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Full-Text Articles in Law
Mind The Gap: Can Developers Of Autonomous Weapons Systems Be Liable For War Crimes?, Tim Mcfarland, Tim Mccormack
Mind The Gap: Can Developers Of Autonomous Weapons Systems Be Liable For War Crimes?, Tim Mcfarland, Tim Mccormack
International Law Studies
A recurrent response to the development of increasingly autonomous weapons systems involves questions of accountability for serious violations of the law of armed conflict. Opinion is divided across a spectrum ranging from claims of an accountability vacuum and consequent calls for a complete ban to assertions that the weapons will present no new challenges and that the existing legal framework is capable of adaptation to emerging technologies. This article focuses on the expanded role played by developers of autonomous weapons systems. It describes the novel contributions made by developers of these advanced systems that raise the potential for them to …
Autonomous Weapons And International Humanitarian Law: Advantages, Open Technical Questions And Legal Issues To Be Clarified, Marco Sassoli
Autonomous Weapons And International Humanitarian Law: Advantages, Open Technical Questions And Legal Issues To Be Clarified, Marco Sassoli
International Law Studies
This contribution argues that autonomous weapons systems may have advantages from the perspective of ensuring better respect for international humanitarian law (IHL). This may be the case if they are one day capable of perceiving the information necessary to comply with IHL, can apply IHL to that information, and if it can be ensured that they will not deviate from the ways in which humans have programmed them. In the view of the author, targeting decisions do not require subjective value judgments a machine would be unable to make. In order to ensure IHL is respected with regard to use …
Adapting The Law Of Armed Conflict To Autonomous Weapon Systems, Kenneth Anderson, Daniel Reisner, Matthew Waxman
Adapting The Law Of Armed Conflict To Autonomous Weapon Systems, Kenneth Anderson, Daniel Reisner, Matthew Waxman
International Law Studies
As increasingly automated—and in some cases fully autonomous—weapon systems enter the battlefield or become possible, it is important that international norms to regulate them head down a path that is coherent and practical. Contrary to the claims of some advocates, autonomous weapon systems are not inherently illegal or unethical. The technologies involved potentially hold promise for making armed conflict more discriminating and causing less harm on the battlefield. They do pose great challenges, however, with regard to law of armed conflict rules regulating the use of weapons. To adapt existing law to meet those challenges, we propose a three-tiered approach …
The Ssci Report And Its Critics: Torturing Efficacy, Peter Margulies
The Ssci Report And Its Critics: Torturing Efficacy, Peter Margulies
Law Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Targeting “Islamic State” Oil Facilities, Kenneth Watkin
Targeting “Islamic State” Oil Facilities, Kenneth Watkin
International Law Studies
In September 2014 the United States and Coalition partners conducted aerial attacks against several Islamic State-operated modular oil refineries in Syria. The Pentagon’s rationale is that the refineries provided fuel for Islamic State operations, money to finance continued attacks and constituted an economic asset to support future operations. Attacking the oil production facilities to stop the sale of smuggled oil, the proceeds of which “fuel” Islamic State activities is potentially controversial. Additional Protocol I limits attacks to those objects that “make an effective contribution to military action.” The U.S. position is that “war-sustaining objects” may also be lawfully targeted, thus …
1907 Hague Convention Viii Relative To The Laying Of Automatic Submarine Contact Mines, Steven Haines
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
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.
The Law Applicable To Naval Mine Warfare In A Non-International Armed Conflict, Rob Mclaughlin
The Law Applicable To Naval Mine Warfare In A Non-International Armed Conflict, Rob Mclaughlin
International Law Studies
There are very few instruments and very few cases, which describe how the law in relation to naval mine warfare applies within non-international armed conflict contexts. Additionally, since 1945, there has been relatively limited State practice. Working out what the law applicable to naval mine warfare in NIAC situations might look like today thus requires some recourse to the pre-World War II scheme designed to accommodate and characterize maritime activity by rebels, insurgents, and belligerents in conflict with their State. This article proposes for discussion a set of “rules” that attempt to incorporate and update elements of this customary scheme …
International Law Applicable To Naval Mines, Chatham House
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.
Defining The Battlefield In Contemporary Conflict And Counterterrorism: Understanding The Parameters Of The Zone Of Combat, Laurie R. Blank
Defining The Battlefield In Contemporary Conflict And Counterterrorism: Understanding The Parameters Of The Zone Of Combat, Laurie R. Blank
Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law
No abstract provided.
Identifying The Enemy In Counterterrorism Operations: A Comparison Of The Bush And Obama Administrations, Boaz Ganor
Identifying The Enemy In Counterterrorism Operations: A Comparison Of The Bush And Obama Administrations, Boaz Ganor
International Law Studies
Identifying the enemy plays a crucial role in providing the government with the authority needed to fight terrorism—from the authority to investigate threats to the authority to detain and use lethal force. The two administrations significantly differ in their understanding of the enemy, both at the organizational and individual levels. They also differ in their understanding of the boundaries of the battlefield. Ultimately, contrasting the policies adopted by the Bush and Obama administrations reveals that the early identification of the enemy by decision makers shaped the nature and scope of each administration’s counterterrorism strategies.
The Legality And Implications Of Intentional Interference With Commercial Communication Satellite Signals, Sarah M. Mountin
The Legality And Implications Of Intentional Interference With Commercial Communication Satellite Signals, Sarah M. Mountin
International Law Studies
Commercial communication satellite signals have become increasingly attractive targets for intentional interference by State and non-State actors. This article discusses the law applicable to satellite signal interference in peacetime, as well as during armed conflict. Specifically, the piece discusses the threshold at which intentional interference may constitute a use of force.
Modern Maritime Neutrality Law, James Farrant
Modern Maritime Neutrality Law, James Farrant
International Law Studies
This article is a fundamental reappraisal of the rules of maritime neutrality, including blockade, contraband and maritime zones. It is one of the most comprehensive reassessments of this area of the law since R. W. Tucker's seminal work in this publication in 1955. As well as defining and stating the rules of maritime neutrality, the piece offers recommendations for future development of the law which drafters of State law of armed conflict manuals may wish to consider.
The United States’ Position On The Extraterritorial Application Of Human Rights Obligations: Now Is The Time For Change, Beth Van Schaack
The United States’ Position On The Extraterritorial Application Of Human Rights Obligations: Now Is The Time For Change, Beth Van Schaack
International Law Studies
This article contends that in the upcoming Human Rights Committee proceedings, the U.S. should abandon the categorical argument that its human rights obligations do not apply extraterritorially in favor of a more nuanced approach that reflects the majority position reached by the range of human rights treaty bodies and courts as well as the legal framework applicable to our coalition partners and other allies. The U.S. failure to acknowledge limited, well-established, and principled exceptions to a strictly territorial application of its human rights obligations ultimately undermines the legitimacy of other, more efficacious, arguments at its disposal—such as its position on …
Charting The Legal Geography Of Non-International Armed Conflict, Michael N. Schmitt
Charting The Legal Geography Of Non-International Armed Conflict, Michael N. Schmitt
International Law Studies
This article examines the geographical reach of international humanitarian law (law of armed conflict), particularly during armed conflicts between States and non-State organized armed groups. The issue is operationally critical, since to the extent that IHL applies, practices which are lawful during armed conflicts, such as status-based targeting, may be employed. When IHL does not apply, human rights obligations shouldered by the State govern the conduct of its military operations. The article surveys the various approaches to the the legal geography of non-international armed conflict, arguing that an interpretation by which IHL is not geographically restricted is the most supportable.