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Full-Text Articles in Law

Humanitarian Intervention Post-Syria: A Grotian Moment, Milena Sterio Apr 2014

Humanitarian Intervention Post-Syria: A Grotian Moment, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Grotian Moment is a term that signifies a "paradigm-shifting development in which new rules and doctrines of customary international law emerge with unusual rapidity and acceptance." A Grotian Moment is thus "an instance in which a fundamental change in the exiting international system happens, thereby provoking the emergence of a new principle of customary law with outstanding speed." Professor Richard Falk invented the term Grotian Moment in 1985. Since then, the term has been employed by experts in a variety of ways. Here, I will adopt the following meaning of Grotian Moment as proposed by Professor Michael Scharf: "a transformative …


Humanitarian Intervention Post-Syria: Legitimate And Legal?, Milena Sterio Jan 2014

Humanitarian Intervention Post-Syria: Legitimate And Legal?, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article looks at the state of affairs under international law by focusing on the existing ban on the use of force and the established exceptions thereto as of December 2014. Topics discussed include the concept of humanitarian intervention, the civil crises in Syria, and international law for the legality of military intervention in Syria. It also examines Harold Koh's proposed normative framework for humanitarian intervention.


Deciding To Intervene, Anna Spain Jan 2014

Deciding To Intervene, Anna Spain

Publications

Decisions about intervention into today's armed conflicts are difficult, dangerous, and politically complicated. There are no safe choices. Amid the climate of urgency and uncertainty in which intervention decision-making occurs, international law serves as a guide by providing rules about the legality of intervention. These rules assert that, except for in cases of self-defense, choices about when and how to intervene are to be made by the United Nations Security Council. What the rules do not provide, however, is effective guidance for the political choices the Council makes, such as how to prioritize among competing norms. When, for example, should …


Humanitarian Intervention: Evolving Norms, Fragmenting Consensus (Remarks), Rosa Brooks Jan 2014

Humanitarian Intervention: Evolving Norms, Fragmenting Consensus (Remarks), Rosa Brooks

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Traditionally, the evolution of customary international law was understood as a gradual process: in some idealized model, we might see first a few states, and then a few more, implicitly agreeing to follow a practice, and then we would gradually begin to see additional states doing the same thing. We would also gradually accumulate evidence that these various states are acting in such a way because they consider themselves legally bound to do so. Then, over time, we’ll see more and more states following suit both in word and deed, until at some point we can say with a great …