This book analyses the current legal framework seeking to protect cultural heritage during armed conflict and discusses proposed and emerging paradigms for its better protection. Cultural heritage has always been a victim of conflict, with monuments and artefacts frequently destroyed as collateral damage in wars throughout history. In addition, works of art have been viewed as booty by victors and stolen in the aftermath of conflict. However, deliberate destruction of cultural sites and items has also occurred, and the Intentional destruction of cultural heritage has been a hallmark of recent conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, where we have witnessed unprecedented, systematic attacks on culture as a weapon of war. In Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Mali, extremist groups such as ISIS and Ansar Dine have committed numerous acts of iconoclasm, deliberately destroying heritage sites, and looting valuable artefacts symbolic of minority cultures. This study explores how the international law framework can be fully utilised in order to tackle the destruction of cultural heritage, and analyses various paradigms which have recently been suggested for its better protection, including the Responsibility to Protect paradigm and the peace and security paradigm. This volume will be an essential resource for scholars and practitioners in the areas of public international law, especially international humanitarian law and cultural heritage law.

This book analyses the current legal framework seeking to protect cultural heritage during armed conflict and discusses proposed and emerging paradigms for its better protection. Cultural heritage has always been a victim of conflict, with monuments and artefacts frequently destroyed as collateral damage in wars throughout history. In addition, works of art have been viewed as booty by victors and stolen in the aftermath of conflict. However, deliberate destruction of cultural sites and items has also occurred, and the Intentional destruction of cultural heritage has been a hallmark of recent conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, where we have witnessed unprecedented, systematic attacks on culture as a weapon of war. In Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Mali, extremist groups such as ISIS and Ansar Dine have committed numerous acts of iconoclasm, deliberately destroying heritage sites, and looting valuable artefacts symbolic of minority cultures. This study explores how the international law framework can be fully utilised in order to tackle the destruction of cultural heritage, and analyses various paradigms which have recently been suggested for its better protection, including the Responsibility to Protect paradigm and the peace and security paradigm. This volume will be an essential resource for scholars and practitioners in the areas of public international law, especially international humanitarian law and cultural heritage law.

Cultural defences, i.e. claims that certain aspects of a defendant's cultural background should be taken into consideration by courts when adjudicating on their guilt or innocence, have been raised before domestic courts in a variety of jurisdictions. This has been a very sensitive and controversial issue. However, the issue of cultural defences at international tribunals is one that has not yet been fully explored. The main objective of this book is to analyse if the International Criminal Court can, and should, accommodate cultural defences as answers to legal charges, or if the Court should accommodate cultural considerations in other ways.

Cultural defences, i.e. claims that certain aspects of a defendant's cultural background should be taken into consideration by courts when adjudicating on their guilt or innocence, have been raised before domestic courts in a variety of jurisdictions. This has been a very sensitive and controversial issue. However, the issue of cultural defences at international tribunals is one that has not yet been fully explored. The main objective of this book is to analyse if the International Criminal Court can, and should, accommodate cultural defences as answers to legal charges, or if the Court should accommodate cultural considerations in other ways.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Seventy: A Review of Successes and Challenges celebrates the seventieth anniversary of the Declaration and provides an analysis of how it has contributed to the protection of human rights globally. It also identifies and discusses a number of the challenges to the realisation of rights set out in the instrument. The chapters, authored by academics and practitioners in the field of human rights, provide insights into the drafting of the UDHR, human rights activism, the rights protected by the instrument, as well as the relationship between the Declaration and other human rights protective mechanisms.

As part of the successful "Principles" series, Clarus Press has published Principles of Irish Human Rights Law: the first student textbook in Ireland dedicated to the direct comparison of the Irish and European systems for the protection of human rights. Designed and written specifically for students of human rights law, the book discusses and analyzes each key 'human right' in turn. Each right is examined through the three primary human rights instruments: the Irish Constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Each instrument is examined and explained, giving an overview of the particular right, discussing and analyzing in which situations that the right is engaged, and including an examination of situations which constitute an interference with the right and what justifications may arise for such interferences. Principles of Irish Human Rights Law examines the often-neglected area of procedural issues, including the initial application of human rights instruments in Ireland, together with their territorial and extra-territorial jurisdiction. In addition, the book looks at the effect of the Charter of Fundamental Rights together with the future of the Irish Constitution and the ECHR. This book is a must for all students of human rights law and related subjects. It will also be an invaluable resource for all lawyers requiring a reference to human rights issues as a comprehensive yet accessible text aiding clearer understanding of the application of human rights in Ireland.