorism Regime and Criminalising Humanitarian Action in India, ISIL Year Book on IHL and Refugee Law, Vol. XXIII 2023-24, pp. 59 – 90.
• Sanoj Rajan, 2023, Statelessness Arising out of Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality and Persecution: An Irrefutable Link, International Relations and International Law Journal, 1(101) 2023, pp. 92-107 (Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan publication).