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The Law Of Naval Warfare And China’S Maritime Militia, James Kraska, Michael Monti

International Law Studies

China operates a vast network of fishing vessels that form a maritime militia equipped and trained to conduct intelligence, communications, and targeting support for the People's Liberation Army Navy. Fishing vessels normally are exempt from capture or attack in the law of naval warfare unless they are integrated into the naval forces, but distinguishing between legitimate fishing vessels and maritime militia during naval warfare is virtually impossible.

A Theorization On Equity: Tracing Causal Responsibility For Missing Iraqi Antiquities And Piercing Official Immunity, Robert Bejesky

Pace International Law Review

Three weeks after the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, looters descended on the artifacts in the Iraq National Museum. Over ten thousand pieces were assumed destroyed or stolen, and the Coalition Provisional Authority estimated the losses at $12 billion. The gravity of the privation led the Security Council to include language in Resolution 1483 to restrict countries from trading in Iraq’s pillaged antiquities, and the U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Protection of Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act of 2004 to enforce the measures. Several thousand pieces were recovered, but thousands remain missing. In March 2013, Hussein ash-Shamri, the head of the Iraqi …

How It All Started - And How It Ended: A Legal Study Of The Korean War, Howard S. Levie

Akron Law Review

Before taking up the basic subject of the discussion which follows, it would appear appropriate to ascertain just what events led to the creation of two such disparate independent nations as the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as North Korea) out of what had been a united territory for centuries, whether independent or as the possession of a more powerful neighbor, Japan — and the background of how the hostilities were initiated in Korea in June 1950.

International Humanitarian Law Divergence, Lesley Wexler

Pepperdine Law Review

How do states manage disagreements about the application and interpretation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL)? As countries find themselves embroiled in conflicts across the globe and in need of allies' political, economic, and military support, this question is important from a practical standpoint as well as a theoretical one. This essay provides one set of answers by looking at the United States’ approach to potential IHL disputes with its allies. It opens with an exploration of the issues most likely to create divergence: the existence, typology, and scope of armed conflicts; the interaction between IHL and International Human Rights Law, …

Lost In Translation? The Relevancy Of Kobe Bryant And Aristotle To The Legality Of Modern Warfare, Rachel E. Vanlandingham

Pepperdine Law Review

What do Kobe Bryant, Aristotle, and the continuing U.S. response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, have in common? President Barack Obama told the New Yorker in early 2014, in response to a question regarding the seeming resurgence of al Qaeda in Syria and Iraq, that “[t]he analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a jayvee team puts on Lakers uniforms that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant.” As this example demonstrates, the Obama Administration and others, in reference to the legality of the use of armed force against al Qaeda and similar …

The Applicability Of The Humanitarian Intervention 'Exception' To The Middle Eastern Refugee Crisis: Why The International Community Should Intervene Against Isis, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The refugee crises in Iraq and Syria, which has been evolving over the past decade as a result of both ongoing conflict in these countries and the recent surge of Islamic State-led violence, has morphed into a true humanitarian catastrophe. Tens of thousands of refugees have been subjected to violence and have been dispersed and forced to live under dire conditions; such massive population flows have destabilized the entire region and have threatened the stability of neighboring countries. The United States and several other countries have been engaged in a military air strike campaign against the Islamic State, but the …

Three Grotian Theories Of Humanitarian Intervention, Evan J. Criddle

Faculty Publications

This Article explores three theories of humanitarian intervention that appear in, or are inspired by, the writings of Hugo Grotius. One theory asserts that natural law authorizes all states to punish violations of the law of nations, irrespective of where or against whom the violations occur, to preserve the integrity of international law. A second theory, which also appears in Grotius’s writings, proposes that states may intervene as temporary legal guardians for peoples who have suffered intolerable cruelties at the hands of their own state. Each of these theories has fallen out of fashion today based on skepticism about their …

Back To The Congressional Drawing Board: Inapplicability Of The Aumf To Al-Shabaab And Other New Faces Of Terrorism, Pierce Rand

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Russia’S Annexation Of Crimea: The Mills Of International Law Grind Slowly But They Do Grind, Robin Geiss

International Law Studies

In her speech at the Munich Security Conference in February 2015, Chancellor Angela Merkel unwaveringly said: “Europe’s borders are and will remain unalterable.” At the same time, however, most observers agree that Crimea will remain de facto under Russian control. Against this backdrop the article assesses the contemporary and possible future legal status of Crimea. Particular attention is given to the inseparability of the link between Russia’s unlawful use of force and the purported territorial status alteration of Crimea, the concept of remedial secession and Crimea’s current status as an occupied territory.

The Combatant Status Of The “Little Green Men” And Other Participants In The Ukraine Conflict, Shane R. Reeves, David Wallace

International Law Studies

As an occupation and a civil war are simultaneously taking place in Ukraine a particularly vexing international law question is presented: what is the legal status of those involved in the hostilities? This article is designed to answer that question and to identify the associated rights, duties and responsibilities of the participants in the conflict.

The Killer Robots Are Here: Legal And Policy Implications, Rebecca Crootof

Cardozo Law Review

In little over a year, the possibility of a complete ban on autonomous weapon systems - known colloquially as "killer robots" - has evolved from a proposal in an NGO report to the subject of an international meeting with representatives from over eighty states. However, no one has yet put forward a coherent definition of autonomy in weapon systems from a law of armed conflict perspective, which often results in the conflation of legal, ethical, policy, and political arguments. This Article therefore proposes that an "autonomous weapon system" be defined as "a weapon system that, based on conclusions derived from …

Conflict Classification In Ukraine: The Return Of The “Proxy War”?, Robert Heinsch

International Law Studies

The article examines the exact conditions for classifying an armed conflict under international humanitarian law against the backdrop of the crisis in Ukraine, taking into account the difficult factual situation on the ground and the involvement of the different parties to the conflict. Apart from dealing with the requirements of an international or a non-international armed conflict, it looks again into the specific circumstances for the “internationalization” of an internal armed conflict. In doing so, the author revisits the various approaches found in the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice in its 1986 Nicaragua and 2007 Genocide judgments, as …

Regulating Hostilities In Non-International Armed Conflicts: Thoughts On Bridging The Divide Between The Tadić Aspiration And Conflict Realities, Geoffrey S. Corn

International Law Studies

International Humanitarian Law (IHL) evolved to strike a rational balance between the necessity of using combat power to defeat enemy opponents, and the humanitarian interest of mitigating the human suffering resulting from armed conflict. Ironically, however, the “type” of conflict most comprehensively regulated by this law—international or inter-State (IACs)—is not the “type” of armed conflict that has been most notable for producing humanitarian suffering since the end of World War II. Instead, non-international armed conflicts (NIACs)—conflicts between States and organized non-State belligerent groups, or even between multiple non-State belligerent groups—have been notorious for their brutality, indifference towards humanitarian restraint, and …

Law, Rhetoric, Strategy: Russia And Self-Determination Before And After Crimea, Christopher J. Borgen

International Law Studies

The article considers how and why Russia has used international legal arguments concerning self-determination in relation to its intervention in Ukraine. Of what use is legal rhetoric in the midst of politico-military conflict? The article reviews the laws of self-determination and territorial integrity and considers Russia’s changing arguments concerning these concepts over the cases of Kosovo, South Ossetia, and Ukraine. Inasmuch as international law is the vocabulary and the grammar of modern diplomacy, States may use legal rhetoric with multiple audiences in mind. While the shifts in Russia’s arguments may be due to strategic needs in specific conflicts, the legal …

State Opinio Juris And International Humanitarian Law Pluralism, Michael N. Schmitt, Sean Watts

International Law Studies

International humanitarian law has developed through a pluralistic process. Its history reveals a pattern of rough proportionality between State opinio juris and non-State expressions of law. These diverse sources have maintained a respectable yet realistic balance between humanity and military necessity. However, current IHL dialogue presents a stark contrast to the vibrant and pluralistic exchanges of the past. The substantive input of non-State actors such as non-governmental organizations, tribunals, and scholars far outpaces the work of States. Parity of input, especially in quantitative terms, is surely too much to demand and surely not necessary given the special status of State …

Indigenous Land Rights Of The Khoi In South Africa, Chelsea Wilkins

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Upon discussions in classes at James Madison University, I became aware of the Khoi people. I became interested in their way of life, as well as the implications of globalization and industrialization worldwide. After researching the topic, I decided I wanted to not only write my thesis on this topic, but I wanted to travel to South Africa to learn more. I wanted to know how a refreshment station at the Cape for the Dutch East India Company transformed into a fight for land that ultimately led to the extreme disenfranchisement of the Khoi people and their way of life. …

Bond'S Breaches, Edward T. Swaine

Notre Dame Law Review

Bond v. United States illustrates a new maxim for today’s Supreme Court: hard cases make no law at all. To be sure, Bond’s bottom line was not particularly difficult. But once the Supreme Court ultimately did take the case, it became hard to decide—at least in terms of the rationale. Although the Justices all favored reversal and dismissal of the indictment, they wound up providing little clarity on the larger questions the case raised.

If, as the more time-honored homily goes, hard cases otherwise make bad law, making little bad law was hardly the worst outcome. Nevertheless, what the …

Bond And The Vienna Rules, Roger P. Alford

Notre Dame Law Review

This Article briefly outlines the Court’s holding in Bond, and the general framework of interpretation set forth in the Vienna Rules. It then looks at Supreme Court jurisprudence that is consonant with the Vienna Rules. The Article then analyzes Bond’s interpretive approach using the Vienna Rules methodology. It concludes with reflections on the future of Supreme Court treaty interpretation and how that interpretation could avoid reaching the constitutional question of the scope of the treaty power.

Bond V. United States: Choosing The Lesser Of Two Evils, David Sloss

Notre Dame Law Review

This essay makes two main points. First, the majority’s interpretation of the CWC Act is inconsistent with the statute and the underlying treaty. Indeed, the majority opinion displays a basic misunderstanding of the design of the underlying treaty. Second, Justice Scalia’s construction of the Necessary and Proper Clause is antithetical to the structure and original understanding of the Constitution. If adopted as law, Justice Scalia’s view would seriously harm the federal government’s ability to conduct foreign affairs on behalf of the nation. Since Justice Scalia’s constitutional error would be far more damaging than the majority’s statutory error, the majority’s statutory …

Authorization Versus Regulation Of Detention In Non-International Armed Conflicts, Ryan Goodman

International Law Studies

What does the law of armed conflict say about detention in non-international armed conflict? Is the law “utterly silent,” as some contend, with respect to the grounds for detention—regulating who may be confined and for what status or behavior? And do the in bello rules provide a source of affirmative authority that empowers belligerents to engage in detention? How those questions are resolved and, in particular, the basis for reaching the conclusions may have unintended consequences for the regulation of warfare. This article contends that the laws of war regulate the grounds for detention but do not authorize detention in …

The Cold War: Over, Renewed, Or Never Ended?, Matt Phipps

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The Cold War has been studied repeatedly since the war supposedly ended in 1991. However recent events are starting to cause some concern and make many question whether or not the Cold War actually ended, if it took a different shape or perhaps has just been on pause. I argue that the Cold War has been a conflict that has been going on since 1947 and although the conflict has looked differently in recent decades the conflict was never properly put to an end. The research analyzes US decision making with respect to Russian and Asian relations over the last …

Internal Colonialism And Humanitarian Intervention, M. Sornarajah

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Conscientious Objection To Military Service: A Report To The United Nations Division Of Human Rights, Jonathan M. Engram

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The National State And External Coercion: Yesterday And Today And What Of Tomorrow?, Covey T. Oliver

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Problems With The Application Of Norms Governing Interstate Armed Conflict To Non-International Armed Conflict, Waldemar A. Solf

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Coping With Non-International Armed Conflicts: The Borderline Between National And International Law, Bart De Schutter, Christine Van De Wyngaert

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Humanitarian Law And Internal Armed Conflicts, G.I.A.D. Draper

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Panel Ii: Humanitarian Law: The Lincoln-Lieber Initiative, George D. Haimbaugh Jr.

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Practical Considerations For The Development Of Legal Standards For Intervention, Michael J. Matheson

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Unpunished Insults -- The Looming Cyber Barbary Wars, Matteo G. Martemucci Col.

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.