scholarly journals The principles of international humanitarian law (III)

1966 ◽  
Vol 6 (68) ◽  
pp. 567-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Pictet
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
The Other ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Economic Sphere ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The One

The word “neuter” comes from the Latin ne-uter, which means, neither the one, nor the other. Neutrality is an essentially neutral notion. It qualifies above all the abstention of someone who remains outside a conflict who does not openly express an opinion of either side.In international law, neutrality is the opposite of belligerency. It is the position adopted, in relation to two Powers at war, by a State not taking part in the struggle. The status of neutrality regulated by juridical rules and in particular by the Hague Conventions involves rights and duties. In short, it implies refraining from taking part officially, either directly or indirectly, in hostilities. In the first place, therefore, it is a concept of an essentially military character. However, as a result of a recent evolution in events and thought, some people tend to think that neutrality should also have effect in the economic sphere, in view of its importance today in the war potential of countries.

scholarly journals Illegal Control Over the Territory in International Law and the Status of Donbas Determination

2021 ◽  
pp. 279-296
Author(s):  
Oleksiy Kresin ◽  
Iryna Kresina
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
New States ◽  
The Will ◽  
The One ◽  
Second World

Total rejection of the aggression and territory occupation in the international law leads to their hybrid and concealed forms using gangs and mercenaries, proclaiming new “states” etc. These activities constitute serious threat to international security, can cause and already cause the fragmentation of states, anarchy, criminalization of politics, new forms of expansionism and so on. The authors of the article generalize the forms of illegal control over the territory in international law and their application considering the status of Donbas determination. International law for more than a century provides for the possibility of separate regulation of the sovereignty and legal rights of the state to the territory, on the one hand, and the implementation of the regime of illegal control over the territory – on the other. Authors argue that in the modern sense, primarily developed by doctrine and courts, illegal control over the territory can be considered as a legal regime, one of the forms of which is occupation, while others are defined as effective, overall, general, de facto control and related to undisclosed actions and informal means used by the aggressor states. This regime is characterized by the exercise of power over the territory by the will of a foreign state, and the forms of implementation of the regime differ depending on whether such a will is officially recognized or concealed. The transformation of international humanitarian law after the Second World War erased the boundaries between recognized and officially unrecognized occupation. But unlike occupation, the fact of which may be obvious, the fact of effective or other control over the territory requires the determination by judicial authorities. The qualification of illegal control by the Russian Federation of the Donbas in national and international law is ambiguous. The authors argue that the full recognition of the international armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia in Donbas, as well as Russia’s illegal control over latter should be expected in the process of consideration of a number of cases in the international judicial institutions.

Some Questions of International Law in the European War

1915 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-86 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
The Other ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The One

The invasion by German troops of the territories of Belgium and Luxemburg and the occupation by Japanese troops of Chinese territory to facilitate their attack upon the German forces at Kaio-Chau have raised one of the most fundamental questions of international law, namely, under what circumstances, if any, is a belligerent justified in violating the territory of a neutral for the purpose of prosecuting his military operations against the enemy. The German and Japanese offenses differ somewhat because in the one case the neutrality of the violated territory had been guaranteed by a special convention of long standing to which the violating belligerent was himself a party; in the other case the neutrality of the violated territory, although protected by a long established rule of international law, as well as by one of the Hague conventions, had not been made the subject of a special and solemn guarantee by a group of Powers. This fact, together with other circumstances, places the two acts upon a different moral if not a different legal footing.

THE PROBLEM OF “CLIMATE REFUGEES” IN VIEW OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW – SELECTED ISSUES

2018 ◽  
Vol VIII (z. 2) ◽  
pp. 157-172
Author(s):  
Przemysław Osóbka
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Exclusive Economic Zones ◽  
The Status ◽  
Rising Sea Levels ◽  
Economic Zones ◽  
Climate Refugees

The article is an attempt to respond to the need to find international legal solutions, extremely important for people living in the countries threatened by the consequences of climate change, among others, the effects of rising sea levels in the seas and oceans. I try to direct attention to the still underestimated in the international law problem of the so-called "climate refugees". Behind the concept that defies the classic definitions of "refugees", there are hundreds of thousands today, and soon perhaps millions of people whose lives, health and property will be threatened by the forces of nature. The originality of the approach presented in the article is an attempt to consider whether appropriate legal solutions that protect vulnerable populations can be sought on the basis of international humanitarian law, since so far no other branch of international law seemed adequate to take up this challenge. The urgent and important dimension of the problems discussed in the article completes the necessity of searching for and finding answers to questions about the relationship between climate change and public international law. These are the legal consequences of climate deterritorialisation of sovereign states, such as the status of the population of the state without land territory, the loss of territories by archipelago states, the change of the sea borders, territorial waters, exclusive economic zones, and finally the responsibility of states for climate change. In the context of 'climate refugees', there is still no binding legal act that would meet the needs of thousands of people affected by climate change. This causes dissonance because, beyond any doubt, the situation in which these people find themselves raises a lot of fears - for their own lives, safety, health, etc. Today, entire communities and even countries face the problem of progressing deterritorialisation in face of climate threats. climate change, they face the risk of a non-culpable threat to their sovereignty.

International Humanitarian Law, War Criminality and Child Recruitment: The Special Court for Sierra Leone's Decision in Prosecutor v. Samuel Hinga Norman

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW HAPPOLD
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Appeal Chamber ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
The Status ◽  
Insight Into

The recent decision of the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Prosecutor v. Samuel Hinga Norman not only addresses the status of child recruitment as a war crime, but also provides an insight into how international criminal tribunals determine what conduct is criminal in international law. However, the authority of the decision is weakened by the unconvincing evidence relied upon by the Appeal Chamber in coming to its conclusions and by a strong dissent from Justice Robertson. The decision's faults, however, merely reflect problems in the process whereby violations of international humanitarian law are criminalized.

Ten questions to Philip Spoerri, ICRC Director for International Law and Cooperation

2012 ◽  
Vol 94 (887) ◽  
pp. 1125-1134 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
The One

With the globalisation of market economies, business has become an increasingly prominent actor in international relations. It is also increasingly present in situations of armed conflict. On the one hand, companies operating in volatile environments are exposed to violence and the consequences of armed conflicts. On the other hand, some of their conduct in armed conflict may lead to violations of the law.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) engages with the private sector on humanitarian issues, with the aim of ensuring compliance or clarifying the obligations that business actors have under international humanitarian law (IHL) and encouraging them to comply with the commitments they have undertaken under various international initiatives to respect IHL and human rights law.In times of conflict, IHL spells out certain responsibilities and rights for all parties involved. Knowledge of the relevant rules of IHL is therefore critical for local and international businesses operating in volatile contexts. In this Q&A section, Philip Spoerri, ICRC Director for International Law and Cooperation, gives an overview of the rules applicable to business actors in situations of conflict, and discusses some of the ICRC's engagement with business actors.Philip Spoerri began his career with the ICRC in 1994. Following a first assignment in Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, he went on to be based in Kuwait, Yemen, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Geneva, he headed the legal advisers to the Department of Operations. He returned to Afghanistan as head of the ICRC delegation there from 2004 to 2006, when he took up his current position. Before joining the ICRC, he worked as a lawyer in a private firm in Munich. He holds a PhD in law from Bielefeld University and has also studied at the universities of Göttingen, Geneva, and Munich.

National Implementation Measures of International Humanitarian Law: Some Practical Aspects

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 245-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Teresa Dutli
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
The Other ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Modern Development ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
The World

From one perspective, the modern development of international humanitarian law has been a remarkable success. Its rules are among the most detailed and extensive of international law. Its principal treaties enjoy almost universal acceptance. For the other side of the picture, one has only to look at what is happening in most recent armed conflicts to realize that serious violations of humanitarian law are rife all over the world. This leads to the conclusion that it iscompliance— respect for the rules — which is the major challenge facing humanitarian law today rather than its very existence or the adequacy of its provisions.

Part One Historical and Legal Foundations, III On the Application of International Law to Palestinian Refugees

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albanese Francesca P ◽  
Takkenberg Lex
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Palestinian Refugees ◽  
The Status ◽  
Legal Foundations ◽  
Palestinian Refugee ◽  
International Refugee Law

This chapter explores the legal foundations of the Palestinian refugee question, reviewing their status under various branches of international law – as refugees, stateless persons, civilians protected under international humanitarian law, internally displaced persons, or, simply, as human beings entitled to human rights. International law as it stood in the early twentieth century, is relevant to the Palestinian refugee question. Since 1948, the evolution of its various branches – notably international humanitarian law (IHL), international human rights law (IHRL), international refugee law (IRL), and the frameworks to address statelessness and prevent internal displacement – have consolidated and evolved in ways that should benefit Palestinian refugees. IRL determines the foundation of the legal status of Palestinians as refugees and the standards of treatment specific to that status. IHRL, as the body of international law with the widest application, has the potential to improve significantly the status and conditions of Palestinian refugees. Meanwhile, IHL remains an important, composite protection framework whenever humanity fails. Thus, the failure to bring a just resolution to the plight of Palestinian refugees is ultimately attributable to the protracted lack of political will, rather than inadequacy of the legal framework and the persistence to treat their plight in political terms, as an outcome of war, a humanitarian crisis, and an issue for negotiation.

Compromise or Commitment: Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Obligations for UN Peace Forces

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-245
Author(s):  
Marten Zwanenburg
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The One

Allegations of human rights and humanitarian law violations by UN forces have highlighted the need for more clarity in this area. This requires a focus on human rights and humanitarian norms applicable to UN forces, and the question of responsibility for violations of those norms. To a large extent, these questions concern the relations between the UN, national contingents, and troop contributing states. What are their respective rights and obligations? In this paper it is submitted that the answer given to this question under international law differs from the one given in the specific legal framework and practice of UN forces.

The Involvement of the Security Council in Maintaining International Humanitarian Law

1994 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Th.A. van Baarda
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
The Other ◽  
Clear Distinction ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Relief ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The One

In this article the author discusses the growing involvement of the Security Council in humanitarian protection and assistance in armed conflict. Given the fact that the Security Council is apolitical body par excellence, its involvement in the humanitarian relief effort may prejudice the neutrality and independence of the latter. He finds himself in agreement with the ICRC, which has proposed that the UN should make a clear distinction between encouraging respect for humanitarian law on the one hand, and the effort to maintain international peace and security on the other.

scholarly journals IUS Post Bellum and The Imperative to Supersede IHL

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 193-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Kalmanovitz
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
The Other ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
The One

In recent debates about the interplay between international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL), two broad camps have emerged. On the one hand, defenders of what may be called the convergence thesis have emphasized the inclusion of basic rights protections in the so-called “Geneva instruments” of IHL, as well as the role of human rights bodies in interpreting and amplifying rights protections in IHL through juridical or quasi-juridical interpretation and pronouncements. In armed conflicts, it is said, human rights apply concurrently and in ways that strengthen the protective constraints of IHL. Critics of the convergence thesis, on the other hand, have protested that pressing human rights obligations on state forces misunderstands the nature of both IHL and IHRL, and generates misplaced and impossibly onerous demands on belligerents—ultimately and perversely, the effect of emphasizing convergence may be less, not more, human rights protection.

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