Geneva Conventions

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Just Security

The Law of Consent-Based Interventions

In a recent Just Security post, Adil Ahmad Haque asks what legal rules constrain the use of military force by an intervening state acting without the host state’s consent. Recognizing…
Just Security

Between the Law of Force and the Law of Armed Conflict

Last week, I argued in favor of the ICRC’s position that if one state uses armed force in the territory of another state then an international armed conflict (IAC) arises between…
Just Security

De Facto and De Jure Non-International Armed Conflicts: Is It Time to Topple Tadić?

When does violence between a state and non-state actor constitute an armed conflict and thus trigger the system of legal rules that apply in non-international armed conflict (NIAC)?…
Just Security

Is the United States Already in an “International Armed Conflict” with Syria?

Many are debating whether the Obama administration should essentially go to war with Syria in an effort to halt the atrocities that Assad is committing in Aleppo and elsewhere…
Just Security

Whose Armed Conflict? Which Law of Armed Conflict?

When one state, say, the United States, uses military force on the territory of another state, say, Syria or Pakistan, without the consent of that state, what legal rules constrain…
Just Security

Would Arming Anti-Assad Rebels Trigger an “International Armed Conflict”—and War Crimes Prosecutions?

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Gulf Arab States are considering arming militant groups in Syria to fend off Assad’s onslaught in Aleppo and elsewhere. There may be…
Just Security

Two U.S. Positions on the Duty to Ensure Respect for the Geneva Conventions

When should the U.S. government reverse a previous U.S. interpretation of a treaty? Should there be a presumption against doing so, and what process and substantive reasons should…
Just Security

The Updated First Geneva Convention Commentary, DOD’s Law of War Manual, and a More Perfect Law of War, Part I

It is difficult to overstate the importance of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Nearly synonymous with the law of war itself, the universally ratified 1949 Conventions are not merely…
Just Security

The State Department Adviser Signals a Middle Road on Common Article 1

In his remarks to the American Society of International Law earlier this month, State Department Legal Adviser Brian Egan stated that the United States’ commitment to upholding…
Just Security

Convicting Individuals Isn’t Enough Accountability for Mass Violations of International Law

On Saturday, news outlets reported an arrest by UN police on one of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia’s last outstanding warrants. French journalist…
Just Security

The Special Rapporteur on Torture’s Report on Extraterritoriality Speaks to Migrant Crisis

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan E. Méndez, has issued a new expert’s report (his 17th)—this one on extraterritoriality. (JustSecurity’s extensive…
Just Security

When Do Countries Have to Investigate War Crimes?

In late August, the New York Times and others reported that the US Army had reopened a criminal investigation into the murders of at least 17 civilians in Afghanistan in 2012 and…
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