Revisiting The Geneva Conventions

This book examines the development of international humanitarian law (IHL), the protection of the victims of armed conflict, the IHL from a Third World perspective, the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution under Islamic law and the issues faced in implementing IHL.

In 'Revisiting the Law of Occupation', Hanne Cuyckens assesses the crucial challenges faced by the law of occupation. Through examples such as the occupation of the Palestinian Territories and the 2003 occupation of Iraq, the author convincingly demonstrates that although the law of occupation may no longer be perceived as adequate to address contemporary forms of occupation, a formal modification of the law is neither desirable nor feasible. The author identifies means by which the potential dichotomy between the law and the facts can be addressed: 1) flexible interpretation of the law itself; 2) the role of International Human Rights law as gap-filler; and 3) the role of the UNSC as a modulator of the law.

This Oxford Commentary is the first book in fifty years to provide a detailed commentary on the four 1949 Gevena Conventions, the building blocks of international humanitarian law. It takes a thematic approach to take account of the changes in international law since 1949, in particular the growth of international criminal and human rights law.

The Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions remain a landmark in the development of international humanitarian law. The first two Additional Protocols were adopted by states in 1977. These protocols encompass the rules governing the treatment and protection of those in the power of an enemy, as well as the conduct of hostilities. Crucially, they address non-international armed conflicts and wars of national liberation. In 2005, a third additional protocol designating an additional distinctive humanitarian emblem was adopted in controversial circumstances. The Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions in Context interprets the key rules and issues of the Additional Protocols and considers their application and implementation over the past forty years. Taking a thematic approach, the book examines subjects including the protection of women, armed non-state actors, relief operations, and prohibited weapons. Each chapter discusses the pertinence of existing laws, the challenges raised by the rules in the Additional Protocols, and what more could be done to better protect civilians. This book also considers whether new technologies, such as offensive cyber operations and autonomous weapons, need new treaty rules to regulate their application in armed conflict.

This monograph analyses the historical evolution of the laws of occupation as a special branch of international humanitarian law (IHL), focusing on the extent to which this body of law has been transformed by its interaction with the development of international human rights law. It argues that a large part of the laws of occupation has proved to be malleable while being able to accommodate changing demands of civilians and any other persons affected by occupation in modern context. Its examinations have drawn much on archival research into the drafting documents of the instruments of IHL, including the aborted Brussels Declaration 1874, the 1899/1907 Hague Regulations, the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocol I. After assessing the complementary relationship between international human rights law and the laws of occupation, the book examines how to provide a coherent explanation for an emerging framework on the rights of individual persons affected by occupation. It engages in a theoretical appraisal of the role of customary IHL and the Martens clause in building up such a normative framework.

Accompanying CD-ROM contains graphic footage of various war wound surgeries.

Leading political theologian Oliver O'Donovan takes a fresh look at some traditional moral arguments about war. Christians differ widely on this issue. The book re-examines questions of contemporary urgency, including the use of biological and nuclear weapons, military intervention, economic sanctions, and the role of the UN. It opens with a challenging dedication to the new Archbishop of Canterbury and proceeds to shed light on vital topics with which that Archbishop and others will be very directly engaged. It should be read by anyone concerned with the ethics of warfare.

This book brings a new focus to the ongoing debate on holding perpetrators of massive humanitarian and human rights violations accountable in countries in transition. It provides a clear-cut and comprehensive legal analysis of the content and nature of a state's obligations to investigate and prosecute as enshrined in the most important humanitarian and human rights treaties; it disentangles the common fallacy that these procedural obligations are naturally rooted and clearly spelled out in the general human rights treaties; and it explains the flaws in an absolutist interpretation. This analysis serves to understand whether such procedural obligations, if narrowly construed, act as impediments to countries emerging from periods of conflict or systematic repression in the face of contingent circumstances and the formidable dilemmas raised by a univocal understanding of justice as retribution. Exploring the latest instances of interpretation and application via an analysis of state practice, the jurisprudence of treaty bodies, international courts and tribunals, soft law instruments, and doctrinal contributions, the book also addresses the complex issue of amnesty, and other transitional justice mechanisms designed to restore peace and facilitate transition traditionally included in national reconciliation programs, and criticizes the contention that amnesty is always prohibited by international law. It also considers these problems from the viewpoint of the International Criminal Court, focusing on the cases of Uganda and Colombia after the 2016 peace agreement. Lastly, the volume offers a detailed analysis of techniques that may neutralize relevant obligations under international law, such as denunciation, derogation, limitation, and the public international law defenses of force majeure and necessity. Drawing attention to the importance of a multidisciplinary and practical approach to these unsettling questions, and endorsing a pluralistic notion of accountability, the book will appeal to legal scholars and transitional justice experts as well as practitioners, human rights advocates, and government officials. Dr Jacopo Roberti di Sarsina is an International Law Expert at the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna School of Law, and a dual-qualified lawyer (Italy and New York). He completed a PhD in public international law, label Doctor Europaeus, at the School of International Studies, University of Trento, holds an LLM from NYU School of Law, and read law at the University of Bologna.