Hitomi Takemura

Institution: Hitotsubashi University

Period of stay: 28 April - 19 September 2025

Contact: hk592@cam.ac.uk

Profile: 

Hitomi Takemura, a professor of international law, Hitotsubashi University, Japan. Her research focuses on the effectiveness, efficiency, and legitimacy of international criminal justice, as well as the obligations and responsibilities of states and individuals for core crimes. She has gained a wealth of experience researching and teaching international law at Japanese universities. She is passionate about participating in international activities. She earned an LL.M. in international law from Hitotsubashi University, an LL.M. in public international law and international criminal law from Leiden University, and a PhD in law from the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland. She also worked as an intern at the Appeal Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2003 and for the International Criminal Court in 2005. She was a Fulbright researcher at the Fletcher of Law and Diplomacy in 2024.

Research Area:

International Criminal Law

Research Title:

Due Diligence Obligations of States, Individuals and International Organisations in Preventing Core Crimes under International Law

Research Outline:

This research aims to clarify the scope of the duty of States, individuals and international organisations to prevent core crimes by focusing on the ‘due diligence’ standard. Although the notion of due diligence is recognised as an obligation of conduct on the part of a subject of law, due diligence obligation on the part of individuals has not been studied in depth. The reason behind this is partly the fact that international criminal law research has used the notion of command/superior responsibility when it comes to individuals’ duties to prevent core crimes. While the scopes of duties to prevent core crimes for States, individuals and international organisations may be different, this research tries to gain an understanding of the unified picture of the duties of both states and individuals to prevent core crimes through clarifying the standard of due diligence. Furthermore, a distinctive feature of this research project is the consideration of the responsibilities of international organisations. With the awareness that the substance and scope of the obligation to prevent crimes under international law may be akin to the duty of due diligence that international law has developed in other areas, such as environmental law, this research will be conducted by subcategorising the subject of law into States, individuals and international organisations.

Publications:

Hitomi Takemura, The Rohingya Crisis and the International Criminal Court (Springer, 2023)

Shuichi Furuya, Hitomi Takemura, Kuniko Ozaki (eds.), Global Impact of the Ukraine Conflict: Perspectives from International Law (Springer, 2023)

Hitomi Takemura, International Human Right to Conscientious Objection to Military Service and Individual Duties to Disobey Manifestly Illeg...
International Human Right to Conscientious Objection to Military Service and Individual Duties to Disobey Manifestly Illegal Orders (Springer, 2008)

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