Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

International Law

U.S. Naval War College

2014

Naval mines

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Law

Minelaying And The Impediment Of Passage Rights, Wolff Heintschel Von Heinegg Dec 2014

Minelaying And The Impediment Of Passage Rights, Wolff Heintschel Von Heinegg

International Law Studies

Since their first extensive use in the 1904–05 Russo-Japanese War naval mines have continued to pose a considerable threat to innocent shipping. States reacted by adopting the 1907 Hague Convention VIII, which has been the only international instrument on the matter to date. In view of the fact that more than 80 percent of imports and exports are shipped by sea, freedom of navigation and, in particular, transit and archipelagic sea lanes passage rights must be preserved to the greatest extent possible. The present article deals with the question of whether international rules and principles provide effective protection of international …


1907 Hague Convention Viii Relative To The Laying Of Automatic Submarine Contact Mines, Steven Haines Oct 2014

1907 Hague Convention Viii Relative To The Laying Of Automatic Submarine Contact Mines, Steven Haines

International Law Studies

This article places 1907 Hague Convention VIII in its historical context, examines its content, summarizes State practice since 1907 (including during the two World Wars) and discusses the Convention’s relevance to contemporary mine warfare. The Convention has inherent shortcomings, has never been strictly applicable in any war since 1907, and is not strictly relevant to anything other than automatic contact mines (effectively excluding modern influence mines). Despite this—and a paucity of substantial State practice since 1945—the conclusion is that the Convention has influenced the customary law on sea-mines. When that custom was combined with other relevant custom (particularly that pertaining …


Beyond Hague Viii: Other Legal Limits On Naval Mine Warfare, David Letts Oct 2014

Beyond Hague Viii: Other Legal Limits On Naval Mine Warfare, David Letts

International Law Studies

Legal texts and scholarly articles that deal with the topic of naval mine warfare typically do so by reference to Hague Convention VIII of 1907 and customary international law. Little comment, if any, is usually made in relation to the variety of other legal regimes that might impact upon the use of naval mines in armed conflict. This article seeks to redress that imbalance by examining, with a focus on the jus in bello, a range of legal considerations arising from more contemporary sources that affect the use of naval mines in international armed conflict.


International Law Applicable To Naval Mines, Chatham House Oct 2014

International Law Applicable To Naval Mines, Chatham House

International Law Studies

This report summarizes the workshop held on February 26–27, 2014 on the law governing the use of naval mines in times of both peace and war. The workshop, organized by Chatham House, the Royal Navy and U.S. Naval War College, brought together a group of international law scholars, operational lawyers and other legal experts in the field. The objective of the workshop was to clarify existing law and identify areas of legal uncertainty to assist States to conduct their operations lawfully.