PILAC invites applications from current Harvard Law School students for the position of Research Assistant on cyber operations/Tallinn 2.0. PILAC Fellow Prof. Michael N. Schmitt directs the Tallinn 2.0 Project. This RA position—which will be supervised by a PILAC Senior Researcher—will contribute directly to the Tallinn 2.0 Project. (More about the project, below.)

The primary anticipated tasks of this position—which is remunerated—are to cite-check and Bluebook expert drafts of the (forthcoming) Tallinn 2.0 Manual. The position is expected to begin as soon as possible and to go through the fall 2015 semester; there is a potential that the position may be extended through the spring semester. This position requires exceptional attention to detail as well as (ideally) extensive experience cite-checking and Bluebooking.

Interested HLS students should submit the following as soon as possible to pilac@law.harvard.edu: 

  • A cover e-mail message, detailing your experience providing expert cite-checking and Bluebooking support, your interest in cyber operations and international law, and any relevant experience (courses included); 
  • An up-to-date resume or c.v.; and 
  • An indication of when you would be available to begin.

More about the Tallinn 2.0 Project from its website: 

Tallinn 2.0
Tallinn 2.0 is the follow-on project to the “Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare.” Designed to expand the scope of the original Tallinn Manual, Tallinn 2.0 will result in the second edition of the Tallinn Manual and be published by Cambridge University Press in 2016.
The focus of the original Tallinn Manual is on the most disruptive and destructive cyber operations – those that qualify as ‘armed attacks’ and therefore allow States to respond in self-defence, and those taking place during armed conflict. Since the threat of cyber operations with such consequences is especially alarming to States, most academic research has focused on these issues.
Yet, States are challenged daily by malevolent cyber operations that do not rise to the aforementioned levels. The Tallinn 2.0 project examines the international legal framework that applies to such cyber operations. The relevant legal regimes include the law of State responsibility, the law of the sea, international telecommunications law, space law, diplomatic and consular law, and, with respect to individuals, human rights law. Tallinn 2.0 also explores how the general principles of international law, such as sovereignty, jurisdiction, due diligence and the prohibition of intervention, apply in the cyber context.
Professor Michael Schmitt, a Senior Fellow at the Centre from the United States Naval War College and the University of Exeter, directs the Tallinn 2.0 project. Ms Liis Vihul of the Centre serves as the Project Manager, while a team of legal and IT experts from the Centre supports the effort. The expanded edition of the Tallinn Manual will, like its predecessor, represent only the views of the International Group of Experts, and not of NATO, the NATO CCD COE, its Sponsoring Nations, or any other State or organization.