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Full-Text Articles in Law

Japan’S 2015 Security Legislation: Challenges To Its Implementation Under International Law, Hitoshi Nasu Jun 2016

Japan’S 2015 Security Legislation: Challenges To Its Implementation Under International Law, Hitoshi Nasu

International Law Studies

Japan’s new security legislation, enacted on September 30, 2015 amid fierce debate over its constitutionality, is designed to enable a “seamless response” to any security situation that may arise. While public debate has been fixated on the re-interpretation of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which underpins the theoretical foundation of this new legislation, there are also important international law issues that need to be addressed. After briefly reviewing the historical background leading to the adoption of the new security legislation and its contents, this article examines how the Self-Defense Force (SDF) can respond with the use of force to …


International Law, Legal Diplomacy, And The Counter-Isil Campaign: Some Observations, Brian Egan May 2016

International Law, Legal Diplomacy, And The Counter-Isil Campaign: Some Observations, Brian Egan

International Law Studies

Speech as prepared for delivery by Brian Egan, Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State; 110th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law Washington, DC, April 1, 2016


Too Many Cooks In The Kitchen: Examining The Major Obstacles To Achieving Peace In Syria's Civil War, Amanda Pitrof Feb 2016

Too Many Cooks In The Kitchen: Examining The Major Obstacles To Achieving Peace In Syria's Civil War, Amanda Pitrof

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The struggle for peace has been waged over and over, in numerous countries. Syria is no exception. It is a country with a history of violent conflict and political instability. The current regime is authoritarian to the extreme, and the range of competing religious interests is diverse. The civil war now consuming the country has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced millions, and thrown the country's future into question. This article will first briefly examine the country's turbulent history and the development of the current conflict. Next, it will evaluate previous attempts to solve the conflict. Then, it will …


The Combatant’S Stance: Autonomous Weapons On The Battlefield, Jens David Ohlin Jan 2016

The Combatant’S Stance: Autonomous Weapons On The Battlefield, Jens David Ohlin

International Law Studies

Do Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS) qualify as moral or rational agents? This paper argues that combatants on the battlefield are required by the demands of behavior interpretation to approach a sophisticated AWS with the “Combatant’s Stance”—the ascription of mental states required to understand the system’s strategic behavior on the battlefield. However, the fact that an AWS must be engaged with the combatant’s stance does not entail that other persons are relieved of criminal or moral responsibility for war crimes committed by autonomous weapons. This article argues that military commanders can and should be held responsible for perpetrating war crimes through …


Sexual Assault As A Law Of War Violation & U.S. Service-Members’ Duty To Report, Chris Jenks, Jay Morse Jan 2016

Sexual Assault As A Law Of War Violation & U.S. Service-Members’ Duty To Report, Chris Jenks, Jay Morse

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This Essay considers when U.S. service members deployed to Afghanistan are obligated to report allegations of sexual assault by Afghan security forces against Afghan nationals to the U.S. military. The answer requires applying a longstanding Department of Defense policy for reporting law of war violations and hinges on whether there is a nexus between the sexual assault and the armed conflict in Afghanistan. Although recent attention on this topic has brought much-needed visibility to sexual assault in conflict zones, the overbroad assertions of the media and the military have unfortunately fostered more confusion than clarity. This Essay does not attempt …


Unraveling The Law Of War, Stephen J. Ellmann Jan 2016

Unraveling The Law Of War, Stephen J. Ellmann

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.