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Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS)

College: Sidney Sussex College

Biography

Christine Carpenter is an international lawyer, and currently a Gates Scholar and PhD Candidate in International Relations & Politics at the University of Cambridge. Her research explores challenges new and emerging technologies pose to international legal systems, and the impacts of global digital inequality on pursuits of international justice. She is an experienced practitioner in both public and private international law with expertise in human rights, foreign sovereign litigation, and international dispute resolution.  Currently, Christine serves on the International Law Association’s Committee on AI & Technology. She holds a BA (Hons.), MPhil (Cantab), and JD (Penn).

Research

Christine’s doctoral research examines how the gendered digital divide impacts the creation, collection, and use of digital content as evidence in international legal proceedings concerning violent conflicts.  Drawing on her background in both law and political science, Christine’s research utilizes socio-legal methods—specifically empirical, qualitative methods—and relies on the digital divide discourse as an analytical framework through which to understand and unpack digital disparity’s consequences in international legal process.

Christine’s research interest in digital inequity, and the intersection of international law and digital technologies more broadly, has also led to research outputs in the areas of digital inequality in international cyber law and the implications of AI-driven cyberattacks on conventional international criminal law frameworks.

Publications

Key publications: 

 

Articles

  • Carpenter, C. (2025).  Whose [Crime] Is It Anyway? Adapting the Crime of Aggression to Grapple with AI & the Future of International Crimes. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 23(1): 69-86. doi: 10.1093/jicj/mqae055 (open access)
  • Carpenter, C. (2022).  Reconsidering Transitional Justice: Revolutions and Regime Change in 20th Century China.  Journal of International Criminal Justice, 20(3): 597-625. doi: 10.1093/jicj/mqac025.  
  • Carpenter, C. (2020).  Privacy and Proportionality: Examining Mass Electronic Surveillance under Article 8 and the Fourth Amendment.  International & Comparative Law Review, 20(1): 27-57. doi: 10.2478/iclr-2020-0002.

Presentations

  • Carpenter, C. The Digital Divide in International Cyber Law: Avoiding Reproduction of Colonial Core-Periphery Dynamics Through Intentional Cyber Infrastructure, panel convened for ABILA’s International Law Weekend (New York City, 23 October 2025).
  • Carpenter, C. Digital Evidence as Digital Surveillance: Ethical Considerations for Platforming Atrocities through the Lens of Surveillance, presented at the European Society of International Law Interest Group on International Law & Technology Workshop (Berlin, 10 September 2024).
  • Carpenter, C. & Palmer, M. The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: The Digital Divide in International Cyberspace, presented at the European Society of International Law Interest Group on International Law & Technology Workshop (Vilnius, 4 September 2024).
  • Carpenter, C. Whose [Crime] Is It Anyway? Adapting the Crime of Aggression to Grapple with AI & the Future of International Crimes, presented on the Emerging Voices in International Law Panel at the ABILA’s International Law Weekend (New York City, 21 October 2023).
  • Carpenter, C. The Digital [Evidence] Divide: How Access to Digital Technologies Creates Disparities in Access to International Justice, presented at the Law & Society Association’s Annual Meeting (San Juan, 3 June 2023).

Short Pieces

Thesis Title: The Digital Evidence Divide: An Analysis of Gender Digital Inequity’s Impact on Digital Evidence in International Justice
Supervisor: Dr Iza Hussin
Chris Carpenter

Contact Details

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