International humanitarian law in the twenty-first century

2003 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 3-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
First Century ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
What Works ◽  
The Law ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Successes And Failures ◽  
The Way

No one would consider constructing a building without first checking whether its foundations are sound. It is no different with international humanitarian law.It is useful to examine the difficulties and even failures of international humanitarian law encountered in practice. But before beginning work on a renewal or development of the law, one must be sure the undertaking can be withstood by the foundations and that it will not call into question the very principles on which the law is founded. Any examination of international humanitarian law will have to be carried out in a very open-minded manner — one that rules out nothing, not even the possibility of scrapping the law entirely and constructing a new edifice on different foundations, if one were convinced that it was not possible to incorporate the changes needed into the law as it stands. To carry out such an examination, it is essential to analyse not only what works well and what works badly but also the underlying reasons for humanitarian law's successes and failures.To sketch out the way forward, I will begin by recalling the pillars on which international humanitarian law stands. I will then look at various shortcomings in the law and consider from whence they arise, whether they justify its amendment, and whether any such amendment is possible without undermining the law's foundations. I will conclude by setting out what solutions may be found in humanitarian law itself, the limits of that law and the consequences that must be recognised in terms of international law and its institutions.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip Drew
Keyword(s):  
First Century ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Civilian Population ◽  
Naval Warfare ◽  
The Law ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Insight Into

The introduction to the book introduces the reader to the method of naval warfare known as ‘maritime blockade’. Comparing and contrasting blockade to similar types of maritime interdiction operations, it outlines the particular characteristics that set blockades apart from sanctions, embargoes, and contraband operations. In particular, this part of the book provides insight into the author’s principal argument that there is a humanitarian gap in the law of maritime blockade that permits blockading powers to deliberately cause the starvation of the civilian population of a blockaded area. As a consequence, the introduction sets out the thesis that the contemporary law of maritime blockade is outdated and requires significant reform in order to remain valid in the context of twenty-first-century international humanitarian law (IHL)..

The Obligation to Afford Reparation to Injured Individuals

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Ferstman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter considers the consequences of breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law for the responsible international organizations. It concentrates on the obligations owed to injured individuals. The obligation to make reparation arises automatically from a finding of responsibility and is an obligation of result. I analyse who has this obligation, to whom it is owed, and what it entails. I also consider the right of individuals to procedures by which they may vindicate their right to a remedy and the right of access to a court that may be implied from certain human rights treaties. In tandem, I consider the relationship between those obligations and individuals’ rights under international law. An overarching issue is how the law of responsibility intersects with the specialized regimes of human rights and international humanitarian law and particularly, their application to individuals.

scholarly journals Fiqh al-Jihād in Modern Warfare: Analyzing Prospects and Challenges with Reference to International Humanitarian Law

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Fajri Matahati Muhammadin ◽  
Thara Kunarti Wahab
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Jus In Bello ◽  
Literature Research ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Jus Ad Bellum ◽  
Modern Warfare ◽  
The Way

In discussing the compatibility of the Islamic concept of jihād and international law, most researches focus on the jus ad bellum (justifications of war) of fiqh al jihād and less on the jus in bello (lawful conducts of war). This article observes the relation between fiqh al-jihād and modern international humanitarian law, and sets out both the prospects and challenges of such a concept in modern times. It is argued that some challenges are due to the lack of emphasis on the principles of fiqh al-jihād that are shared with modern International Humanitarian Law, or the existence of differing opinions between Islamic scholars. Using a literature research, this article finds that the way to address this is to make a unified code of fiqh al-jihād, involving scholars from all schools of thoughts, to agree on a common set of rules.

International Organizations and the Fight for Accountability

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Ferstman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
The Law

This book is concerned with reparation for human rights and international humanitarian law breaches committed by or attributed to international organizations. These breaches constitute internationally wrongful acts which, according to the International Law Commission’s Draft articles on the responsibility of international organizations, give rise to an obligation on the offending organization to afford reparation. However, in practice, the obligation to afford reparation is unimplemented. The book explores why this is. It considers how the law of responsibility intersects with the specialized regimes of human rights and international humanitarian law and, particularly, their application to remedies and reparation owed to individuals. It reviews the various gaps in the law and the limitations of existing redress mechanisms. The book analyses the cogency of the arguments and rationales that have been used by international organizations to limit their liability and the scope and functioning of redress mechanisms, included by the resort to lex specialis principles. It is postulated that the standards of reparation must be drawn from the nature of the breach and the resulting harms and not by who is responsible for the breach. In this respect the book is an exercise in the progressive development of the law. Having determined that existing redress mechanisms cannot afford adequate or effective remedies and reparation, the book explores how to move towards a model that achieves greater compliance.

Gender and Forms of Conflict

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasuki Nesiah
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Conflict ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Successes And Failures

This chapter compares and contrasts the successes and failures of “conflict mapping” in international humanitarian law (IHL) and international conflict feminism (ICF), a phrase the author uses to refer to feminist initiatives aimed at strengthening international law and policy’s response to women’s experiences. The chapter begins by describing the IHL regime for classification of forms of conflict and the consequences of these stratifications on conflict resolution. It addresses the strategies of ICF, and the challenge it brings to the conflict maps of IHL for not adequately addressing women’s specific needs. The chapter then questions the conflict maps of ICF. It demonstrates the ways in which ICF’s approach to gender, while commendable, can also be simplistic and inadequate.

Administering the Territories: An Inquiry into the Application of International Humanitarian Law by the IDF in the Occupied Territories

2005 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amichai Cohen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The Core ◽  
Occupied Territories ◽  
Six Day War ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Israeli Army ◽  
The Way

This article seeks to evaluate Israel's implementation of the international law of occupation in the territories which it came to control after the Six-Day War, from a new perspective. Many scholars have criticized or justified specific Israeli policies by comparing them to specific norms of international law. Contrary to this scholarship, this article addresses the questions at the core of current debates over the implementation of international law: Why has Israel chosen to implement some specific rules of international law and to ignore others? And what caused the changes in Israel's implementation of international law?Some of the answers to these questions can be found by examining the interests of various institutions involved in the implementation of International law, and the interplay between them. I suggest that in order to understand Israel's initial behavior one must look at the interests, goals and culture of the Israeli army, the IDF, the institution initially responsible for administering the territories. I shall further argue that subsequent changes in policies are a result of the struggle between the IDF and other Israeli institutions attempting to gain influence over the way the territories were controlled.

The Notion of ‘Objects’ during Cyber Operations: A Riposte in Defence of Interpretive and Applicative Precision

2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael N Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Cyber Warfare ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Group ◽  
The Law

This article responds to the two articles published in this journal that criticise the approach taken by the International Group of Experts (IGE) who prepared the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare. Their authors took issue with the approach of the majority of the IGE over the question of whether data qualifies as an ‘object’ under international humanitarian law such that, for instance, cyber operations that target civilian data violate the prohibition on attacking civilian objects. The majority of the experts took the position that the law had not advanced that far and that pre-existing law could not be definitively interpreted to encompass data within the meaning of ‘objects’. In this article, the Director of the Tallinn Manual Project responds to the authors' criticism of the majority view by explaining and clarifying its reasoning.

Corporate actors: the legal status of mercenaries in armed conflict

2006 ◽  
Vol 88 (863) ◽  
pp. 599-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Fallah
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Conventional Approach ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Military Industry ◽  
The Law ◽  
Modern Warfare

AbstractCorporate actors are taking on an increasingly significant role in the prosecution of modern warfare. Traditionally, an analysis of the law applicable to corporate actors in armed conflict commences with inquiry into the law as it applies to mercenaries. As such, the rise of the private military industry invites a reconsideration of the conventional approach to mercenaries under international law. This article critically surveys the conventional law as it applies to mercenaries, and considers the extent to which corporate actors might meet the legal definitions of a “mercenary”. It demonstrates that even mercenaries receive protection under international humanitarian law.

scholarly journals CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR HUMANITARIAN CRIMES IN INTERNATIONAL LAW AND ITS REFLECTION IN RUSSIAN NATIONAL LEGISLATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (72) (2) ◽  
pp. 190-196
Author(s):  
V. A. Bugaev ◽  
A. V. Chaika
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
National Legislation ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Law ◽  
Criminal Legislation ◽  
The Relationship

The article discusses the problems of the relationship between international law in general and, in particular, international humanitarian law and the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation in determining responsibility for international humanitarian crimes. The analysis of the emergence of international humanitarian law, its fundamental principles and their reflection in the law of Russia and the Russian Federation.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document