Cyber Law Toolkit 2027 Update: Call for Scenario Proposals on International Law and Cyber Operations (EUR 1,000 Honorarium)

The Cyber Law Toolkit has issued a call for submissions of new scenarios for its next general update, scheduled for September 2027. Proposals of no more than 500 words should set out a factual description of a hypothetical cyber incident, or a series of cyber incidents, and explain in narrative form, with footnote references to the relevant sources, the issues of international law that those facts raise.

The call particularly welcomes proposals that explore novel fact patterns or legal questions not yet addressed in the Toolkit.

The Cyber Law Toolkit (International Cyber Law in Practice: Interactive Toolkit) is an award-winning interactive online resource on international law and cyber activities, designed as a self-learning and capacity-building tool for State representatives and other legal professionals. It contains nearly 40 hypothetical scenarios, each presenting cyber incidents inspired by real-world examples with detailed legal analysis. The Toolkit has been cited in a growing number of State national positions on international law in cyberspace and is available free of charge at cyberlaw.ccdcoe.org.

The project is supported by six partner institutions: the Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NÚKIB), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), the University of Exeter (United Kingdom), the U.S. Naval War College and Wuhan University (China). The core project team is Dr Kubo Mačák (University of Exeter), General Editor; Mr Tomáš Minárik (NÚKIB), Managing Editor; and Mr Štěpán Daněk (CCDCOE), Scenario Editor.

• A proposal of no more than 500 words.
• A factual description of a hypothetical cyber incident or series of cyber incidents.
• A narrative explanation of the international law issues raised by those facts, with footnote references to the relevant sources.
• The author’s name, affiliation and e-mail address.
• A brief note on the author’s research interests and key publications relevant to the proposal.

Authors are invited to consult the existing Toolkit scenarios for the expected level of complexity and style of analysis.

The call is addressed to interested authors generally. It sets no nationality, affiliation or qualification restriction, so researchers, academics and practitioners working on international law and cyber operations may submit. The Toolkit’s stated audience is legal practitioners with a working knowledge of international law.

Authors of successful proposals will be offered the opportunity to develop their submissions into full-length scenarios of approximately 3,000 to 5,000 words, following the production timeline set by the Toolkit. Scenarios approved after both internal and external peer review will be included in the 2027 update of the Toolkit.

Scenario authors will receive an honorarium of €1,000 per scenario, and their contribution will be publicly acknowledged in the Toolkit. The call does not mention any fee for submitting a proposal.

E-mail your proposal to cyberlaw@exeter.ac.uk no later than Monday, 16 November 2026. Questions about the Toolkit, or about whether a possible scenario proposal is suitable, may be sent to the Scenario Editor, Mr Štěpán Daněk, at stepan.danek@ccdcoe.org.

• September 2026: Announcement of the call for submissions
• 16 November 2026: Deadline for submissions
• 1 December 2026: Notification of results
• 1 March 2027: Deadline for submission of draft full scenarios
• March 2027: Internal review
• April to May 2027: External peer review
• 16 July 2027: Deadline for submission of the final text of the scenarios
• September 2027: Publication of the successful scenarios in the Toolkit