5 September 2026

New article: why international law needs agent-based modelling

Journal of International Dispute Settlement, 2026, Vol. 17(3)

Katharina Luckner, Adarsh Prabhakaran, Veronika Fikfak and Niccolò Ridi make the case for agent-based modelling as a tool for studying international law. Using state responses to European Court of Human Rights judgments, the article shows how simulating the choices of governments, courts and litigants over time can reveal patterns that case-by-case analysis misses.

The piece sets out how the method works, where it fits alongside doctrinal and statistical research, and what it can tell us about when and why states comply with judgments.