Sergey Vasiliev is a professor of international law at the Department of Public Law. His main fields of expertise within public international law include international criminal law, international humanitarian law, human rights, procedure before international courts and tribunals, and institutional and governance aspects of international adjudication. He has also taught comparative (criminal) law, transnational criminal law, and European Union criminal law.

Vasiliev's research interests cover the critical and comparative approaches to the history and methodology of international law; the international rule of law and the relationship between states and international courts; accountability for core international crimes; and the right to resist and transitional justice after conflict and periods of oppression.

Previously he worked as an associate professor (2020-24) and an assistant professor (2019-20) at the section of criminal law of the Law Faculty, University of Amsterdam, where he also served as the founding Director of the Amsterdam Center of Criminal Justice and the academic director of the two-track LL.M International Criminal Law.

His prior academic appointments include an assistant professorship in public international law at the Grotius Center for International Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, Leiden University (2016-19) and postdoctoral researcher positions on pluralism/harmonization in international criminal law (Law Faculty, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and on general principles and rules of international criminal procedure (University of Amsterdam).

Vasiliev defended his PhD in international criminal procedure at the University of Amsterdam in 2014 (cum laude).

Recent contributions (not yet in Pure):

• D. Robinson, S. Vasiliev, V. Oosterveld, and E. van Sliedregt, An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure, 5th edition (Cambridge University Press, 2024)
• S. Vasiliev, ‘Navalny is Russia's most powerful antidote to cynicism’, Raam op Rusland, 19 February 2024
• S. Vasiliev, ‘Friendly Feast during the Plague: Is the Pre-Trial Chamber Losing its Way on the Palestine Arrest Warrant Proceedings?’, EJIL: Talk! 1 August 2024
• S. Vasiliev, 'Tackling Israel’s Interference with the International Criminal Court: A Wake-up Call from the Netherlands', Verfassungsblog, 21 October 2024 
• S. Vasiliev, 'Governing International Justice' in Rick Lawson and Ramses Wessel (eds), Unity in Diversity: Perspectives on the Law of International Organizations : Liber Amicorum for Niels M. Blokker (Brill 2025)

In the media:

• Rabia Ali, ‘Explainer - What next as ICC prosecutor seeks warrants for Israeli leaders?’, Anadolu Agency, 22 May 2024
• Michel Krielaars en Eva Cukier, ‘Zomeravondgesprek met Sergey Vasiliev en Robert Serry: “Russen niet geschikt voor democratie? Dat cliché accepteer ik niet”’, NRC, 27 July 2024
• David Kattenburg, ‘Justice delayed, not yet denied: an update on the ICC arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant’, Mondoweiss, 27 August 2024
• Moscow Times, ‘Mongolia’s Reluctance to Arrest Putin a ‘Major Setback’ for International Law, Experts Say’, The Moscow Times, 2 September 2024
• BBC Russian Service/Отдел расследований, Русская служба Би-би-си, ‘Гаага уравняла Нетаньяху с Путиным? Двойные стандарты для Палестины и Украины’ (‘Has The Hague equated Netanyahu with Putin? Double Standards for Palestine and Ukraine’, BBC News Русская служба, 16 December 2024