Ken Watkin

Early life and education Watkin was born in Kingston, Ontario, a non-identical triplet, along with a brother (Kerry) and sister (Kathy); he also has an older brother (Robert). He and his siblings attended Loyalist Collegiate.

Career

Pre-JAG

Ken Watkin started his career as an infantry officer in the Royal Canadian Regiment. His first tour of duty after graduating from The Royal Military College was with the Royal Canadian Regiment battalion in Gagetown New Brunswick.

Watkin served as a Canadian Forces legal officer, starting in 1982, for 24 years prior to his appointment to JAG. He was trial counsel at courts-martial and appellate counsel before the Canadian Court Martial Appeal Court. He also questioned Labbe's "openness in reporting to higher headquarters." He advised the Canadian Forces command that they could be "criminally negligent" if they were to transfer detainees to a risk of torture in Afghan hands. Watkin declined to answer questions on the basis of solicitor-client privilege when called to testify in Canada's House of Commons, saying that the privilege owed to the Government of Canada prevented him answering a number of the House's questions. Craig Scott, an Osgoode Hall Law School professor of international human rights law, said: "If there's this paper trail of good legal advice going against what the government is doing, it's even more likely (the federal government violated its obligations under international law)."

On the Commission were former Israeli Supreme Court Justice, Jacob Turkel, and former Technion University President, Amos Horev, as well as two other members added in July 2010. (Shabtai Rosenne, Bar Ilan University Professor of International Law, also served on the Commission from its establishment until his death on 21 September 2010. ) In addition, the Commission had two foreign observers, Watkin and former First Minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble, who took part in hearings and discussions, but did not vote on the final conclusions.

Awards

Appointed to the Order of Military Merit (2002) 2008 Lieber Society Military Prize, American Society of International Law, for the article "Assessing Proportionality: Moral Complexity and Legal Rules"

Select works

Books The Law in War: A Concise Overview, Routledge, 2018, Fighting at the Legal Boundaries: Controlling the Use of Force in Contemporary Conflict, Oxford University Press, 2016, "Stability Operations: A Guiding Framework for 'Small Wars' and other Conflicts of the 21st Century?", Chapter in The war in Afghanistan: a legal analysis, Michael N. Schmitt, Government Printing Office, 2009, "21st Century Conflict and International Humanitarian Law: Status Quo or Change?", Chapter in International law and armed conflict: exploring the faultlines, Michael N. Schmitt, Jelena Pejic, Yôrām Dinšṭein, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2007, Warriors without rights?: combatants, unprivileged belligerents, and the struggle over legitimacy, Kenneth Watkin, Harvard School of Public Health, Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research, 2005

Articles "Opportunity Lost: Organized Armed Groups and the ICRC 'Direct Participation in Hostilities' Interpretive Guidance", Kenneth Watkin, 42 NYU Journal of International Law and Politics 641, 2010 "Assessing Proportionality: Moral Complexity and Legal Rules", 8 Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 3, 2007 "Tergeting: Pragmatism and the Real World", Ken Watkin, 8.2 The Canadian Army Journal 66, Summer 2005 "Canada/United States Military Interoperability and Humanitarian Law Issues: Land Mines, Terrorism, Military Objectives and Targeted Killing", Kenneth Watkin, 15 Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law 281, 2004–05 "Controlling the Use of Force: A Role for Human Rights Norms in Contemporary Armed Conflict", Kenneth Watkin, The American Journal of International Law, 2004 "Guerriers, obéissance et primauté du droit", Kenneth Watkin, 3 Le Bulletin de Doctrine et d'Instruction de l'Armee de Terre 24, Winter 2000/Spring 2001