Military Law Research

At various times in modern history, the international community has turned to international litigation as a hoped-for means of avoiding, ending, or dealing with the consequences of armed conflict; but until the past three decades, such litigation rarely had a significant impact. However, since the 1980s, international civil tribunals have become increasingly involved in armed conflicts, sometimes with important results. This book explores the recent cases in which the International Court of Justice and other tribunals have dealt with such situations. It assesses the manner in which these cases have been decided, the degree to which they have affected the resolution of the conflicts in question, and their contribution to the development of the applicable substantive law.

Modern armed conflict has taken a variety of forms and occurs at a variety of levels, very often raising serious questions concerning the relationship between the law of armed conflict and the reality of contemporary warfare. As throughout human history, many contemporary armed conflicts are fought in pursuit of unlimited objectives, whereas other modern wars seek to advance limited goals. While in some cases modern wars are fought by traditional armies composed of clearly identifiable soldiers, often, modern armed conflicts are waged by guerrilla or partisan fighters whose identities are easily confused with noncombants. Terrorism is increasingly a characteristic manifestation of this contemporary warfare. In the broadest sense, contemporary warfare has raised often controversial and vexing questions concerning the applicability of the law of armed conflict and, when applicable, the interpretation of its principles and tenets. contemporary normative and legal challenges and problems associated with the application of the concepts of just war, the just conduct of war, and the law of armed conflict to 21st century warfare.

From the Nuremberg trials to the grisly campaign of "ethnic cleansing" in today's Bosnia, the world recognizes that certain actions are morally and legally unacceptable even in the midst of war. This book features extensive excerpts from treaties and charters that define the proper treatment of civilians, detainees, and POWs during wartime.

This book is the first comprehensive manual on the law of armed conflict prepared by a team of expert scholars and practitioners working for and with the UK Ministry of Defence. It covers all aspects of the law of armed conflict as applied today, including means and methods of warfare, thetreatment of civilians and other non-combattants - including prisoners of war - and the conduct of operations in all three environments: land, sea and air. It also includes discussion of some of the key elements of relevance in the modern strategic environment not least the legal aspects of internalarmed conflict and the application of the law during peace support operations.This is a significant publication providing sound evidence of the legal views of one of the five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council. As such it will become an essential reference and source for legal scholars working in this field, for officials working in foreign and defence ministriesaround the globe, and for military officers and lawyers requiring a sound grasp of the legal framework of military operations

This book makes the case for eliminating the distinction between types of armed conflict under international humanitarian law (IHL), specifically as they apply to persons taking a direct part in the hostilities - be they soldiers or insurgents. Currently, IHL makes a distinction betweeninternational and non-international armed conflicts. International armed conflicts are regulated by more treaties than their non-international counterparts. The regulation of international armed conflicts is also considerably more comprehensive than that offered for participants in and victims ofnon-international armed conflicts. This bifurcation of the law was logical at the time the Geneva Conventions of 1949 were drafted and adopted, as the majority of armed conflicts prior to that point had been international in character. However, in the years following the adoption of theConventions, there has been a proliferation of non-international armed conflicts, which presents challenges to a body of law that has few tools to adequately address such occurrences. The adoption of the Additional Protocols in 1977 went some way to addressing the legal lacunae that existed, butsignificant gaps still remain.Mindful of this history, this book tracks the growth and evolution of the laws of armed conflict in the modern era, since the first document of the laws of war produced for the American Civil War. In doing so, this book demonstrates how the law of armed conflict has become increasingly harmonised inits application, with more rules of IHL being generally applicable in all instances of armed conflict, regardless of characterisation. This book then makes the argument that the time has come for the final step to be taken, the elimination of the distinction between types of armed conflict, and thecomplete harmonisation of the laws of war. Focusing specifically on the issue of combatants and POWs in armed conflicts, and drawing on the recent US treatment of detainees in Guantanamo Bay in the "War on Terror", this book draws on considerable legal precedent, legal theory, and policy argumentsto make the case that it is time for the law relating to the regulation of armed conflicts to be more uniformly applied.