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Full-Text Articles in Law
Chemical Weapons And Other Atrocities: Contrasting Responses To The Syrian Crisis, Tim Mccormack
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 …
Arbitrary Withholding Of Consent To Humanitarian Relief Operations In Armed Conflict, Dapo Akande, Emanuela-Chiara Gillard
Arbitrary Withholding Of Consent To Humanitarian Relief Operations In Armed Conflict, Dapo Akande, Emanuela-Chiara Gillard
International Law Studies
This article examines the requirement under international humanitarian law (IHL) that consent to humanitarian relief operations must not be arbitrarily withheld. It begins with a brief outline of the rules of IHL regulating humanitarian assistance in armed conflict. The article then considers the origin of the rule prohibiting arbitrary withholding of consent to humanitarian relief operations before proceeding to set out the circumstances when consent will be considered to have been withheld arbitrarily under international law. It proposes three tests for arbitrariness in this context, and also examines how international human rights regulates humanitarian assistance in armed conflict.
Soldier 2.0: Military Human Enhancement And International Law, Heather A. Harrison Dinniss, Jann K. Kleffner
Soldier 2.0: Military Human Enhancement And International Law, Heather A. Harrison Dinniss, Jann K. Kleffner
International Law Studies
Advances in technologies that could endow humans with physical or mental abilities that go beyond the statistically normal level of functioning are occurring at an incredible pace. The use of these human enhancement technologies by the military, for instance in the spheres of biotechnology, cybernetics and prosthetics, raise a number of questions under the international legal frameworks governing military technology, namely the law of armed conflict and human rights law. The article examines these frameworks with a focus on weapons law, the law pertaining to the detention of and by “enhanced individuals,” the human rights of those individuals and their …
Partners And Legal Pitfalls, Brian Finucane
Partners And Legal Pitfalls, Brian Finucane
International Law Studies
Partnered military operations are an increasingly prominent feature of armed conflict and one which presents a distinct set of legal challenges to States assisting partners. This is particularly true of the war in Syria which is characterized both by States working with and through other States and non-State actors and by the widespread violation of the law of armed conflict (LOAC) by many of the parties. This article considers the legal implications of LOAC violations by a party to the conflict for the State or States providing it assistance and identifies risk mitigation measures that assisting States can adopt.
Classifying The Conflict In Syria, Terry D. Gill
Classifying The Conflict In Syria, Terry D. Gill
International Law Studies
This article examines the classification of the current armed conflict in Syria under international humanitarian law. The article first sets out the factual background identifying the principal parties and their alignments and motivations. It then proceeds to examine the question of classification of conflict under international humanitarian law and discusses the contentious issue of the effect of lack of consent by the government of a State in relation to foreign intervention in an ongoing non-international armed conflict when such intervention is directed against one or more armed groups operating from within that State’s territory. It then proceeds to apply these …
Syria: Can International Law Cope? Workshop Report, Christopher M. Ford
Syria: Can International Law Cope? Workshop Report, Christopher M. Ford
International Law Studies
The Stockton Center for the Study of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College and the Center for the Rule of Law at the U.S. Military Academy convened a three-day workshop in November 2015. The workshop sought to examine the question posed by its title: Can International Law Cope with the Situation in Syria? It is a question that has ramifications for the viability of international law well beyond the confines of events in Syria. This report surveys the key issues that were raised during the workshop and serves as an introduction to the articles that follow in this …
Mapping War Crimes In Syria, Beth Van Schaak
Mapping War Crimes In Syria, Beth Van Schaak
International Law Studies
This article maps the range of war crimes being committed in Syria with reference to the applicable treaty and customary international law and prospects for prosecution. It begins by presenting the international legal framework employed to determine when an armed conflict began in Syria, how this conflict is classified under international law and which multilateral treaties and customary rules are operative. This framework underlies the determination of which war crimes can be prosecuted, which tribunals might have jurisdiction and which perpetrators may be made subject to indictment. The article next focuses on some open legal and factual issues around certain …
International Law, Legal Diplomacy, And The Counter-Isil Campaign: Some Observations, Brian Egan
International Law, Legal Diplomacy, And The Counter-Isil Campaign: Some Observations, Brian Egan
International Law Studies
Speech as prepared for delivery by Brian Egan, Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State; 110th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law Washington, DC, April 1, 2016
Foreign Terrorist Fighters In Syria: Challenges Of The “Sending” State, Marten Zwanenburg
Foreign Terrorist Fighters In Syria: Challenges Of The “Sending” State, Marten Zwanenburg
International Law Studies
This article discusses domestic measures taken by the Netherlands to combat the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters, predominantly in the context of the Syrian conflict. It discusses criminal prosecution, asset freezes, deprivation of nationality and revocation of travel documents. The author concludes that in each of these fields, there is a close relationship between international law and national law.
Exclusion Zones In The Law Of Armed Conflict At Sea: Evolution In Law And Practice, Sandesh Sivakumaran
Exclusion Zones In The Law Of Armed Conflict At Sea: Evolution In Law And Practice, Sandesh Sivakumaran
International Law Studies
This article analyses the changes in the law and practice of exclusion zones in the law of armed conflict at sea. It identifies three principal phases. First, it explores the exclusion zones of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, which were modest in size and defensive in character. Second, it turns to the exclusion zones of the First World War and several subsequent conflicts. The exclusion zones of this period were fundamentally different to those of the Russo-Japanese war: if a vessel was within an exclusion zone, it was deemed susceptible to attack. The article then turns to the third phase …
Off Target: Selection, Precaution, And Proportionality In The Dod Manual, Adil Ahmad Haque
Off Target: Selection, Precaution, And Proportionality In The Dod Manual, Adil Ahmad Haque
International Law Studies
The United States Department of Defense Law of War Manual misrepresents customary international law governing target selection, precautions in attack and proportionality. Contrary to the Manual’s assertions, attackers with a choice of targets for obtaining a similar military advantage must select the target that endangers the fewest civilians; often must avoid harming civilians even at some additional risk to themselves or to their mission; and must refrain from attack if the expected harm to civilians—including to civilians forced to serve as human shields—would be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage.
The Dod Law Of War Manual And Its Critics: Some Observations, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.
The Dod Law Of War Manual And Its Critics: Some Observations, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.
International Law Studies
The U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) new Law of War Manual has generated serious debate about its treatment of a variety of issues including human shields, the status of journalists, cyber operations, the precautions to be taken prior to attacks and even the role of honor in war. Although this article does not purport to be a comprehensive response to every critique of the Manual and, indeed, cites opportunities for its improvement, it nevertheless concludes that on balance the Manual provides an excellent, comprehensive and much-needed statement of DoD’s view of the lex lata of the law of war.
The Combatant’S Stance: Autonomous Weapons On The Battlefield, Jens David Ohlin
The Combatant’S Stance: Autonomous Weapons On The Battlefield, Jens David Ohlin
International Law Studies
Do Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS) qualify as moral or rational agents? This paper argues that combatants on the battlefield are required by the demands of behavior interpretation to approach a sophisticated AWS with the “Combatant’s Stance”—the ascription of mental states required to understand the system’s strategic behavior on the battlefield. However, the fact that an AWS must be engaged with the combatant’s stance does not entail that other persons are relieved of criminal or moral responsibility for war crimes committed by autonomous weapons. This article argues that military commanders can and should be held responsible for perpetrating war crimes through …