17 The Law of Armed Conflict at Sea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
von Heinegg Wolff Heintschel
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Naval Warfare ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
The Third ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Law ◽  
Hospital Ships

This chapter evaluates legal developments and practice with respect to armed conflict at sea. The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea has progressively developed the law and contributed to the emergence of multiple differing regimes, some of which are now customary in character. The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea (1995) provides a contemporary restatement of the law of armed conflict at sea, together with some progressive development. The chapter provides an overview of the different acts of naval warfare, comments on special provisions concerning means and methods of naval warfare, and explains the legal status of hospital ships including conditions of their protection.

19 The Law of Non-International Armed Conflict

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fleck Dieter
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Law

This chapter provides an overview of the law of non-international armed conflicts and its progressive development. The law of armed conflict, as it has developed in the last part of the nineteenth and the first part of the twentieth century, deals predominantly with wars between states. Its basic principles and rules are, however, likewise relevant for non-international armed conflicts: in all armed conflicts, elementary considerations of humanity must be respected under all circumstances, in order to protect victims, to reduce human sufferings, and to minimize damages to objects vital for survival. Therefore, the parties to the conflict do not have an unlimited choice of the means and methods of conducting hostilities, nor of selecting the targets to be attacked, and they must protect the victims from the effects and consequences of war. This concept is reflected in the principles and rules of international humanitarian law, to be respected by all and, while taking military necessity into account, limiting the use of force for humanitarian reasons. Parties to the conflict respecting these principles and rules are considered as respecting the international order, while those seriously violating them will commit internationally wrongful acts and perpetrators are liable to punishment.

Protecting the Environment from the Perspective of the Law of Armed Conflict

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 252-260
Author(s):  
Bartłomiej Krzan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Normative Framework ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Law

Abstract The present study analyses climate change from the perspective of the law of armed conflict. Climate may be both a victim and a means of warfare. Arguably, the existing normative framework is broad enough to allow for accommodating climate change. It cannot be denied that the environment is easily harmed, or at least jeopardized in times of armed conflicts. Despite the obvious lack of explicit references in the instruments of international humanitarian law, it may be argued that it is possible to fit climate change in. The accompanying analysis addresses the respective potential and the ensuing hurdles.

scholarly journals Lessons for the law of armed conflict from commitments of armed groups: identification of legitimate targets and prisoners of war

2011 ◽  
Vol 93 (882) ◽  
pp. 463-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandesh Sivakumaran
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Law ◽  
Rules Set

AbstractArmed groups frequently issue ad hoc commitments that contain a law of armed conflict component. These commitments detail the obligation of the relevant armed group to abide by international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, or particular rules set out in the commitment. They commit the group to abide by international standards, sometimes exceed international standards, or in certain respects violate international standards. Although these commitments are often overlooked, they offer certain lessons for the law of armed conflict. This article considers the commitments of armed groups with respect to two specific areas of the law that are either of contested interpretation or seemingly inapplicable to non-international armed conflicts, namely the identification of legitimate targets and the prisoners of war regime.

scholarly journals International law and the military use of unmanned maritime systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 98 (902) ◽  
pp. 567-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael N. Schmitt ◽  
David S. Goddard
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Naval Warfare ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Military

AbstractUnmanned maritime systems (UMSs) comprise an important subcategory of unmanned military devices. While much of the normative debate concerning the use of unmanned aerial and land-based devices applies equally to those employed on or under water, UMS present unique challenges in understanding the application of existing law. This article summarizes the technological state of the art before considering, in turn, the legal status of UMSs, particularly under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the regulation of their use under the law of naval warfare. It is not yet clear if UMSs enjoy status as ships under UNCLOS; even if they do, it is unlikely that they can be classified as warships. Nevertheless, their lawful use is not necessarily precluded in either peacetime or armed conflict.

scholarly journals Lest We Forget the Realm of Armed Conflicts: A Guided Discussion on the Law of Armed Conflict/International Humanitarian Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-50
Author(s):  
Yugichha Sangroula
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Initial Attempt ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Law

The paper is a doctrinal and a dialectic endeavour to comment on LOAC/IHL from a bird’s-eye view. It is the author’s initial attempt to contribute to an ongoing discussion on the theory and practice of LOAC/IHL, reflecting on the key issues relevant to Nepal. The question-answer approach is based on the author’s interactions with law students, colleagues, members from the police, military, victims, bureaucrats and politicians in the Nepali diaspora. The paper will benefit from the readers’ critique.

1 Introduction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boothby William H
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Important Distinction ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Arms Trade ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Law

This relatively brief chapter introduces the book as a whole. It positions weapons law within the framework of international law in general, and of the law of armed conflict in particular, noting the important distinctions between international and non-international armed conflicts, and between the law on the resort to the use of force and that which regulates the conduct of hostilities. The logical flow of the book is presented, and certain terms that are vital to the ensuing discussion, namely weapons, means of warfare and methods of warfare are explained. The all-important distinction between weapons law and the legal rules that regulate targeting is noted. A concluding section addresses the recently-adopted Arms Trade Treaty.

1 The Scope and Structure of This Book

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
McLaughlin Robert
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Analytical Tool ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Law

This introductory chapter argues that most difficulties encountered in the application of the law of armed conflict (LOAC), or in proffering fixes for alleged lacunae in LOAC, are dealt with through exegetical analysis from modern rules and their underpinning principles. This is generally undertaken with a view towards progressive development of the law. Nowhere is this more currently apparent than in relation to grappling with the status and obligations of non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in the context of non-international armed conflict (NIAC). The chapter then presents three assumptions. The legal assumption is that the threshold between civil war and international armed conflict (IAC) is not an exact correlate of that between NIAC and IAC. The doctrinal assumption is that the harmonization of NIAC and IAC LOAC will never be total. Finally, the historical assumption is that a true rendering of the utility and influence of a legal doctrine is born of an assessment of its uses as an analytical tool, not just as a label for an outcome. The chapter also sets out the methodological background to the project: why and how this book will examine recognition of belligerency, and some clarifications on terminology.

Proportionality and Force in International Law

1993 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Gail Gardam
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Law ◽  
United Nations System ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Cost

Proportionality is a fundamental component of the law on the use of force and the law of armed conflict—the jus ad bellum and the jus in bello. In the former, it refers to a belligerent’s response to a grievance and, in the latter, to the balance to be struck between the achievement of a military goal and the cost in terms of lives. The legitimate resort to force under the United Nations system is regarded by most commentators as restricted to the use of force in self-defense under Article 51 and collective security action under chapter VII of the UN Charter. The resort to force in both these situations is limited by the customary law requirement that it be proportionate to the unlawful aggression that gave rise to the right. In the law of armed conflict, the notion of proportionality is based on the fundamental principle that belligerents do not enjoy an unlimited choice of means to inflict damage on the enemy. Since the entry into force of Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, proportionality has been both a conventional and a customary principle of the law of armed conflict.

San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea

1995 ◽  
Vol 35 (309) ◽  
pp. 595-637 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Geneva Convention ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Institute ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Law ◽  
Naval Operations

The San Remo Manual was prepared during the period 1988–1994 by a group of legal and naval experts participating in their personal capacity in a series of Round Tables convened by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law. The purpose of the Manual is to provide a contemporary restatement of international law applicable to armed conflicts at sea. The Manual includes a few provisions which might be considered progressive developments in the law but most of its provisions are considered to state the law which is currently applicable. The Manual is viewed by the participants of the Round Tables as being in many respects a modern equivalent to the Oxford Manual on the Laws of Naval War Governing the Relations Between Belligerents adopted by the Institute of International Law in 1913. A contemporary manual was considered necessary because of developments in the law since 1913 which for the most part have not been incorporated into recent treaty law, the Second Geneva Convention of 1949 being essentially limited to the protection of the wounded, sick and shipwrecked at sea. In particular, there has not been a development for the law of armed conflict at sea similar to that for the law of armed conflict on land with the conclusion of Protocol I of 1977 additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Although some of the provisions of Additional Protocol I affect naval operations, in particular those supplementing the protection given to medical vessels and aircraft in the Second Geneva Convention of 1949, Part IV of the Protocol, which protects civilians against the effects of hostilities, is applicable only to naval operations which affect civilians and civilian objects on land.

Tracing the Historical and Legal Development of the Levée en Masse in the Law of Armed Conflict

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Civilian Population ◽  
Legal Development ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law

Levée en masse – the spontaneous uprising of the civilian population against an invading force – has long been a part of the modern law of armed conflict with regard to determining who may legitimately participate in armed conflict. The concept originated during the revolutionary wars in America and France, and was incorporated into the first codified rules of armed conflict. However, despite the prevalence of the category of levée en masse in the modern laws of armed conflict, there have been few, if any, instances of levée en masse taking place in modern armed conflicts. This article examines how and why the category of levée en masse developed. In doing so, this article situates the concept and evolution of levée en masse within the history of international humanitarian law more generally.

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