Ruby Rosselle ‘Ross’ Tugade is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Law & Justice of the University of New South Wales Sydney, supported by an Australian Government Research and Training Program (RTP) scholarship. Her doctoral project seeks to build an international legal history of anti-communism in the Philippines, weaving critical theories of international law with an analysis of state violence and resistance to it.

Prior to commencing her PhD studies, she lectured at the University of the Philippines College of Law and the Ateneo de Manila University. She is licensed to practice law in the Philippines and admitted into the List of Assistants to Counsel of the International Criminal Court, one of eight Filipino lawyers accredited by the court and the youngest so far. She is an affiliate of the ANU Philippines Institute and a casual sessional academic at the Coral Bell School, Department of International Relations.

Her published scholarly work spans various topics on international human rights, international humanitarian law, transitional justice, and general international law. She also sits on the Editorial Board of Feminist Legal Studies and the managing editor of the Philippine Yearbook of International Law.

As a practicing lawyer, Ross has litigated before domestic tribunals, including the Philippine Supreme Court in public interest cases. She worked in the Philippine human rights and accountability space in various capacities: as a civil servant, a victim community advocate, and independent consultant. Her international legal practice is in the field of international criminal law, in contexts of past and ongoing mass atrocity contexts in different jurisdictions. She remains active in human rights legal advocacy as a member of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), the oldest human rights lawyers’ network in the Philippines.