Towards an International Law of Brigandage: Interpretative Engineering for the Regulation of Natural Resources Exploitation

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean D'ASPREMONT
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
Critical Remark ◽  
Just World ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Standards Of Conduct ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Resources Exploitation

The exploitation of natural resources in times of conflict has been the object of a prolific literature due to the extremely laconic character of the standards of conduct prescribed by the Hague and Geneva Conventions. Such laconicism has led scholars to be creative in ensuring that this central aspect of modern conflicts falls within the scope of existing legal instruments. This article starts by depicting the rich argumentative creativity developed by scholars and experts to ensure a more comprehensive regulation of what has often been perceived as a form of international brigandage. Subsequently it reflects on the biases of the professional community that has dedicated its efforts to the elaboration of a fairer framework of natural resources exploitation in times of conflict. In particular, it formulates some critical remark on the “just world business” that has dictated the methodology behind most of the interpretative engineering to be found.

Covenants Without the Sword International Law and the Protection of Civilians in Times of War

2006 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Valentino ◽  
Paul Huth ◽  
Sarah Croco
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
International Law ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
International Laws ◽  
The Hague ◽  
War Aims

Do the international laws of war effectively protect civilian populations from deliberate attack? In a statistical analysis of all interstate wars from 1900 to 2003 the authors find no evidence that signatories of The Hague or Geneva Conventions intentionally kill fewer civilians during war than do nonsignatories. This result holds for democratic signatories and for wars in which both sides are parties to the treaty. Nor do they find evidence that a state's regime type or the existence of ethnic or religious differences between combatants explains the variation in civilian targeting. They find strong support, however, for their theoretical framework, which suggests that combatants seek to kill enemy civilians when they believe that doing so will coerce their adversaries into early surrender or undermine their adversaries' war-related domestic production. The authors find that states fighting wars of attrition or counterinsurgency, states fighting for expansive war aims, and states fighting wars of long duration kill significantly more civilians than states in other kinds of wars.

Climate, Conflict, and International Law in the Middle East and Beyond

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 160-164
Author(s):  
Usha Natarajan
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Unequal Access ◽  
The Rich

The last time there was this much carbon dioxide in our atmosphere was three and a half million years ago. While our planetary history evidences cyclical climatic shifts, this time injustice is the cause. The lifestyles of the wealthy few are sustained not only by increasing economic inequality but the systemic collapse of ecosystems. The richest 20 percent consumes 80 percent of the world's natural resources and generates over 90 percent of its pollution and waste. For most people, the poorer 80 percent, their grossly unequal access to natural resources is compounded by also bearing the brunt of the pollution generated by the rich.

scholarly journals The Impact of Taxation and the Quest for Good Governance: Evidence from Nigeria

Webology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 416-429
Author(s):  
Anthony Anyibuofu Kifordu ◽  
Florence Konye Igweh ◽  
Judith Ifeanyi Aloamaka
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Revenue Generation ◽  
Historical Fact ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Government ◽  
Resources Exploitation ◽  
The Impact

Taxation affords governments everywhere an avenue for the strategic generation of revenue required for the development of societies. This is particularly true for developing societies that have historically relied on natural resources and foreign aid for state resources. This paper explores avenues through which emerging economies and the Nigerian state in particular can utilize taxation both as a channel for revenue generation and as a medium for the enhancement of state-society relations with a view to promoting good governance. Deploying secondary evidence, the paper argues that there is a palpable disconnect between the government and society in Nigeria owing to the historical fact that revenue generation from the natural resources domain and its utilization has been without accountability and transparency. It insists that governance in Africa’s most populous enclave is conducted without the requisite tactical taxation nous. On the basis of this evidence the paper suggests that Nigeria embrace a transparent and accountable tax regime which can aid economic development, strengthen economic institutions and policies, move beyond natural resources exploitation, and redistribute resources in favour of investments that require little skills and less capital with a view to bridging the gap between the rich and poor while simultaneously bringing a lot of people out of poverty.

scholarly journals International criminal law protection of prisoners of war in the nineteenth century

2003 ◽  
Vol 75 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 423-433
Author(s):  
Jelena Lopičić-Jančić
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Law Of War ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
The Hague ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
International Conventions ◽  
The 19Th Century

The author writes about International conventions and other legal acts in the field of Law of War in the 19th century, with special emphasis on the criminal law protection of prisoners of war. She underlines that although the 1874 Brussels Declaration and the 1880 Oxford Manual of the Laws and Customs of War were not international conventions, they still represented very important international instruments, which had a great impact on the International Law of War in the 20th century. A number of principles established in those acts were later adopted in the Hague and the Geneva Conventions.

Prawo okupacji a międzynarodowe budowanie państwa: mój przyjaciel wróg

2016 ◽  
pp. 7-38
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Gil
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
State Building ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Double Standards ◽  
Jus Post Bellum ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Local Stakeholders ◽  
Imperial Politics ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The Cold War

Following the end of the cold war, the incidence of statebuilding interventions has visibly increased in the case of dysfunctional (failed) states. Today, such interventionism in a good faith promotes liberal values and is believed to be in line with international legal regimes that makes it distinctive from neo-imperial politics. Even if state-building does not generally refer to regular warfare, it often takes analogous forms to occupation, which was codified in jus in bello at the beginning of the XXth century. While the occupation law requires occupants to maintain status quo on the occupying territory (article 43 of Hague Regulations), armed state-building is transformative by definition that seems to undermine conservative provisions of the former. The article presents traditional criteria for occupation in the Hague and Geneva conventions as well as prospects and limitations of its refinement (jus post bellum). In theory, such a redefinition could launch the formulation of the statebuilding regime, which aims to reduce deficits or double-standards in international state-building by focusing on the interests of local stakeholders of transformative projects. Hence, the Author addresses three interlocking issues: occupation within state-building, the occupation law and state-building, and transformative occupation as state-building.

Paradoks Desentralisasi dan Kesejahteraan: Kalimantan Timur Kaya Tapi Miskin

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ali Hapsah ◽  
Wawan Mas’udi
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Economic Potential ◽  
Regional Autonomy ◽  
East Kalimantan ◽  
Fiscal Decentralisation ◽  
The Rich ◽  
New System ◽  
Regional Governments

East Kalimantan is a province full of paradoxes. This region has considerable economic potential measured in terms of its abundant endowments of natural resources, including oil, natural gas, gold, coal and forestry. Yet, East Kalimantan still lacks infrastructure, has poor human resources and high levels of unemployment, factors that condemn much of the population to a life of poverty and hardship. The new system of regional autonomy, which has been implemented since 2001, was expected to give more benefit to the regions, as regional governments have held relatively more power and fiscal capacity. Law 22/1999, which has been revised twice, has provided more authority to regional governments to manage their respective regions. The introduction of fiscal decentralisation through Law 25/1999, further revised in Law 33/2004, has favoured regions rich in natural resources such as East Kalimantan. As it has abundant natural resources, this region has received greatly increased funds from the central government due to the implementation of sharing revenue formula generated from the exploitation of natural resources. These supposed to give more opportunities for the rich regions such East Kalimantan to accelerate regional development and bring their people to greater prosperity. Nevertheless, East Kalimantan has realized neither the objectives of regional autonomy nor the community aspirations for a more prosperous society. This paper aims to examine the extent to which regional autonomy laws have impacted people's welfare in East Kalimantan.

Sovereignty, Self-Determination, and Natural Resources

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérémie Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Ambivalent Relationship ◽  
The Right

The issue of sovereignty over natural resources has been a key element in the development of international law, notably leading to the emergence of the principle of States’ permanent sovereignty over their natural resources. However, concomitant to this focus on States’ sovereignty, international human rights law proclaims the right of peoples to self-determination over their natural resources. This has led to a complex and ambivalent relationship between the principle of States’ sovereignty over natural resources and peoples’ rights to natural resources. This chapter analyses this conflicting relationship and examines the emergence of the right of peoples to freely dispose of their natural resources and evaluates its potential role in contemporary advocacy. It notably explores how indigenous peoples have called for the revival of their right to sovereignty over natural resources, and how the global peasants’ movement has pushed for the recognition of the concept of food sovereignty.

Territorial Sovereignty

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Stilz
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
International System ◽  
Core Values ◽  
The State ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Territorial Sovereignty ◽  
Collective Self ◽  
Political Units ◽  
Territorial States

This book offers a qualified defense of a territorial states system. It argues that three core values—occupancy, basic justice, and collective self-determination—are served by an international system made up of self-governing, spatially defined political units. The defense is qualified because the book does not actually justify all of the sovereignty rights states currently claim and that are recognized in international law. Instead, the book proposes important changes to states’ sovereign prerogatives, particularly with respect to internal autonomy for political minorities, immigration, and natural resources. Part I of the book argues for a right of occupancy, holding that a legitimate function of the international system is to specify and protect people’s preinstitutional claims to specific geographical places. Part II turns to the question of how a state might acquire legitimate jurisdiction over a population of occupants. It argues that the state will have a right to rule a population and its territory if it satisfies conditions of basic justice and facilitates its people’s collective self-determination. Finally, Parts III and IV of this book argue that the exclusionary sovereignty rights to control over borders and natural resources that can plausibly be justified on the basis of the three core values are more limited than has traditionally been thought.

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