Zijn scriptie gaat over de vraag of illegale exploitatie van natuurlijke bronnen als een oorlogsmisdrijf kan worden beschouwd. Scriptiebegeleider was mevr. prof. dr. L. van den Herik.
Van de scriptie van Ormel zegt de jury: Ormel’s thesis constitutes a creative and independent product. He has chosen to limit himself to a clearly defined and not overly large topic and he has carefully and precisely studied the relevant legal materials in the field. Ormel shows a very good understanding of the subject, and the social relevance of the thesis is well-argued. The result of his work is a well-written, convincingly constructed, and innovative piece of work, which is an example for all Master’s theses in the field.