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Books > Law > International law > Public international law > International humanitarian law
When Adolph Eichmann stood trial in Jerusalem in 1961, Israel and the rest of the world experienced a reaction unlike any other produced by proceedings against a Nazi war criminal. Although some details about the Holocaust were generally known by the early sixties, the painful topic had slipped from public discussion as countries touched by World War II moved on to other pressing matters. Among Israeli Jews fighting for a new homeland, the near-extermination of European Jewry was misunderstood as an embarrassment -- an instance of Jewish impotence in the face of victimization by the Nazis. However, as the head of Hitler's Race and Resettlement Office stood trial on Israeli soil under the eye of the international media and Israeli survivors told their powerful stories to the world, the Holocaust became a defining experience for Zionism and human history. Facing the Glass Cage, being published in English for the first time, is a detailed account of Eichmann's trial by the poet and journalist Haim Gouri, who was assigned to cover the event by the Israeli daily newspaper Lamerhav. The trial changed attitudes toward the Holocaust, and Gouri's reporting was the literary catalyst of this change. Packed with tension, Gouri's riveting descriptions of the testimony reveal a marked shift in attitudes toward Holocaust survivors in Israeli society. He admits to his initial skepticism toward these witnesses, and yet he learns much from them. Gouri's account is both a fascinating historical document and a chronicle of an extraordinary poet's encounter with one of the most terrible events of our times.
The introduction of the Human Rights Act has led to an explosion in books on human rights, yet no sustained examination of their history and philosophy exists in the burgeoning literature. At the same time, while human rights have triumphed on the world stage as the ideology of postmodernity, our age has witnessed more violations of human rights than any previous, less enlightened one. This book fills the historical and theoretical gap and explores the powerful promises and disturbing paradoxes of human rights. Divided in two parts and fourteen chapters, the book offers first an alternative history of natural law, in which natural rights represent the eternal human struggle to resist domination and oppression and to fight for a society in which people are no longer degraded or despised. At the time of their birth, in the 18th century, and again in the popular uprisings of the last decade, human rights became the dominant critique of the conservatism of law. But the radical energy, symbolic value and apparently endless expansive potential of rights has led to their adoption both by governments wishing to justify their policies on moral grounds and by individuals fighting for the public recognition of private desires and has undermined their ends. Part Two examines the philosophical logic of rights. Rights, the most liberal of institutions, has been largely misunderstood by established political philosophy and jurisprudence as a result of their cognitive limitations and ethically impoverished views of the individual subject and of the social bond. The liberal approaches of Hobbes, Locke and Kant are juxtaposed to the classical critiques of the concept of human rights by Burke, Hegel and Marx. The philosophies of Heidegger, Strauss, Arendt and Sartre are used to deconstruct the concept of the (legal) subject. Semiotics and psychoanalysis help explore the catastrophic consequences of both universalists and cultural relativists when they become convinced about their correctness. Finally, through a consideration of the ethics of otherness, and with reference to recent human rights violations, it is argued that the end of human rights is to judge law and politics from a position of moral transcendence. This is a comprehensive historical and theoretical examination of the discourse and practice of human rights. Using examples from recent moral foreign policies in Iraq, Rwanda and Kosovo, Douzinas radically argues that the defensive and emancipatory role of human rights will come to an end if we do not re-invent their utopian ideal. CONTENTS PART 1 THE GENEALOGY OF HUMAN RIGHTS 1 The Triumph of Human Rights 2 A Brief History of Natural Law I: The Classical Beginnings 3 A Brief History of Natural Law II: From Natural Law to Natural Rights 4 Natural Right in Hobbes and Locke 5 Revolution and Declarations: The Rights of Men, Citizens and Few Others 6 The Triumph of Humanity: From 1789 to 1989 and from Natural to Human Rights PART 2 THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN RIGHTS 7 The Classical Critiques of Rights: Burke and Marx 8 Subjectum and Subjectus: The Free and Subjected Subject 9 Law's Subjects: Rights and Legal Humanism 10 Hegel's Law: Rights and Recognition 11 Psychoanalysis Becomes the Law: Rights and Desire 12 The Imaginary Domain and the Future of Utopia 13 The Human Rights and the Other 14 The End of Human Rights
After fourteen years as a death row lawyer in Florida, Michael Mello has seen enough. Dead Wrong is a candid and compelling account of his decision to withdraw from "the machinery of death" - the American capital punishment system. Telling stories of cases he worked on - including those of confessed serial killer Ted Bundy and of "Crazy Joe" Spaziano, wrongly convicted but still on death row after twenty years - Mello provides an inside view of death row lawyering as no one has done before. He describes how he and others fought to make the post-conviction system work, ensuring inmates the right to a fair appeal. Alternately impassioned, angry, and haunted by the victims, crimes, and criminals, Mello draws us into the legal maze of appeals, death warrants, stays of execution, and executions. Though Mello is unflinching in his recognition of the brutal realities of capital crimes, his book is a powerful indictment of the death penalty enterprise in America. He is appalled at the lack of vigilance in a system that routinely punishes guilty and innocent alike. And, practicing in Florida, he saw the state's death penalty cost to taxpayers rise to an estimated average $3.2 million per execution - six times the average cost of life imprisonment.
The many terms and legal expressions in the discourse of human rights are often unknown or misunderstood in their international context. Yet human rights have their ultimate expression in the international legal context: in international treaties, declarations, country-specific or thematic reports, decisions of administrative or quasi-judicial bodies, and court judgments, all of which employ legal terminology. The same is increasingly so in the national legal context, which looks to the international context as a source of law and legal interpretation. "A Handbook of International Human Rights Terminology" is a much-needed tool that provides access to the developing language of human rights and aids in full comprehension of human rights theory and issues. In this convenient handbook almost eight hundred key terms and acronyms commonly used in international and national human rights discourse are defined in non-technical language. Included are definitions of foreign language terminology, including many Latin terms. A useful appendix contains the full text of the four principal international human rights instruments that constitute the International Bill of Rights, along with an internationally accepted list of the specific substantive human rights contained in those instruments. An accessible introduction for students and newcomers to the field of human rights, this handbook will also serve as an indispensable reference for specialists.
In this revised edition, Professor Bassiouni persuasively establishes the legal validity of the Nuremberg Charter and describes the evolution of crimes against humanity' from 1945 to the 1998 ICC Statute. The book's comprehensive historical and legal analysis starts with the origins of this crime in the international regulation of armed conflicts and covers the Nuremberg, Tokyo and Allied Prosecutions after World War II, and subsequent national prosecutions, as well as the Statutes of the ICTY, ICTR and their jurisprudence, and the Statute of the ICC. The Nuremberg Charter first established crimes against humanity' in positive international criminal law, but it raised lingering legal issues. The book examines the ten different international legal formulations which were developed at that time, particularly their overlap with genocide and war crimes, and sorts out the confusion regarding the legal characteristics of this crime. The meticulous and thorough analysis of all relevant legal issues, many of which are not covered elsewhere, includes: principles of legality, criminal responsibility for decision-makers and others, command responsibility, obedience to superior orders and other defences, specific contents and their counterpart in national laws, policy considerations, and the applicability of this crime to non-State actors. The wealth of information and detailed discussion of international and national prosecutions and their failures make a compelling case for more effective enforcement in the future. The author brings to this book his well-known scholarship and unique practical experiences as Chairman of the UN Commission that investigated these crimes in the former Yugoslavia, andas Chairman of the ICC's Drafting Committee in Rome. The breadth and depth of this exhaustively documented book makes it the definitive authority on crimes against humanity'.
Does an emergent democracy have an obligation to prosecute its former dictators for crimes against humanity-for what Arendt and Kant called "radical evil"? What impact will such prosecutions have on the future of democracy? In this book, Carlos Santiago Nino offers a provocative first-hand analysis of developments in Argentina during the 1980s, when a brutal military dictatorship gave way to a democratic government. Nino played a key role in guiding the transition to democracy and in shaping the human rights policies of President Raul Alfonsin after the fall of the military junta in 1983. The centerpiece of Alfonsin's human rights program was the trial held in a federal court in Buenos Aires in 1985, which resulted in the convictions of five of the leading members of the junta that ruled the country from 1976 to 1983. Placing the Argentine experience in the context of the war crimes trials at Nuremberg, Tokyo, and elsewhere, Nino examines the broader questions raised by human rights trials. He considers their political repercussions and their potential for strengthening the new democratic government. He explains why prosecutions for human rights violations should be grounded on a theory of the criminal law that emphasizes the preventive rather than retributive functions of punishment. Nino rejects the obligation to punish perpetrators of radical evil and argues instead for a more forward-looking duty-to safeguard democracy. This, he believes, is what ultimately justified the Argentine trials and should be the focus of any international action.
Rights have become,in recent years, a significant concern of legal theorists, as well as of those involved in moral and political philosophy. This new book seeks to move a number of debates forward by developing the analysis of rights and focusing upon more general theoretical considerations relating to rights. The book is divided into five parts. The first includes an explanation of the part played by conceptual analysis within jurisprudence, while the second conducts a re-examination of Hohfeld's analysis of rights. This part deals with the arguments advanced by a number of modern theorists including Hart, White and MacCormick. The third part contains the author's own framework for discussing rights, including examples drawn from tort, constitutional law and international law, together with an analysis of Unger's theory of rights. Part four centres on the perceived conflict between Dworkin, Rawls and Nozick as the defenders of a rights approach, and Bentham as the champion of utilitarianism and concludes that neither deals with the fundamental concerns of morality on which their theories are based. The fifth part consists of a conclusion which reflects on the key themes and considers the role of rights within general theory. For students, particularly helpful features of the book are the overt consideration of jurisprudential methodology and the opportunity to examine a number of key theorists linked by their divergent views on the subject of rights.
This volume of specially commissioned articles by leading authorities in the field shows how the subject of human rights impacts on contemporary politics and on the discipline of political science. It assesses the role of human rights in political theory, international law and international relations, and the politics of different regions of the world, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Besides broad regional and international surveys, subjects treated include: the question of collective rights, relativism and universalism, the future of social and economic rights, the role of NGO's and international organisations, the Vienna world conference, human rights in US foreign policy. An editorial introduction considers the place of human rights in the politics curriculum. An international group of contributors includes political scientists, political philosophers, academic lawyers and those with experience of human rights campaigning.
"A vivid reconstruction of the actions of the wartime allies and the Nazi elite at Nuremberg. Persico eaily carries us into a deeper understanding of the trials."—New York Newsday.
Here, for the first time in one volume, is the full story of crimes committed by the Nazi leaders and of the trials in which they were brought to judgement. Conot reconstructs in a single absorbing narrative not only the events at Nuremburg but the offenses with which the accused were charged. He brilliantly characterizes each of the twenty-one defendants, vividly presenting each case and inspecting carefully the process of indictment, prosecution, defense and sentencing.
The impact of violence and conflict on refugee status determination and international protection is a key developing field. Given the contemporary dynamics of armed conflict, how to interpret and apply the refugee definitions at global and regional levels is increasingly relevant to governmental policy-makers, decision-makers, legal practitioners, academics and students. This book will provide a comprehensive analysis of the global and regional refugee instruments as they apply to claimants in flight from situations of armed violence and conflict, exploring their interrelationship and how they are interpreted and applied (or should be applied). As part of a broader United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees project to develop guidelines on the interpretation and application of international refugee law instruments to claimants fleeing armed conflict and other situations of violence, it includes contributions from leading scholars and practitioners in this field as well as emerging authors with specific expertise.
The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law sets out a black letter text of international humanitarian law accompanied by case analysis and extensive explanatory commentary by a team of distinguished and internationally renowned experts. This is the fourth edition of this influential and comprehensive handbook. It has been extensively updated and revised, taking into account recent legal developments, such as the 2017 Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty, as well as the ongoing debate on many old and new issues. Areas covered by the book include the notion of direct participation in hostilities; air and missile warfare; military operations in outer space; military cyber operations; belligerent occupation; operational detention; and the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict. The continuing need to consider borderline issues of the law of armed conflict as well as the interplay of international humanitarian law, human rights law, and other branches of international law is highlighted. This Handbook provides an in-depth understanding of the development and current problems of the law of armed conflicts. It considers legal and policy issues both from the views of academics and military and diplomatic practitioners. Finally - and most importantly - it offers a complete account of activities that should be taken to improve the implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law.
The status of the refugee in international law, and of everyone entitled to protection, has ever been precarious, not least in times of heightened and heated debate: people have always moved in search of safety, and they always will. In this completely revised and updated edition, the authors cast new light on the refugee definition, the meaning of persecution, including with regard to gender and sexual orientation, and the protection due to refugees and those affected by statelessness or disasters. They review the fundamental principle of non-refoulement as a restraint on the conduct of States, even as States themselves seek new ways to prevent the arrival of those in search of refuge. Related principles of protection-non-discrimination, due process, rescue at sea, and solutions- are analysed in light of the actual practice of States, UNHCR, and treaty-monitoring bodies. The authors closely examine relevant international standards, and the role of UNHCR, States, and civil society, in providing protection, contributing to the development of international refugee law, and promoting solutions. New chapters focus on the evolving rules on nationality, statelessness, and displacement due to disasters and climate change. This expanded edition factors in the challenges posed by the movement of people across land and sea in search of refuge, and their interception, reception, and later treatment. The overall aim remains the same as in previous editions: to provide a sound basis for protection in international law, taking full account of State and community interests and recognizing the need to bridge gaps in the regime which now has 100 years of law and practice behind it.
In Wars of Law, Tanisha M. Fazal assesses the unintended consequences of the proliferation of the laws of war for the commencement, conduct, and conclusion of wars over the course of the past one hundred fifty years. Fazal outlines three main arguments: early laws of war favored belligerents, but more recent additions have constrained them; this shift may be attributable to a growing divide between lawmakers and those who must comply with international humanitarian law; and lawmakers have been consistently inattentive to how rebel groups might receive these laws. By using the laws of war strategically, Fazal suggests, belligerents in both interstate and civil wars relate those laws to their big-picture goals. Why have states stopped issuing formal declarations of war? Why have states stopped concluding formal peace treaties? Why are civil wars especially likely to end in peace treaties today? In addressing such questions, Fazal provides a lively and intriguing account of the implications of the laws of war.
From events at Nuremberg and Tokyo after World War II, to the
recent trials of Slobodan Milosević and Saddam Hussein, war crimes
trials are an increasingly pervasive feature of the aftermath of
conflict. In his new book, Law, War and Crime, Gerry Simpson
explores the meaning and effect of such trials, and places them in
their broader political and cultural contexts. The book traces the
development of the war crimes field from its origins in the
outlawing of piracy to its contemporary manifestation in the
establishment of the International Criminal Court in The
Hague. Simpson argues that the field of war crimes is constituted by a
number of tensions between, for example, politics and law; local
justice and cosmopolitan reckoning; collective guilt and individual
responsibility; and between the instinct that war, at worst, is an
error, and the conviction that war is a crime. Written in the wake of an extraordinary period in the life of the law, the book asks a number of critical questions. What does it mean to talk about war in the language of the criminal law? What are the consequences of seeking to criminalise the conduct of one's enemies? How did this relatively new phenomenon of putting on trial perpetrators of mass atrocity and defeated enemies come into existence? This book seeks to answer these important questions whilst shedding new light on the complex relationship between law, war and crime.
Although appearing to be a relatively benign method of warfare when viewed from a distance, a close examination of maritime blockade unveils a sinister character that can, in cases where countries are highly reliant on imports of foodstuffs to feed their populations, prove incredibly deadly, particularly for the young and elderly. This book is unique in that it is the only contemporary book that is dedicated to the study of the law of maritime blockade in the context of modern humanitarian law. Reviewing the development of blockade law over the past four centuries, The Law of Maritime Blockade provides a historical analysis of the law as it emerged, tracing its evolution through armed conflicts between 1684 and the present. Referring to the starvation caused by the blockade of Germany during World War I and the humanitarian crisis caused by the sanctions regime against Iraq (1991-2003), this book demonstrates that blockade can have extremely deleterious effects for vulnerable civilian populations. In this context the current law of blockade is examined, and found to be deficient in terms of its protection for civilians. Recognizing and advocating that blockade should remain as a valid and effective method of warfare, the book offers a template for a modern law of maritime blockade that incorporates many of the traditional aspects of the law, while reducing the possibilities that blockades can cause or exacerbate humanitarian disasters.
The international law governing armed conflict is at a crossroads, as the formal framework of laws designed to control the exercise of self-defense and conduct of inter-state conflict finds itself confronted with violent 21st Century disputes of a very different character. Military practitioners who seek to stay within the bounds of international law often find themselves applying bodies of law-IHRL, IHL, ICL-in an exclusionary fashion, and adherence to those boundaries can lead to a formal and often rigid application of the law that does not adequately address contemporary security challenges. Fighting at the Legal Boundaries offers a holistic approach towards the application of the various constitutive parts of international law. The author focuses on the interaction between the applicable bodies of law by exploring whether their boundaries are improperly drawn, or are being interpreted in too rigid a fashion. Emphasis is placed on the disconnect that can occur between theory and practice regarding how these legal regimes are applied and interact with one another. Through a number of case studies, Fighting at the Legal Boundaries explores how the threat posed by insurgents, terrorists, and transnational criminal gangs often occurs not only at the point where these bodies of law interact, but also in situations where there is significant overlap. In this regard, the exercise of the longstanding right of States to defend nationals, including the conduct of operations such as hostage rescue, can involve the application of human rights based law enforcement norms to counter threats transcending the conflict spectrum. This book has five parts: Part I sets out the security, legal, and operational challenges of contemporary conflict. Part II focuses on the interaction between the jus ad bellum, humanitarian law and human rights, including an analysis of the historical influences that shaped their application as separate bodies of law. Emphasis is placed on the influence the proper authority principle has had in the human rights based approach being favored when dealing with "criminal" non-State actors during both international and non-international armed conflict. Part III analyzes the threats of insurgency and terrorism, and the state response. This includes exploring their link to criminal activity and the phenomenon of transnational criminal organizations. Part IV addresses the conduct of operations against non-State actors that span the conflict spectrum from inter-state warfare to international law enforcement. Lastly, Part V looks at the way ahead and discusses the approaches that can be applied to address the evolving, diverse and unique security threats facing the international community.
In this book, self-defence against non-state actors is examined by three scholars whose geographical, professional, theoretical, and methodological backgrounds and outlooks differ greatly. Their trialogue is framed by an introduction and a conclusion by the series editors. The novel scholarly format accommodates the pluralism and value changes of the current era, a shifting world order and the rise in nationalism and populism. It brings to light the cultural, professional and political pluralism which characterises international legal scholarship and exploits this pluralism as a heuristic device. This multiperspectivism exposes how political factors and intellectual styles influence the scholarly approaches and legal answers and the trialogical structure encourages its participants to decentre their perspectives. By explicitly focussing on the authors' divergence and disagreement, a richer understanding of self-defence against non-state actors is achieved, and the legal challenges and possible ways ahead identified.
At the 2005 UN World Summit, world leaders endorsed the
international principle of Responsibility to Protect (R2P),
acknowledging that they had a responsibility to protect their
citizens from genocide and mass atrocities and pledging to act in
cases where governments manifestly failed in their responsibility.
This marked a significant turning point in attitudes towards the
protection of citizens worldwide.
By comparatively assessing three conflict-affected jurisdictions (Liberia, Northern Ireland and Timor-Leste), Conflict-Related Violence against Women empirically and theoretically expands current understanding of the form and nature of conflict-time harms impacting women. The 'violences' that occur in conflict beyond strategic rape are first identified. Employing both a disaggregated and an aggregated approach, relations between forms of violence within and across each context's pre-, mid- and post-conflict phase are then assessed, identifying connections and distinctions in violence. Swaine highlights a wider spectrum of conflict-related violence against women than is currently acknowledged. She identifies a range of forces that simultaneously push open and close down spaces for addressing violence against women through post-conflict transitional justice. The book proposes that in the aftermath of conflict, a transformation rather than a transition is required if justice is to play a role in preventing gendered violence before conflict and its appearance during and after conflict.
Private military and security companies (PMSCs) have been used in every peace operation since 1990, and reliance on them is increasing at a time when peace operations themselves are becoming ever more complex. This book provides an essential foundation for the emerging debate on the use of PMSCs in this context. It clarifies key issues such as whether their use complies with the principles of peacekeeping, outlines the implications of the status of private contractors as non-combatants under international humanitarian law, and identifies potential problems in holding states and international organizations responsible for their unlawful acts. Written as a clarion call for greater transparency, this book aims to inform the discussion to ensure that international lawyers and policy makers ask the right questions and take the necessary steps so that states and international organizations respect the law when endeavouring to keep peace in an increasingly privatized world.
In Outlawing Genocide Denial, historian and political scientist Guenter Lewy scrutinizes the controversial practice of criminalizing genocide denial. Holocaust denial can be viewed as another form of hatred against Jews and restricting it can be understood as a way of preventing hate speech. Germany has made it a crime punishable by law. Other European countries have adopted similar laws. While the rationales for criminalizing speech seems reasonable, Lewy asks readers to look again and to consider carefully the dangers of doing so. His discussion neither dismisses the ramifications of genocide denial nor justifies it; he instead looks closely at the possible risks of government-enforced interpretations of history. By outlawing genocide denial, governments set a precedent for dictating historical "truth" and how events should be interpreted. Such government restrictions can be counterproductive in a democratic society that values freedom of speech. Lewy examines these and related ideas through the analysis of historical and current examples. He posits his own conclusion but leaves it to readers to view the evidence and arguments and to form their own opinions.
The face of modern warfare is changing as more and more humanitarianorganizations, private military companies, and non-state groups entercomplex security environments such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Haiti.Although this shift has been overshadowed by the legal issues connectedto the War on Terror and intervention in countries such as Rwanda andDarfur, it has caused some to question the relevance of existinginternational humanitarian law. To bridge the widening gap between the theory and practice of thelaw, "Modern Warfare" brings together both scholars andpractitioners who offer unique, and often divergent, perspectives onfour key challenges to the law's legitimacy: how to ensurecompliance among non-state armed groups; the proliferation of privatemilitary and security companies and their use by humanitarianorganizations; tensions between the idea of humanitarian space andcounterinsurgency doctrines; and the phenomenon of urban violence. Thecontributors do not simply consider settled legal standards -- theywiden the scope to include first principles, related bodies of law, humanitarian policy, and the latest studies on the prevention andmitigation of violence. By bringing to light international humanitarian law'slimitations -- and potential -- in the context of modernwarfare's rapidly changing landscape, "Modern Warfare"opens a path to preventing further unnecessary suffering andviolence. Benjamin Perrin is an assistant professor in theFaculty of Law at the University of British Columbia. He is currentlyserving as Special Advisor, Legal Affairs and Policy, in the PrimeMinister's Office in Ottawa.
Like many other areas of life, humanitarian practice and thinking are being transformed by information and communications technology. Despite this, the growing digitization of humanitarianism has been a relatively unnoticed dimension of global order. Based on more than seven years of data collection and interdisciplinary research, #Help presents a ground-breaking study of digital humanitarianism and its ramifications for international law and politics. Global problems and policies are being reconfigured, regulated, and addressed through digital interfaces developed for humanitarian ends. #Help analyses how populations, maps, and emergencies take shape on the global plane when given digital form and explores the reorientation of nation states' priorities and practices of governing around digital data collection imperatives. This book also illuminates how the growing prominence of digital interfaces in international humanitarian work is sustained and shaped by law and policy. #Help reveals new vectors of global inequality and new forms of global relation taking effect in the here and now. To understand how major digital platforms are seeking to extend their serviceable lives, and to see how global order might take shape in the future, it is essential to grasp the perils and possibilities of digital humanitarianism. #Help will transform thinking about what is at stake in the use of digital interfaces in the humanitarian field and about how, where, and for whom we are making the global order of tomorrow. |
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Hardcover
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