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International Humanitarian Law Commons™
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Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in International Humanitarian Law
Targeted Capture, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt
Targeted Capture, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article confronts one of the most difficult and contested questions in the debate about targeted killing that has raged in academic and policy circles over the last decade. Suppose that, in wartime, the target of a military strike may readily be neutralized through nonlethal means such as capture. Do the attacking forces have an obligation to pursue that nonlethal alternative? The Article defends the duty to employ less restrictive means (“LRM”) in wartime, and it advances several novel arguments in defense of that obligation. In contrast to those who look to external restraints--such as those imposed by international human …
International Criminal Law For Retributivists, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt
International Criminal Law For Retributivists, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Responding to the proliferation of international criminal tribunals during the last two decades, scholars have engaged in a rich debate about the normative foundations of international criminal law (“ICL”). The retributive theory of punishment--which justifies punishment based on the culpability of the accused, rather than by reference to its social benefits--has met with significant skepticism in these discussions. Some have argued that unique features of international criminal justice--for example, the extreme selectivity of punishment or the lack of certain social or political preconditions--are a poor match for retributive theory. Others have ignored retributivism altogether, or afforded the theory only passing …
The Pluralism Of International Criminal Law, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt
The Pluralism Of International Criminal Law, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article develops a pluralistic account of substantive international criminal law (ICL). Challenging the dominant assumption among theorists and practitioners, it argues that the search for consistency and uniformity in ICL is misguided, that the law applicable to international crimes should not be the same in all cases, and that those guilty of like crimes should not always receive like sentences. In lieu of a one-size-fits-all criminal law, this Article proposes a four-tiered model of ICL that takes seriously the national laws of the state or states that, under normal circumstances, would be expected to assert jurisdiction over a case. …
Duress, Demanding Heroism And Proportionality: The Erdemovic Case And Beyond, Luis E. Chiesa
Duress, Demanding Heroism And Proportionality: The Erdemovic Case And Beyond, Luis E. Chiesa
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article discusses the Erdemovic case in order toexamine whether duress should be a defense to a crime against humanity. Although the Article contends that the arguments in favor of permitting the defendant to claim duress weaken as the seriousness of the offense charged increases, the Article also argues that the duress defense should usually succeed if it can be proved that the actor could not have prevented the threatened harm by refusing to capitulate to the coercion. After balancing the competing considerations, the Author concludes that the defendant in Erdemovic should have been able to claim duress as a …
Justice Without Politics: Prosecutorial Discretion And The International Criminal Court, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt
Justice Without Politics: Prosecutorial Discretion And The International Criminal Court, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The ICC Prosecutor's own charging policies should be prepared to give way to the judgments of legitimate political actors in times of political transition when actual arrests are more likely and competing justice proposals pose a more troubling challenge to the ICC's authority. In that scenario, I argue that the Prosecutor should encourage legitimate political actors to reach policy decisions that will command deference by the ICC. Such deference could take one or both of the following forms: (1) explicit deference to political actors, principally the U.N. Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, and (2) implied …
The Death Penalty--An Obstacle To The "War On Terrorism"?, Thomas Michael Mcdonnell
The Death Penalty--An Obstacle To The "War On Terrorism"?, Thomas Michael Mcdonnell
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
September 11 seared our collective memory perhaps even more vividly than December 7, 1941, and has evoked a natural demand both for retribution and for measures to keep us safe. Given the existing statutory and judicial authority for capital punishment, the U.S. Government has to confront the issue whether to seek the death penalty against those who are linked to the suicide attacks or to the organization that sponsored them or both. Meting out the death penalty to international terrorists involves difficult moral, legal, and policy questions. The September 11 crimes were not only domestic crimes, but also international ones. …
Rethinking Genocidal Intent: The Case For A Knowledge-Based Interpretation, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt
Rethinking Genocidal Intent: The Case For A Knowledge-Based Interpretation, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
From its initial codification in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide to its most recent inclusion in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the international crime of genocide has been defined as involving an "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such." The predominant interpetation of this language views genocide as a crime of "specific" or "special" intent, in which the perpetrator deliberately seeks the whole or partial destruction of a protected group. This Note pursues an alternate approach. Relying on both the history of …