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Full-Text Articles in Law
One Treaty To Apply Them All? Defining Maritime Terrorism By Cross-References And Reservations: The Asean Region Example, Arron N. Honniball
One Treaty To Apply Them All? Defining Maritime Terrorism By Cross-References And Reservations: The Asean Region Example, Arron N. Honniball
International Law Studies
Defining terms will shape a State’s treaty obligations, the domestic legislation necessary, the availability of cooperative mechanisms, and norm diffusion. Maritime terrorism is an umbrella term referring to the piecemeal approach of treaties creating offenses for identified acts at sea. Further treaties cross-reference the offenses in a selection of global instruments to create related offenses. This includes financing of terrorism (Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (ICSFT)) and regional maritime terrorism (ASEAN Convention on Counter Terrorism (ACCT)). All cross-referenced instruments shall apply to define ICFST or ACCT offenses unless a State excludes, by reservation, a cross-referenced instrument …
Maritime Counter-Narcotics Agreements, Office Of The Staff Judge Advocate
Maritime Counter-Narcotics Agreements, Office Of The Staff Judge Advocate
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
Application Of The Due Diligence Principle To Cyber Operations, Tomohiro Mikanagi
Application Of The Due Diligence Principle To Cyber Operations, Tomohiro Mikanagi
International Law Studies
The discreet use of proxies by States renders it difficult to prove attribution to States under the existing rules of attribution. On the other hand, the due diligence principle, if applicable, does not require attribution but can lead to the invocation of State responsibility for cyber operations emanating from the territory of other States. In the Corfu Channel judgment the ICJ recognized “every State’s obligation not to allow knowingly its territory to be used for acts contrary to the rights of other States,” and UN Member States agreed that existing international law applies to cyber operations. However, the UN Members …
Autonomous Cyber Weapons And Command Responsibility, Russell Buchan, Nicholas Tsagourias
Autonomous Cyber Weapons And Command Responsibility, Russell Buchan, Nicholas Tsagourias
International Law Studies
Autonomous cyber weapons have made their way onto the battlefield, raising the question of whether commanders can be held criminally responsible under command responsibility when war crimes are committed. The doctrine of command responsibility has a long history in international criminal law and comprises three core elements: the existence of a superior-subordinate relationship, the commander’s knowledge of the crime, and the commander’s failure to prevent or repress the subordinate’s criminal actions. This article unpacks the content of these elements and applies them to autonomous cyber weapons by treating them as being analogous to soldiers since they operate within an organized …
The Human Dimension Of Peace And Aggression, Chiara Redaelli
The Human Dimension Of Peace And Aggression, Chiara Redaelli
International Law Studies
Since the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations, the current international legal framework has drastically changed. In its traditional understanding, aggression is “the supreme international crime” aimed at protecting sovereignty and the territorial integrity of states. On the other hand, the U.N. Charter endorses an understanding of peace in the negative sense, that is, as mere absence of war. As human rights have gained momentum, they have helped reshape the legal landscape, a phenomenon referred to as the humanization of international law. How do peace and aggression fit within the humanized legal framework? This article will investigate the …
Beyond Human Shielding: Civilian Risk Exploitation And Indirect Civilian Targeting, Geoffrey S. Corn
Beyond Human Shielding: Civilian Risk Exploitation And Indirect Civilian Targeting, Geoffrey S. Corn
International Law Studies
Few violations of the law of armed conflict (LOAC) are as pernicious as using civilians to shield military objectives from attack. This unlawful tactic unfortunately seems to be an all too common practice of organized armed groups, especially in conflicts against tactically superior conventional state armed forces. The very term "human shielding" presupposes, however, the ultimate objective is to prevent an opponent from attacking the shielded military objective or, in the alternative, substantially complicate that attack decision. But is a shielding effect always the ultimate objective of such civilian exploitation? This article argues that the answer is no; that there …
The Legal Fog Of An Illusion: Three Reflections On "Organization" And "Intensity" As Criteria For The Temporal Scope Of The Law Of Non-International Armed Conflict, Jann K. Kleffner
International Law Studies
The "organization" of the non-State armed group and the "intensity" of the violence between it and its opponent(s) have emerged as the two key criteria to determine the temporal scope of the law of non-international armed conflict. These criteria have served to lift the fog of law in some important respects. Yet, several aspects of the temporal scope of the law of non-international armed conflict remain unsettled. This article addresses three of them, namely the assertion that the factors for ascertaining organization and intensity that have evolved in the jurisprudence of international criminal courts and tribunals are indicative rather than …
Detention By Armed Groups Under International Law, Andrew Clapham
Detention By Armed Groups Under International Law, Andrew Clapham
International Law Studies
Does international law entitle armed groups to detain people? And what obligations are imposed on such non-state actors when they do detain? This article sets out suggested obligations for armed groups related to the right to challenge the basis for any detention and considers some related issues of fair trial and punishment. The last part of this article briefly considers the legal framework governing state responsibility and individual criminal responsibility for those that assist armed groups that detain people in ways that violate international 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 …
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 …
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 …
Conflict Classification In Ukraine: The Return Of The “Proxy War”?, Robert Heinsch
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
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 …
Seeking International Criminal Justice In Syria, Annika Jones
Seeking International Criminal Justice In Syria, Annika Jones
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
The Syrian Crisis And The Principle Of Non-Refoulement, Mike Sanderson
The Syrian Crisis And The Principle Of Non-Refoulement, Mike Sanderson
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
Belligerent Targeting And The Invalidity Of A Least Harmful Means Rule, Geoffrey S. Corn, Laurie R. Blank, Chris Jenks, Eric Talbot Jensen
Belligerent Targeting And The Invalidity Of A Least Harmful Means Rule, Geoffrey S. Corn, Laurie R. Blank, Chris Jenks, Eric Talbot Jensen
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
International Enforcement In Non-International Armed Conflict: Searching For Synergy Among Legal Regimes In The Case Of Libya, John Cerone
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
Use Of Unmanned Systems To Combat Terrorism, Raul A. "Pete" Pedrozo
Use Of Unmanned Systems To Combat Terrorism, Raul A. "Pete" Pedrozo
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
New Technology And The Law Of Armed Conflict, Darren M. Stewart
New Technology And The Law Of Armed Conflict, Darren M. Stewart
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
Low-Intensity Computer Network Attack And Self-Defense, Sean Watts
Low-Intensity Computer Network Attack And Self-Defense, Sean Watts
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
Xvi Litigating How We Fight, Ashley S. Deeks
Xvi Litigating How We Fight, Ashley S. Deeks
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
The Law Of Armed Conflict In Asymmetric Urban Armed Conflict, David E. Graham
The Law Of Armed Conflict In Asymmetric Urban Armed Conflict, David E. Graham
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
The Changing Character Of The Participants In War: Civilianization Of Warfighting And The Concept Of "Direct Participation In Hostilities", Charles Garraway
The Changing Character Of The Participants In War: Civilianization Of Warfighting And The Concept Of "Direct Participation In Hostilities", Charles Garraway
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
Regime Change And The Restoration Of The Rule Of Law In Iraq, Raid Juhi Al-Saedi
Regime Change And The Restoration Of The Rule Of Law In Iraq, Raid Juhi Al-Saedi
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
Rule Of Law Capacity Building In Iraq, Richard Pregent
Rule Of Law Capacity Building In Iraq, Richard Pregent
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
Concluding Observations: The Influence Of The Conflict In Iraq On International Law, Yoram Dinstein
Concluding Observations: The Influence Of The Conflict In Iraq On International Law, Yoram Dinstein
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.
Occupation In Iraq: Issues On The Periphery And For The Future: A Rubik's Cube Problem?, George K. Walker
Occupation In Iraq: Issues On The Periphery And For The Future: A Rubik's Cube Problem?, George K. Walker
International Law Studies
No abstract provided.