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Comparative and Foreign Law Commons

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Military, War, and Peace

University of Michigan Law School

Journal

Treaties

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Comparative and Foreign Law

Targeting And The Concept Of Intent, Jens David Ohlin Jan 2013

Targeting And The Concept Of Intent, Jens David Ohlin

Michigan Journal of International Law

International law generally prohibits military forces from intentionally targeting civilians; this is the principle of distinction. In contrast, unintended collateral damage is permissible unless the anticipated civilian deaths outweigh the expected military advantage of the strike; this is the principle of proportionality. These cardinal targeting rules of international humanitarian law are generally assumed by military lawyers to be relatively well-settled. However, recent international tribunals applying this law in a string of little-noticed decisions have completely upended this understanding. Armed with criminal law principles from their own domestic systems — often civil law jurisdictions — prosecutors, judges and even scholars have …


Illegal Peace?: An Inquiry Into The Legality Of Power-Sharing With Warlords And Rebels In Africa, Jeremy I. Levitt Jan 2006

Illegal Peace?: An Inquiry Into The Legality Of Power-Sharing With Warlords And Rebels In Africa, Jeremy I. Levitt

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article represents the first conscientious attempt to address these questions, present a conceptual framework for examining the legal and political efficacy of coercing democratically constituted governments into sharing power, and define a lawful basis or approach to sharing power when governments are confronted with the aforementioned scenario. The Article is polemical and questions the dominant logic that political power-sharing is lawful, legitimate, and unequivocally serves the public good, arguing that power-sharing deals that ignore controlling rules are unlawful and not viable.