Neutrality In Contemporary International Law

The law of neutrality - the corpus of legal rules regulating the relationship between belligerents and States taking no part in hostilities - assumed its modern form in a world in which the waging of war was unconstrained. The neutral State enjoyed territorial inviolability to the extent that it adhered to the obligations attaching to its neutral status and thus the law of neutrality provided spatial parameters for the conduct of hostilities. Yet the basis on which the law of neutrality developed - the extra-legal character of war - no longer exists. Does the law of neutrality continue to survive in the modern era? If so, how has it been modified by the profound changes in the law on the use of force and the law of armed conflict? This book argues that neutrality endures as a key concept of the law of armed conflict. The interaction between belligerent and nonbelligerent States continues to require legal regulation, as demonstrated by a number of recent conflicts, including the Iraq War of 2003 and the Mavi Marmara incident of 2010. By detailing the rights and duties of neutral states and demonstrating how the rules of neutrality continue to apply in modern day conflicts, this restatement of law of neutrality will be a useful guide to legal academics working on the law of armed conflict, the law on the use of force, and the history of international law, as well as for government and military lawyers seeking comprehensive guidance in this difficult area of the law.

Neutrality is a legal relationship between a belligerent State and a State not participating in a war, namely a neutral State. The law of neutrality is a body of rules and principles that regulates the legal relations of neutrality. The law of neutrality obliges neutral States to treat all belligerent States impartially and to abstain from providing military and other assistance to belligerents. The law of neutrality is a branch of international law that developed in the nineteenth century, when international law allowed unlimited freedom of sovereign States to resort to war. Thus, there has been much debate as to whether such a branch of law remains valid in modern international law, which generally prohibits war and the use of force by States. While there has been much debate regarding the current status of neutrality in modern international law, there is a general agreement among scholars as to the basic features of the traditional law of neutrality. Wani challenges the conventional understanding of the traditional neutrality by re-examining the historical development of the law of neutrality from the sixteenth century to 1945. The modification of the conventional understanding will provide a fundamentally new framework for discussing the current status of neutrality in modern international law.

Even though 'neutrality' - the non-participation of states in international armed conflicts - is a well-known concept of traditional international public law, its value in the 21st century is disputed. Some regard the concept as obsolete, while others still view it as an important contribution to a peaceful world. This book analyzes the contemporary international law concept of neutrality. At the heart lies the question of the present-day value of neutrality for international law. For a deeper understanding of the legal concept, a historical overview of neutrality is followed by a presentation of the different types of neutrality, along with a look at the remaining neutral states of the 21st century. An examination of the sources of neutrality law, its scope of application, as well as the detailed rights and duties of neutral States will answer the question of what it entails nowadays to be neutral in the legal sense. A clear distinction between the law and politics of neutrality is also important. Special attention is given to the traditional problem of exporting war materials, along with the newer developments of private militaries and security companies, as well as cyber warfare. The focus of the book lies on Switzerland as the archetype of a contemporary neutral state. (Series: Dike Law Books) [Subject: Public International Law, Neutrality Law, Swiss Law]

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Revisits the law of neutrality and discusses its relevance to contemporary international and non-international armed conflict.