[3][4] He later expanded on the definition, describing lawfare as "the exploitation of real, perceived, or even orchestrated incidents of law-of-war violations being employed as an unconventional means of confronting" a superior military power.
[10] Kitty Orde's 2016 book on lawfare gives the example of pro-Israeli group Shurat HaDin preventing a Gaza-bound flotilla from leaving Greece, acting on behalf of the Israeli government.
[14] The NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence has cited the alleged use of human shields by groups like Hamas as an example of lawfare, hinging on exploiting Israeli claims that they minimize civilian casualties, as well as the sensitivity of Western public opinion.
This tactic allows Hamas to either accuse Israel of war crimes if civilian casualties occur or to protect its assets and continue operations if the IDF limits its military response.
[11]: 165–168 In support of its claims, China has issued official state declarations (e.g., notes verbal) and enacted domestic laws that assert its sovereignty or effective control of portions of the sea.
[26] The government of China has also used lawsuits in foreign courts to repress Chinese dissidents abroad,[27][28] which has also been labeled as lawfare by academic Diego A. Zambrano of Stanford Law School.
"[33] At the same 2024 Vancouver International Security Summit, Panelist Scott McGregor, a former military and RCMP intelligence official, cited his work as an author resulted in a defamation claim against him and his co-author, Ina Mitchell, by a group associated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
"In lawfare, there is an intention to suppress what you’re saying, to deter," said McGregor, noting that the authors became a target of the CCP despite British Columbia's new law to prevent strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP).