The application and interpretation of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols of 1977 have developed significantly in the seventy years since the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) first published its Commentaries on these important humanitarian treaties. To promote a better understanding of, and respect for, this body of law, the ICRC commissioned a comprehensive update of its original Commentaries, of which this is the third volume. The Third Convention, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war and their protections, takes into account developments in the law and practice in the past seven decades to provide up-to-date interpretations of the Convention. The new Commentary has been reviewed by humanitarian law practitioners and academics from around the world. This new Commentary will be an essential tool for anyone involved with international humanitarian law.

The act of fighting or being a fighter has certain consequences in international law. The most obvious example can be found in international humanitarian law, where a distinction is drawn between fighters and civilians, with fighters being military objectives and civilians being protected from attack. Another example is from international human rights law, where it has been held that the particular characteristics of military life have to be taken into account when interpreting the human rights of members of state armed forces. This volume focuses on the field of international criminal law and asks the question: what relevance does fighting have to victimhood in international criminal law? Among the topics which are explored are: how have international criminal courts and tribunals untangled lawful casualties of war from victims of war crimes? How have they determined who is a member of an organised armed group and who is not? What crimes can those who fight be victims of during hostilities? When does it become relevant in international criminal law that an alleged victim of a crime was a person hors de combat rather than a civilian? Can war crimes be committed against members of non-opposing forces? Can persons hors de combat be victims of crimes against humanity and genocide? What special considerations surround peacekeepers and child soldiers as victims of international crimes? The author carries out an in-depth exploration of case law from international criminal courts and tribunals to assess how they have dealt with these questions. She concludes that the import of fighting upon victimhood in the context of international criminal law has not always been appreciated to the extent it should have been.

International refugee law anticipates state conduct in relation to nationality, statelessness, and protection. Refugee status under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951 and regional and domestic instruments referring to it can be fully understood only against the background of international laws regarding nationality, statelessness, and the consequences of national status or the lack of it. In this significant addition to the literature a leading practitioner in these fields examines, in the light of international law, key issues regarding refugee status including identification of 'the country of his nationality', concepts of 'effective nationality', and the inclusion within 'persecution' of a range of acts or omissions focused on nationality.

The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up to deal with the human rights violations of apartheid. However, the TRC's restorative justice approach did not always serve the needs of communities at a local level. Based on extended anthropological fieldwork, this book illustrates the impact of the TRC in urban African communities in Johannesburg. It argues that the TRC had little effect on popular ideas of justice as retribution. This provocative study deepens our understanding of post-apartheid South Africa and the use of human rights discourse.

Fully utilizing the latest archival material, this book provides a comprehensive, multi-dimensional and nuanced understanding of the Tokyo Tribunal by delving into the temporal aspects that extended the relevance and reverberations of the Tribunal beyond its end in 1948. With this as a backdrop, this book contributes to the study of Japanese postwar diplomacy. It shows the Tokyo Tribunal is still very much an experiment in progress, and how the process itself has helped Japan to quickly shed its imperial past and remain ambiguous as to its war responsibilities. From a wider vantage point, this book augments the existing scholarship of international criminal law and justice, offering a clear framework as to the limits of what international criminal tribunals can accomplish and offers a must-read for academics and students as well as for practitioners, journalists and policymakers interested in international criminal law and US-Japanese diplomatic history,

The unprecedented mass movement of populations since World War II has increased tensions among groups of people by breaking down the homogeneity of older countries and increasing the fragility of newly independent states encompassing several minorities within their borders. These changes, according to author Jay Sigler, dictate the necessity of clarifying human and minority rights. He highlights the main points of minority rights, traces their history, and demonstrates their distinctly modern features. Sigler considers the theoretical implications of minority versus individual and collective rights and examines the efforts in this area made by the United States, India, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Finally, he proposes his own provisional theory of minority rights.

This book, winner of an ASIL Certificate of Merit 2002, critically examines the right of humanitarian intervention, asserted most spectacularly by NATO during its 1999 air strikes over Kosovo. The UN Charter prohibits the unilateral use of force, but there have long been arguments that such a right might exist as an exception to this rule, or linked to the changing role of the Security Council. Through an analysis of these questions, the book puts NATO's action in Kosovo in its proper legal and historical perspective.

Each year, many thousands of child civilians are killed, injured, or otherwise physically and psychologically harmed as a result of armed conflicts. There is a considerable body of international law which aims to minimize the harm inflicted on these children, and yet it is little known, or observed. This text focuses exclusively on child civilians. It addresses three main questions: what are the precise rules incorporated in the pertinent body of law, and what are its implementation mechanisms?; how effective is it (with reference to recent conflicts involving Iraq) in helping to achieve some protection for child civilians?; and can it be rendered more effective? The book concludes by proposing a number of strategies to strengthen the impact of the applicable law.

Although rooted in a similar ideal, human rights (IHRL), international criminal law (ICL) and international humanitarian law (IHL) are separate fields of law, best represented as circles, each of which overlaps with the other two. However human rights often seems to absorb the other two, while in other situations, the lines between human rights law and its next door neighbours are blurred or contested.This volume consists of three main parts. The first main part explores the convergences and divergences between IHL and/or IHRL on the one hand, and ICL stricto sensu on the other hand. The second part investigates the convergences and divergences between IHRL and transnational crimes, or ICL in the broader sense, which suppresses crimes such as drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings and corruption through international treaties providing for domestic enforcement. The last main part of this volume provides the reader with novel and original insights as to how IHRL and IHL converge and diverge by considering if and how the norms of other branches of international law come into play and how the European Court of Human Rights has engaged with the sometimes contradicting norms of IHL. It furthermore analyses the relationship between the specific IHL and IHRL norms which prohibit arbitrary displacement and maps their interaction. Finally, the effectiveness of States' investigations of war crimes committed by their armed forces is evaluated by emphasising attention to the relevant standards developed within IHRL, since IHL does not indicate specific criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of an investigation.

This book explores the extent to which the International Criminal Court (ICC) has influenced peace processes in Co te d'Ivoire, Kenya and Uganda. It examines how the prosecution of those who bear the greatest responsibility for crimes committed in these countries may have negatively or positively influenced the process of making peace in their wake. It is concerned with how international accountability affects post-conflict countries and what the ICC brings to peace processes. The central question addressed by the book is whether justice spurs peace in post- conflict societies or whether justice complicates the peace process. If so, how? Relying on qualitative studies in these countries, this book comparatively analyses the impact of the interventions of the ICC in Uganda (2004), Kenya (after the 2007/2008 post-election violence), and Co te d'Ivoire. Its aim is to provide an evidence-based account of how the involvement of the ICC in these countries influences the processes of promoting peace. To gauge this, Malu develops an analytical framework which is based on four variables: deterrence, victims' rights, reconciliation and accountability to the law. This book will appeal to those interested in post-conflict reconstruction, transitional justice, peace studies, conflict transformation, and international criminal law, including peace practitioners and those working in the field of international justice.

This is the first comprehensive socio-legal study of the interrelation between gender and the law of refugee status. In the past decade, the issue has received increasing attention in academic writing, the media and the courtroom. This book contains an interdisciplinary analysis. The empirical data, collected for this study and not published previously, concerns Dutch asylum practice. The Netherlands is a prominent refugee-receiving country in Europe, yet hardly any English texts address Dutch refugee law. The book also covers foreign case law and academic writing. Therefore, the analysis is relevant for all refugee-receiving countries in the Western world; the empirical data on The Netherlands functions as a case study. The book combines perspectives of post-structuralist feminism and post-colonial studies. Refugee women are constructed as a double other. This intersectionality is related to the construction of the Third World as feminine (passive, in need of active outside intervention etc., etc.). The book provides a comprehensive overview of academic writing and of case law on the subject. On this basis of theoretical perspectives that were almost ignored until now, it develops an innovative critique of refugee law discourse and outlines its possible consequences for legal doctrine.

The most authoritative work in the field, this classic study is once again available. Professor Brownlie has confined himself to the pursuit, on historic lines, of an estimation of the extent of legal prohibition of the use of force by states. He includes the deliberations and findings of political organs of the League of Nations and the United Nations, as well as a study of the quality of prohibition of force, making some indication of relevant corollaries.

We often think of the army as an institution whose members are required to blindly obey all orders they receive. However, this perception is inaccurate. Disobedience is a fundamental professional obligation of members of the military and overrides the obligation to follow commands. But what is the extent of this obligation? Are soldiers obligated to participate in what they consider to be an illegal war, or should they be allowed to enjoy a right to selective conscientious objection? Should soldiers obey a legal order that, if followed, would facilitate the perpetration of war crimes by a third party? How should soldiers act if they are ordered to follow a lawful order that could result in immoral consequences? Should soldiers be allowed to refuse to obey what can be labeled as suicidal orders? Based upon the nature of soldiers' professional obligations, this book tries to offer answers to these important questions. The author turns to a number of different case-studies, including conscientious objections, duty to protect in genocidal situations such as Rwanda and Srebrenica, suicidal orders in wars, as well as retribution and leniency towards war criminals, as a way of assessing the different legal and ethical implications of disobedience in the military.

The history of war is also a history of its justification. The contributions to this book argue that the justification of war rarely happens as empty propaganda. While it is directed at mobilizing support and reducing resistance, it is not purely instrumental. Rather, the justification of force is part of an incessant struggle over what is to count as justifiable behaviour in a given historical constellation of power, interests, and norms. This way, the justification of specific wars interacts with international order as a normative frame of reference for dealing with conflict. The justification of war shapes this order, and is being shaped by it. As the justification of specific wars entails a critique of war in general, the use of force in international relations has always been accompanied by political and scholarly discourses on its appropriateness. In much of the pertinent literature the dominating focus is on theoretical or conceptual debates as a mirror of how international normative orders evolve. In contrast, the focus of the present volume is on theory and political practice as sources for the re- and de-construction of the way in which the justification of war and international order interact. With contributions from international law, history, and international relations, and from Western and non-Western perspectives, this book offers a unique collection of papers exploring the continuities and changes in war discourses as they respond to and shape normative orders from early modern times to the present.

Many of the combatants in the European wars of the late middle ages fought for their own gain, but they observed a code of regulations, part chivalrous and part commercial which they called the 'law of arms'. This book, originally published in 1965, examines this soldiers' code, to understand its rules and how they were enforced. How did a soldier sue for ransom money if his prisoner would not pay it, and before what court? How did he know whether what he took by force was lawful spoil? As the answers to these and other questions reveal, the workings of the law of arms gave practical point to the contemporary cult of chivalry. It also had an important influence on the early development of ideas of international law.

In this book, it is explained that despite a current drop in the number of deaths, terrorism should still be considered a serious and widespread problem. However, the responses to this phenomenon are often more problematic from a long-term perspective. With the human rights framework under serious pressure, this edited volume offers a timely, important and critical in-depth analysis of human dignity and human security challenges in the lead-up, and in the responses, to current forms of terrorism. It aims to map how human dignity and human security can be secured and how law can constitute a source of trust at a time when Europe and the rest of the world continue to be plagued by terrorism. The authors are both established names and upcoming talent in this fastchanging and exciting field of law. They thoroughly analyse a variety of topical subjects, in more conceptual chapters-for example calling for the humanisation of the security discourse-and in highly practical contributions, in which for instance the Kafkaesque situation in which rendition and torture victim Abu Zubaydah still finds himself today is considered. This book, which focuses on, but is not limited to the situation in Western countries, aims to inspire not only academics-through further theorisation on the sometimes elusive but important concepts of human dignity and human security-but also practitioners working in the field of countering terrorism. It will hopefully convince them (even more) that following a human rights approach will be indispensable in securing human dignity and human security for all. Even-or in fact: especially-in times of terrorism. Christophe Paulussen is a Senior Researcher in the Research Department of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in The Hague, The Netherlands and Martin Scheinin is Professor of International Law and Human Rights in the Department of Law of the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy.

The book is an accurate and accessible introduction to the complex and dynamic field of transitional and post-conflict justice, providing an overview of its recurring concepts and debated issues. Particular attention is reserved to how these concepts and issues have been addressed, both theoretically and literally, by lawyers, policy-makers, international bodies, and other actors informing the practice. By presenting significant, if undeniably disputable, alternatives to mainstream theories and past methods of addressing past injustice and (re)building a democratic state, the work aims to illustrate some foundational themes of transitional justice that have emerged from a diverse set of discussions. The author's position thus arrives from a careful analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of answers to the question: how, after a traumatic social experience, is justice restored?

Particularly in the context of internal conflicts, international law is frequently unable to create and sustain frameworks for peace in Africa. In Peacebuilding in the African Union, Abou Jeng explores the factors which have prevented such steps forward in the interaction between the international legal order and postcolonial Africa. In the first work of its kind, Jeng considers whether these limitations necessitate recasting the existing conceptual structure and whether the Constitutive Act of the African Union provides exactly this opportunity through its integrated peace and security framework. Through the case studies of Burundi and Somalia, Jeng examines the structures and philosophy of the African Union and assesses the capacity of its practices in peacemaking. In so doing, this book will be of great practical value to scholars and legal practitioners alike.

John Gibson, an expert on human rights, discusses the issues and context of rights including the universality of rights, the hierarchy of rights, and conflicts between rights, a discussion that creates the framework for further research. The dictionary entries on the sixty-six rights in international treaties and declarations are divided into five categories: civil and political rights; legal rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; collective rights; and declaratory rights. Each entry contains the treaty definition, other sources and treaties, an expanded definition, historical landmarks in the development of the right, and cross references. Includes an extensive bibliography. An essential, one-of-a-kind reference source for graduate and undergraduate students and professors of law, political science, international relations, and history.

The work analyzes the impact and implementation of international humanitarian law in judicial and quasi judicial bodies. Moreover, acknowledging the high impact domestic jurisdictions have in the configuration of international law, the book does not rest only in an analysis of the international jurisprudence, but delves also into the question of how domestic courts relate to international humanitarian law issues.

This Handbook will serve as a standard reference guide to the subject of human security, which has grown greatly in importance over the past twenty years. Human security has been part of academic and policy discourses since it was first promoted by the UNDP in its 1994 Human Development Report. Filling a clear gap in the current literature, this volume brings together some of the key scholars and policy-makers who have contributed to its emergence as a mainstream concept, including Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen and Sadako Ogata, who jointly chaired the 2001 Commission on Human Security. Drawing upon a range of theoretical and empirical analyses, the Handbook provides examples of the use of human security in policies as diverse as disaster management, arms control and counter-terrorism, and in different geographic and institutional settings from Asia to Africa, and the UN. It also raises important questions about how the concept might be adapted and operationalised in future. Over the course of the book, the authors draw on three key aspects of human security thinking: Theoretical issues to do with defining human security as a specific discourse Human security from a policy and institutional perspective, and how it is operationalised in different policy and geographic contexts Case studies and empirical work Featuring some of the leading scholars in the field, the Routledge Handbook of Human Security will be essential reading for all students of human security, critical security, conflict and development, peace and conflict studies, and of great interest to students of international security and IR in general.

This volume examines the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which was created under Chapter VII of the UN Charter as a mechanism explicitly aimed at the restoration and maintenance of international peace and security. As the ICTY has now entered its twentieth year, this volume reflects on the record and practices of the Tribunal. Since it was established, it has had enormous impact on the procedural, jurisprudential and institutional development of international criminal law, as well as the international criminal justice project. This will be its international legacy, but its legacy in the region where the crimes under its jurisdiction took place is less clear; research has shown that reactions to the ICTY have been mixed among the communities most affected by its work. Bringing together a range of key thinkers in the field, Prosecuting War Crimes explores these findings and discusses why many feel that the ICTY has failed to fully engage with people's experiences and meet their expectations. This book will be of much interest to students of war crimes, international criminal law, Central and East European politics, human rights, and peace and conflict studies.

Climate change and other environmental problems are increasingly leading to the displacement of populations from their homelands, whether through drought, flooding, famine or other causes. Worse, there is currently no protection in international law for people made refugees by such means. Following on from her previous explorations of environmental justice as it relates to future generations and indigenous peoples, Laura Westra now turns her attention to the plight of ecological refugees. In Part I, Westra provides an overview of what defines an ecological refugee and their present legal status. Part II goes into greater depth as to who the vulnerable are and what protection they have in international law. Part III looks to the future, advocating a comprehensive approach to the problem. With extensive examples and analysis, this is a compelling treatment that will be indispensable for legal professionals, government and business leaders, academics and students of the role of law in the protection of the rights of refugees.

An academic, legal text that places moral and political philosophy at the centre of certain legal debates. In this book, Professor Meyerson specifically investigates the "Limitation Clause" in the South African Constitution, a clause that leaves open the possibility of limits to the Bill of Rights and certain entrenched "freedoms". Through discussions regarding the Freedoms of Expression and Religion, this book aims to play a role in defining, expanding and challenging the South African Constitution.

This book contributes to contemporary debates on the effectiveness of international humanitarian law (IHL) in regulating or prohibiting inhumane weapons, such as landmines. Two treaties have emerged under IHL in response to the humanitarian scourge of landmines. However, despite a considerable body of related literature, clear understandings have not been established on the effectiveness of these international legal frameworks in meeting the challenges that prompted their creation. This book seeks to address this lacuna. An analytical framework grounded in regime theory helps move beyond the limitations in the current literature through a structured focus on principles, norms, rules, procedures, actors and issue areas. On the one hand, this clarifies how political considerations determine opportunities and constraints in designing and implementing IHL regimes. On the other, it enables us to explore how and why 'ideal' policy prescriptions are threatened when faced with complex challenges in post-conflict contexts. This book will be of much interest to students of international humanitarian law, global governance, human security and IR in general.