International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

The Development Of International Law In Relation To Crimes Against Humanity, Nikki Redelijk

Global Tides

This paper will look at the development of international law in relation to crimes against humanity. First, juridically applied at the Nuremberg Trials, crimes against humanity has historically offered a compelling juxtaposition between naturalist and positivist law. Hence, this paper attempts to shed light on these juxtapositions, as seen by the respective arguments taken up by the Allies and Germany at Nuremberg. Likewise, this paper will illustrate the complexities within the definition itself. Finally, this paper will clarify the differing definitions taken up at the various tribunals following Nuremberg, leading up to the Rome Statute. It is a hope, that …

Restitution For Haiti, Reparations For All: Haiti’S Place In The Global Reparations Movement, Brian Concannon Jr., Kristina Fried, Alexandra V. Filippova

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

Haiti’s claim for restitution of the debt coerced by France in exchange for Haiti’s 1804 independence has unique legal advantages that can open the door to broader reparations for the descendants of all people harmed by slavery. But in order to assert the claim, Haiti first needs help reclaiming its democracy from a corrupt, repressive regime propped up by the powerful countries that prospered through slavery and overthrew the Haitian President who dared to assert his country’s legal claim. This article explores Haiti’s Independence Debt, and the fight for restitution of it, in the context of two centuries of continued …

Stars, Stripes, And Surveillance: The United States' Failure To Regulate Data Privacy, Sam Begland

American University Law Review

In the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s devastating decision to strip Americans of their constitutional right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, data privacy is more salient than ever. Without adequate data regulations, state governments and anti-abortion activists alike can harass and prosecute pregnant people attempting to exercise their bodily autonomy. This comment argues that the United States has violated its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 17 by failing to protect against interference with the use and collection of reproductive health data. Further, this comment analyzes interpretations of …

Rurality As An Intersecting Axis Of Inequality In The Work Of The U.N. Treaty Bodies, Amanda Lyons

Washington and Lee Law Review

Rurality intersects with other identities, power dynamics, and structural inequalities—including those related to gender, race, disability, and age—to create unique patterns of human rights deprivations, violations, and challenges in rural spaces. Therefore, accurately assessing human rights and duties in rural spaces requires attention to the dynamics of rurality in a particular context, the unique nature of diverse rural identities and livelihoods, the systemic forces operating in and on those spaces, and the intersections with other forms of structural discrimination and inequality.

Although much of the work of the U.N. treaty bodies has in fact addressed human rights situations in rural …

No Child Should Feel Left Behind: The Illegality Of Orphanage Voluntourism Under Article 19 Of The United Nations Convention Of The Rights Of A Child, Lily Baron

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Legal Legacy That Opens The Way To Justice In Challenging Places And Times, Stephen J. Rapp

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Legal Legacy Of The Special Court For Sierra Leone: The Sierra Leone Perspective—When The Story Is As Important As The Storyteller, Dr. Michael Imran Kanu

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Dangers Of Humanitarian Intervention And The Responsibility To Protect Doctrine, And A Partial Solution, Matthew Bellinger

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

When the United Nations (UN) was formed, one of its most important goals was to render war obsolete. The UN Charter states as a goal the hope to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." When President Franklin D. Roosevelt first described his vision for a post-World War II international organization, he envisioned an organization that would promote and facilitate "international cooperation . . . to consider and deal with the problem of world relations." He also wanted a council that would "concern itself with peaceful settlement of international disputes." The UN Charter itself took the then-unprecedented step of …

Italy And The Aquarius: A Migrant Crisis, Alexandra Larkin

Pace International Law Review

Italian journalist Indro Montanelli once wrote, “[w]e Italians are tolerant and civil with all those who are different. Black, red, yellow. Especially when they are far away, at a telescopic distance from us.” In recent years, Italy had a resurgence of nationalist and far-right political leaders, who have taken an anti-immigration stance. Public interest in migration of refugees and asylum seekers is due both to media coverage of their stories and to litigation before international courts. One high-profile story that made headlines in the summer of 2018 was Italy’s treatment of the Aquarius, a rescue vessel operated by the …

A Memorial For Bosnia: Framework Of Legal Arguments Concerning The Lawfulness Of The Maintenance Of The United Nations Security Council's Arms Embargo On Bosnia And Herzegovina, Craig Scott, Abid Qureshi, Jasminka Kalajdzic, Francis Chang, Paul Michell, Peter Copeland

Craig M. Scott

This Memorial seeks to present a framework of legal arguments with respect to the validity and legal effects of an arms embargo imposed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 713 in September 1991 on the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia), before its dissolution, and since treated as being in force with respect to the new states that have succeeded Yugoslavia. More particularly, the Memorial addresses the legality of maintaining (or, at least, having maintained during the crucial time period) the arms embargo in force, either de jure or de facto, against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia) …

Reputation As A Disciplinarian Of International Organizations, Kristina Daugirdas

Articles

As a disciplinarian of international organizations, reputation has serious shortcomings. Even though international organizations have strong incentives to maintain a good reputation, reputational concerns will sometimes fail to spur preventive or corrective action. Organizations have multiple audiences, so efforts to preserve a “good” reputation may pull organizations in many different directions, and steps taken to preserve a good reputation will not always be salutary. Recent incidents of sexual violence by UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic illustrate these points.

The Legal Architecture Of United Nations Peacekeeping: A Case Study Of Unifil, Layan Charara

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note explores the ways UNIFIL is a unique peacekeeping force that can still teach broader lessons about UN peacekeeping It is organized into four parts: Part I provides a contour of UN peacekeeping operations; Part II chronicles the history of UNIFIL; Part III analyzes the current legal regime with respect to UN peacekeeping; and Part IV surveys solutions offered in the past and recommends more apposite courses of action to strengthen the legal recourse available to peacekeepers and their families.

Evolving Conceptions Of Sovereignty As Applied To Membership In International Organizations, Luke C. Radice

CMC Senior Theses

In the current international climate, both nations and individuals increasingly question both the validity and necessity of international organizations. This paper seeks to answer some of those questions, and to determine why countries choose to surrender significant portions of the national power that they are afforded under traditional perceptions of “Westphalian sovereignty”. This question is answered through an analysis of historical political thought on the concept of Sovereignty, then is applied to two case studies: the United Nations and the European Union, in which the benefits and downsides of surrendering sovereignty are discussed. Ultimately, this thesis concludes that the concept …

The Human Rights Movement And The Prevention Of Evil: The Need To Look Inward As Well As Out, Jeffrey A. Brauch

Catholic University Law Review

The modern human rights movement began as a response to great evil perpetrated by individuals and nations against others during and preceding World War II. The movement has been dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals by confronting evil and holding nations accountable should efforts to prevent it fail.

This article contends that while the human rights movement is good at confronting evil “out there,” it has failed in important ways to recognize flaws within itself. In particular, it displays a hubris that shows itself in two ways. First, the movement has embraced a utopian expansion of rights to be …

The International Law Commission's Soft Law Influence, Elena Baylis

Articles

Since the 1990s, the International Law Commission has increasingly produced soft law, such as principles and draft conclusions, in addition to hard law like draft treaty articles This essay explores the implications of the International Law Commission’s transition toward a greater emphasis on soft law. Soft law is an effective vehicle for the International Law Commission’s mission of codification and progressive development of international law; the International Law Commission’s involvement increases the clarity and accessibility of international law norms and promotes a dynamic, synergistic relationship between hard law and soft law that contributes to the effective evolution of international law. …

The Failure Of International Law In Palestine, Svetlana Sumina, Steven Gilmore

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

The Contributions Of United Nations Security Council Resolutions To The Law Of Non-International Armed Conflict: New Evidence Of Customary International Law, Gregory H. Fox, Isaac Jenkins, Kristen E. Boon

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Legal Status Of Drones Under Loac And International Law, Vivek Sehrawat

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

No abstract provided.

The Limits Of Inviolability: The Parameters For Protection Of United Nations Facilities During Armed Conflict, Laurie R. Blank

International Law Studies

This article examines the international legal protections for United Nations humanitarian assistance and other civilian facilities during armed conflict, including under general international law, setting forth the immunities of the United Nations, and the law of armed conflict (LOAC), the relevant legal framework during wartime. Recent conflicts highlight three primary issues: (1) collateral damage to UN facilities as a consequence of strikes on military objectives nearby and military operations in the immediate vicinity; (2) the misuse of UN facilities for military purposes; and (3) direct attacks on fighters, weapons or other equipment that cause damage to such facilities. To identify …

Chemical Weapons And Other Atrocities: Contrasting Responses To The Syrian Crisis, Tim Mccormack

International Law Studies

Why has the use of chemical weapons in Syria engendered such a substantive multilateral response in stark contrast to almost every other egregious international law violation perpetrated against the civilian population? Various theories have been offered but the explanation has little to do with humanitarian concerns for Syrian victims and is more readily explicable by unusual (in the Syrian context) alignment of U.S. and Russian national interests. Bashar al-Assad was convinced to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention, to surrender his stockpiles of chemical weapons and to co-operate with international investigators deployed under UN Security Council auspices amid a cacophony …

The Modern Treaty-Executing Power: Constitutional Complexities In Contemporary Global Governance, Carlo Felizardo

Northwestern University Law Review

Treaties have evolved significantly since the ratification of the United States Constitution, leading to uncertainty as to the constitutional limits on their domestic execution. This Note adapts existing constitutional doctrine on treaty execution to two distinct complications arising in the contemporary treaty regime. First, voluntary treaties imposing aspirational obligations on signatories raise the issue of the extent of obligations that Congress may domestically enforce by federal statute. Second, originating treaties which create international organizations and authorize them to adopt rule- and adjudication-type post-treaty pronouncements bring up a question of when, if ever, to incorporate those pronouncements into U.S. law, and …

New Un Secretary-General Must Commit To Accountability, Lauren Carasik

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

The International Court And South West Africa: Latest Phase, Antony J.M. Zuijdwijk

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The United Nations: The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Zahra R. Syed

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The main objective of this research paper is to analyze the international effects the Syrian Conflict has had to the global community. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has declared this conflict to be the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Millions of Syrians have fled their home country to avoid unjust persecution and are looking to not only neighboring countries, but the European Union for assistance in resettlement.

Since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, more than 220,000 people have been massacred, leaving fifty percent of the population in unrest due to home displacement. According …

The Human Rights Of Sea Pirates: Will The European Court Of Human Rights Decisions Get More Killed?, Barry Hart Dubner, Brian Othero

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Securing Child Rights In Time Of Conflict, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

Each term in the title of this essay seems simple, yet provides much food for analytical thought. The essay thus explores: what is “conflict,” and whether there is a “time” when it is not present; who is a “child”; whether and to what extent children enjoy “rights”; and, finally, how local, national, and international regimes go about “securing” those rights. The essay – based on a talk given at the 2015 International Law Weekend in New York – concludes with a glance at a new potential avenue for child security: the Sustainable Development Goals which the U.N. General Assembly adopted …

Children, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

This chapter, which appears in The Cambridge Companion to International Criminal Law (William A. Schabas ed. 2016), discusses how international criminal law instruments and institutions address crimes against and affecting children. It contrasts the absence of express attention in the post-World War II era with the multiple provisions pertaining to children in the 1998 Statute of the International Criminal Court. The chapter examines key judgments in that court and in the Special Court for Sierra Leone, as well as the ICC’s current, comprehensive approach to the effects that crimes within its jurisdiction have on children. The chapter concludes with a …

Humanitarian Laws Of Armed Conflict In Sweden: Ogling The Socialist Camp, Jacob W.F. Sundberg

Akron Law Review

The inhabitants of a country with the military-geographical location of Sweden should find it natural, one would think, to consider extensively the political and legal-philosophical message of the world which surrounds the country, most conspicuously to the east and to the south, and, by navies below the horizon, less conspicuously to the north and to the west. Everywhere is the Socialist Camp - a not unlikely adversary in some future conflict. In Sweden, however, there prevails a surprising reluctance to discuss the realities of the Camp. To say the least, such discussion is up-hill work. Looking for the reasons why, …

Is The International Court Of Justice Worth The Effort?, Joseph L. Daly

Akron Law Review

Throughout history most peacemaking has been a response to a particular crisis - efforts of two countries to solve a dispute by treaty or to negotiate the end of a war. But as the instruments of war have become more and more horrible, as wars have come to take an ever increasing toll on civilian populations, world leaders have tried to establish a structure for peace, a permanent way of avoiding conflict by appealing to reason, not to weapons. Our century has hoped that some sort of international tribunal - a world court - would decide disputes on enduring principles …

State Actors, Humanitarian Intervention And International Law: Reopening Pandora's Box, H. Scott Fairley

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.