PANEL
The Legal Battlefield: Nations Interpreting International Law in Cyberspace
DAY 2 / 13:30 – 14:30 / CONFERENCE ROOM
The rapid evolution of the digital age and the rise of new threats have challenged traditional mechanisms for enforcing international law, raising questions about its effectiveness and adaptability. As more states publish national positions on how existing rules apply, critical questions emerge about consistency, credibility, and the practical impact of these interpretations. Are states committed to respecting international legal principles and obligations online as they are offline, or do they view cyberspace as a legally ambiguous arena for advancing strategic interests?
Speaker
Ianneke
Borgersen Karlsen
Norway
Senior Adviser on Cyber Issues, Department of Security and Civil-Military Cooperation, Ministry of Defence, Norway
Ianneke Borgersen Karlsen currently serves as Senior Adviser on cyber issues in the Department of Security and Civil-Military Cooperation at the Norwegian Ministry of Defence. In this role, she provides oversight and security policy advice on the use and understanding of the cyber domain and on emerging disruptive technologies for the defence sector, crisis management and the development of strategic-level policies and guidance.
Prior to her current position, she served as Assistant Defence Attaché at the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations, where she also held the role of national cyber coordinator. Before this, she worked in the Ministry of Defence’s legal section, where she provided legal advice on cyber issues.
Ms. Karlsen holds a Master’s degree in law (Cand. Jur.) from the University of Oslo, with additional graduate-level studies in international law and human rights law. She also has a military background in the Norwegian Armed Forces, having completed the Field Artillery Officer Candidate Training School.
Speaker
Kubo
Mačák
United Kingdom
Professor of International Law, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
Kubo Mačák is Professor of International Law at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom. He is the author of Internationalized Armed Conflicts in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2018), co-author of the Handbook on Developing a National Position on International Law and Cyber Activities: A Practical Guide for States (2025), and has published widely in leading journals such as the International & Comparative Law Quarterly, the International Review of the Red Cross, and the Journal of Conflict and Security Law.
He serves as the General Editor of the Cyber Law Toolkit, an award-winning online resource on the international law of cyber operations. From 2019 to 2023, he was a Legal Adviser at the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.
Speaker
Ernst
Noorman
Netherlands
Cyber Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands
Ambassador Ernst Noorman has been the Cyber Ambassador for the Netherlands since 2023. Prior to this, he was the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Colombia, Afghanistan, Suriname and Burkina Faso and the Director for International Affairs at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
Moderator
Marta Pelechová
Czech Republic
Vice-Chair of the UN AHC on Cybercrime, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic
Marta Pelechová is a Vice-Chair of the United Nations Ad-Hoc Committee on Cybercrime. She has been the lead negotiator of the UN Convention against Cybercrime on behalf of the Czech Republic, the head of the Czech delegation to the UN Ad-Hoc Committee to elaborate the Convention, and the head of delegation to the UN OEWG on Cybersecurity. In 2025, she was appointed as the Special Envoy for Cyberspace at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
For many years, she has been representing the Czech Republic in various bilateral and multilateral meetings on cybercrime and cybersecurity, including sessions of international organizations as well as meetings with the non-governmental sector.
She is part of a Czech capacity building team (CyberVAC) providing expertise in the area of cybersecurity and fight against cybercrime all over the world.
Under the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2022, she was the Chair of the EU Council Working Group on Cooperation in Criminal Matters (COPEN) for UN cybercrime issues.
She has frequently participated in various United Nations fora – e.g. she served as the Czech head of delegation to the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), the head of delegation and a focal point to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and its working groups, and the head of delegation and a focal point to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and its working groups.