Digital Commons Network^™

Decreasing Unintentional War: Governance Considerations For Regulating Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, Aiden Warren, Alek Hillas

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

While the introduction of futuristic technologies will establish new options and precedents for state responses to security scenarios, there are important lessons to be drawn from prior crises. Beginning with a case study of newly sworn-in leaders during their first major foreign policy ‘test,’ this article envisions changes to such security scenarios with reference to the development of policies on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). Leadership perceptions and the politics of human versus machine error, or sharing accountability of fault by states, is considered in the context of a detailed thought experiment. The second section of the article identifies enhanced …

Reinterpreting The Reinterpretation: Collective Self-Defense As Constitutional Fidelity, C.D.A Evans, Aviel Menter

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

As currently interpreted, Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution requires Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) to operate in a purely defensive capacity. Recently, however, the United States has increasingly asked Japan to participate in joint military operations, in which Japanese forces would defend not only themselves, but also their American allies. This raises an important legal question: does Article 9 permit the JSDF engage in this kind of collective self-defense? Former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo believed so. After a government panel of legal experts found that collective self-defense was consistent with Article 9, the Abe administration adopted the panel’s conclusion. However, …

Information Age Imperialism: China, ‘Race,’ And Neo-Colonialism In Africa And Latin America, James Dever, Jack Dever

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Phenomenon Of Sexual Violence During Armed Conflicts In The Twenty-First Century: Entering The Era Of Survivors As Agents Of Peace, Shayna Kushner

International Relations Honors Papers

Evidence suggests the twenty-first century has witnessed a surge in armed conflicts and ethnic wars targeting marginalized communities, subjecting innocent civilians to violence and destruction. Among the tactics aimed to disrupt family and social ties within the existing communities, some armed groups and government sponsored soldiers have subjected vulnerable individuals to wartime rape and conflict-related sexual violence including physical and mental abuse. While the international community attempts to intervene militarily and judicially to quell the sexual violence, institutions and individual actors fall short of providing justice and accountability to survivors and victims of conflict-related sexual violence. Through the case studies …

Jus Ad Bellum, Natural Law And The 2003 Invasion Of Iraq, Johnny Davis

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

The legality of the invasion of Iraq is a vital question that goes to the heart of international law. The proper legal authority for military force and the overthrow of a sovereign government is the single most important area of international law.[1] This paper will consider whether the invasion of Iraq complied with the original intent of the Founding Fathers for the Constitutional authority to wage war and satisfied the requirements for a Just War under natural law.

Aerospace And Defense Industries, R. Locke Bell, Johny Chaklader, Donna A. Dulo, Priya Iyengar, Kevin J. Lombardo, Jason M. Silverman

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

The Error Of The Paquete Habana: U.S. Naval Forces In The Safe Harbor Of Commander-In-Chief Discretion And The Law Of War, T. Nelson Collier

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming.

Autonomous Weapon System And Command Responsibility, Vivek Sehrawat

Florida Journal of International Law

Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS) are gradually becoming incorporated into warfare as technology advances and capabilities increase. The challenge of ensuring the responsibility for acts of an AWS poses some significant challenges. Under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and international criminal law, individuals are criminally responsible for any war crimes they commit. It is unclear who can be held responsible for deaths and war crimes committed by AWS. This Article is focused on human-out-of-the loop weapons. This Article outlines the legal theory of command responsibility, which international criminal courts may apply to achieve responsibility. This Article examines the individual and state responsibility, …

Autonomous Space Objects And International Space Law: Navigating The Liability Gap, Ioana Bratu, Arno R. Lodder, Tina Van Der Linden

Indonesian Journal of International Law

The introduction of advanced new technologies is transforming the space industry. Artificial intelligence is offering unprecedented possibilities for space-related activities because it enables space objects to gain autonomy. The increasing autonomy level of space objects does not come without legal implications. The lack of human control challenges existing liability frameworks. This paper reviews the provisions of the Outer Space Treaty and the Liability Convention as the main legal documents introducing the legal grounds for attributing liability in case of damages caused by autonomous space objects. Looking at the limitations of these legal frameworks in what concerns the attribution of liability, …

What Does The State Owe To Its People? Toward A “Responsibility To Develop”, Amit Khardori

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Neutrality And Cyberspace: Bridging The Gap Between Theory And Reality, Noam Neuman

International Law Studies

While there exists a broad consensus among States that international law generally applies to the cyber domain, particular views regarding the applicability of the law of neutrality have rarely been put forward, and presently there seems to be insufficient State practice and domain-specific opinio juris in this regard. Against this backdrop, several attempts have been made throughout the years to apply certain neutrality rules to cyberspace by referring to analogies from other domains. However, this legal regime provides an emblematic example of what the introduction of traditional rules of international law, formulated with the physical domains of warfare in mind, …

Starvation: Building The Case For Prosecuting Starvation Crimes In Yemen, Case Western Reserve University School Of Law

Yemen Accountability Project (YAP)

No abstract provided.

Death Star Drones: How Missile Defense Drone Technology Marks The Advent Of Contingent Sovereignty, Ben Forsgren

BYU Law Review

Are advances in national security worth pursuing at the expense of sovereign equality? A new U.S. drone program may soon force the world to decide. Thanks to recent technological advances in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and directed energy weapons, the United States will soon have a fleet of missile defense UAVs outfitted with advanced laser weapons designed to destroy intercontinental ballistic missiles before the missiles complete their launch phase. While these drones would significantly decrease the threat of a nuclear attack against the United States, they can only function if they are preemptively stationed in the sovereign airspace of other …

Military Action To Recover Occupied Land: Lawful Self-Defense Or Prohibited Use Of Force? The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Revisited, Tom Ruys, Felipe Rodriguez Silvestre

International Law Studies

In September 2020, heavy fighting erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan long controlled by Armenia. After two months of military confrontations, a tripartite ceasefire was concluded, drastically altering the pre-existing territorial status quo.

The "Second Nagorno-Karabakh War" brings to light a fundamental question for international law on the use of force—and one that has received limited attention in legal doctrine. The question is this: when part of a State’s territory is occupied by another State for an extended period of time, can the former still invoke the right of self-defense to justify …

An International Legal Consideration Of The Issues On Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems Including Nanomachine: A Perspective Of International Law Studies In Japan, Hiroshi Saito

Japanese Society and Culture

This paper aims to explore the legal issues on the use of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). This study is based on the recent research trend in Japan regarding studying the relationships between the international humanitarian law and the international law of human rights. The paper seeks to apply the integration theory to the relationship of both laws. As a result, this idea can pave the way for suppressing the usage of LAWS in future armed conflicts. Since the use of LAWS may lead to immense injury to fundamental human rights, it is necessary to adopt the integration theory to …

Protection Of Data In Armed Conflict, Robin Geiss, Henning Lahmann

International Law Studies

This article presents a novel way to conceptualize the protection of data in situations of armed conflict. Although the question of the targeting of data through adversarial military cyber operations and its implications for the qualification of such conduct under International Humanitarian Law has been on scholars’ and states’ radar for the last few years, there remain a number of misunderstandings as to how to think about the notion of “data.” Based on a number of fictional scenarios, the article clarifies the pertinent terminology and makes some expedient distinctions between various types of data. It then analyzes how existing international …

Legal Reviews Of War Algorithms, Tobias Vestner, Altea Rossi

International Law Studies

States and scholars recognize legal reviews of weapons, means or methods of warfare as an essential tool to ensure the legality of military applications of artificial intelligence (AI). Yet, are existing practices fit for this task? This article identifies necessary adaptations to current practices. For AI-enabled systems that are used in relation to targeting, legal reviews need to assess the systems’ compliance with additional rules of international law, in particular targeting law under international humanitarian law (IHL). This article discusses the procedural ramifications thereof. The article further finds that AI systems’ predictability problem needs to be addressed by the technical …

Divergent Strategies: A Legal History Of The Wto’S National Security Exception In The Context Of A Globalized Economy, 1983-2019, William J. Gardner Jr.

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

This student note provides a legal history of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) adjudication of “national security” disputes under Article XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The skeptical German historian Oswald Spengler noted, “History is direction—but Nature is extension—ergo everyone gets eaten by a bear.” Tracing the history of landmark GATT and WTO decisions from the 1983 US—Trade Measures Affecting Nicaragua case, this note weaves through the WTO’s relatively consistent reluctance to engage in domestic policy, detailing the WTO’s massive deviation from that policy in the 2019 Russia—Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit case. In doing so, …

Ukraine V. The Russian Federation: Navigating Conflict Over Sovereignty Under Unclos, NilüFer Oral

International Law Studies

Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, or according to Russia, its accession following a referendum, Ukraine brought several international cases against the Russian Federation, including two cases under Annex VII of UNCLOS: The Dispute Concerning Coastal State Rights in the Black Sea, Sea of Azov, and Kerch Strait in 2016 and The Detention of Three Ukrainian Naval Vessels in 2019. At the center of these disputes is the conflict between Ukraine and Russia over sovereignty of Crimea. Russia contested jurisdiction in all cases invoking different exceptions under UNCLOS, including the argument that the dispute concerns sovereignty over Crimea and …

The Globalization Of Hate: Are Domestic Terrorism Laws Sufficient To Quell New Threats From Alt-Right Lone-Wolf Extremists?, Jason J. Sullivan-Halpern

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Refusing To Concede The Election: Defending Democracy By Expanding The G7 Rapid Response Mechanism, Taylor Hayes

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

The past decade is rife with examples of actions by nefarious groups to improperly interfere in democratic elections around the world, and it is time that democratic nations band together to effectively combat these interference efforts. More than two dozen nations around the world have fallen victim to some form of election interference. The United States and its allies have traced many of these interference campaigns to state actors, particularly the Russian government.

In 2018, the Group of Seven (G7) announced the creation of a Rapid Response Mechanism (G7 RRM). The aim of the G7 RRM is to limit the …

The Palestinian Refugee Regime: Tensions Between The Collective Right Of Return And Individual Rights, Shatha Oqab Abdulsamad

Theses and Dissertations

Since their initial displacement in 1948, the United Nations had devised a special temporary refugee regime for Palestinians, distinct from the international refugee regime. The distinct regime was structured in order to acknowledge Palestinian displacement as a result of a deliberate policy of state building by Israel as a national home for Jewish people in Palestine, as well as the effect of the United Nations Partition Plan. Premised as different from other refugee problems, the distinct regime devised for Palestinians was intended to be temporary, pending a final settlement that ensures their repatriation. The temporality and structure of the distinct …

Command Accountability For Ai Weapon Systems In The Law Of Armed Conflict, James Kraska

International Law Studies

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in weapon systems enhances the ability of operational forces to fuse multispectral sensors to understand the warfighting environment, positively identify, track, and select targets, and engage them with the most appropriate effects. The potential for AI to help close the “kill chain” has raised concern that this creates a gap in accountability between the decisions of humans and the acts of machines, with humans no longer accountable for decisions made during armed conflict. This study suggests that there is no gap because the military commander is always directly and individually accountable for the employment …

Encirclement, Deprivation, And Humanity: Revising The San Remo Manual Provisions On Blockade, Tom Dannenbaum

International Law Studies

Among the most pernicious trends in contemporary armed conflict is the return of mass starvation in war, in some cases as its primary source of human suffering. This has prompted a renewed focus on the relevant rules of international humanitarian law (IHL). On some issues, there is relative consensus. On the issue of deprivation by encirclement, however, there is confusion.

Some have questioned whether the prohibition on the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare applies to encirclements at all, particularly in the naval context. Others have interpreted the prohibition vanishingly narrowly. In contrast to the more extreme of …

Israel’S Perspective On Key Legal And Practical Issues Concerning The Application Of International Law To Cyber Operations, Roy Schöndorf

International Law Studies

The speech given by the Israeli Deputy Attorney General (International Law) at the Naval War College’s event on “Disruptive Technologies and International Law” sets out, for the first time, Israel’s position on the application of international law to cyber operations. Consistent with the position taken by the vast majority of States thus far, Israel considers that international law applies to such operations. The speech stresses that questions pertaining to the identification and application of relevant legal rules remain, given the profound differences between the cyber domain and traditional domains of warfare—land, sea, and air. Therefore, in Israel’s view, a cautious …

Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships: New Possibilities—And Challenges—In Ocean Law And Policy, Joel Coito

International Law Studies

Landmark developments in autonomous vessel technology have the potential to deliver economic, environmental, and security benefits on the world’s oceans. Tempering the promise of that future is the stark reality that maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) challenge the existing international order of the seas. This article examines the promise and perils of MASS in three areas of enduring significance to commercial vessels, naval forces, and industry regulators: search and rescue (SAR), maritime counterdrug operations, and navigational safety. This article concludes that autonomous vessel technology will lead to a superior global regime for maritime SAR operations, enhanced detection and interdiction of …

Armed Conflicts In Outer Space: Which Law Applies?, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

International Law Studies

So far, outer space has merely become involved in terrestrial armed conflicts as part of the supportive infrastructure for military activities. Unfortunately, the risk that this changes is considerably growing, and it can no longer be excluded that (armed) force will become used in outer space, either directed towards Earth or within outer space itself.

This raises serious issues in the legal context, where space law so far has been premised on the hope that armed conflicts in outer space could be avoided whereas the law of armed conflict was not required so far to deal with the use of …

Responding To Hostile Cyber Operations: The “In-Kind” Option, Michael N. Schmitt, Durward E. Johnson

International Law Studies

Facing hostile cyber operations, States are crafting responsive strategies, tactics and rules of engagement. One of the major challenges in doing so is that key aspects of the international law governing cyber responses are vague, unsettled or complex. Not surprisingly, therefore, international law is markedly absent from strategies and operational concepts. Rather, they tend to take on a practical “tit-for-tat” feel as policymakers logically view “in-kind” responses as “fair play.” For them, responding in-kind surely must be lawful notwithstanding any challenges in discerning the precise legal character of the initial hostile cyber operation.

Testing that sense, this article examines the …

U.S. Position On The U.N. Convention On The Law Of The Sea, Office Of The Staff Judge Advocate

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

U.S. Protests China's Maritime Claims In The South China Sea, Office Of The Staff Judge Advocate

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.