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International Law

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International Committee of the Red Cross

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Custom's Method And Process: Lessons From Humanitarian Law, Monica Hakimi Mar 2016

Custom's Method And Process: Lessons From Humanitarian Law, Monica Hakimi

Book Chapters

A central question in the literature on customary international law (CIL) goes to method: what is the proper method for "finding" CIL - that is, for determining that particular norms qualify as ClL? The traditional method is to identify a widespread state practice, plus evidence that states believe that the practice reflects the law (opinio juris). That method has long been criticized as incoherent, unworkable, and out of touch with modern sensibilities. Thus, much of the CIL literature addresses its perceived problems. The principal goals of this literature are to help resolve whether norms that are claimed to be CIL …


Behind The Flag Of Dunant: Secrecy And The Compliance Mission Of The International Committee Of The Red Cross, Steven Ratner Jan 2013

Behind The Flag Of Dunant: Secrecy And The Compliance Mission Of The International Committee Of The Red Cross, Steven Ratner

Book Chapters

In the world where most NGOs see their role in the international legal process as public advocacy, often through naming and shaming, the International Committee of the Red Cross stands apart. Much of its work consists of confidential visits and secret communications to warring parties. It rarely identifies violators publicly; it leaves its legal position on many issues ambiguous; and at times it avoids legal discourse entirely. This aversion to transparency is not only at odds with the assumptions of the naming and shaming strategy regarding the most effective means to induce compliance. It also makes it almost impossible for …


Persuading To Comply: On The Deployment And Avoidance Of Legal Argumentation, Steven Ratner Jan 2012

Persuading To Comply: On The Deployment And Avoidance Of Legal Argumentation, Steven Ratner

Book Chapters

For those international actors seeking to promote respect for international law, persuasion -- the process of social interaction whereby one actor seeks to convince another to believe or do something through principled rational arguments and interactions, without any overt coercion -- is at the core of the enterprise. Yet the scholarship in international law and international relations is woefully thin on the content of such a communication of persuasion, and, in particular, on the role of legal argumentation. This paper constructs a theoretical model for determining when and how international actors deploy legal argumentation in contrast to other arguments that …