Geneva Conventions
174 Articles
Human Shields in International Humanitarian Law: A Guide to the Legal Framework
To assist our readers interested in the phenomenon of human shields, I’ve produced a compilation of the relevant legal framework (additions/suggestions welcome!) These rules…
Memo to President Obama: You Have Another Memo to Withdraw
The election of Donald Trump has triggered an anxious conversation about how President Obama can entrench some of his accomplishments before January 21, 2017. Importantly, given…
New ICRC Survey: Large Global Divide in Public Respect for Humanitarian Norms
A massive global survey on the laws of war includes some striking findings on public attitudes, including large differences of opinion that vary according to where people live.…
State Complicity in Other States’ Bad Acts—and How to Avoid It
[Editor’s Note: Just Security and Chatham House are hosting a “mini forum” to debate and discuss Chatham House’s new research paper on “Aiding and Assisting: Challenges…
International Armed Conflict in Syria and the (Lack of) Official Immunity for War Crimes
Last week, I wrote two posts at Just Security (here and here) on one of the legal consequences that would follow if the situation in Syria is an “international armed conflict”…
Turkey’s US-Backed Operation in Syria Has Created an International Armed Conflict
Defense Secretary Ash Carter meets with Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işik during a U.N. Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting at Lancaster House in London, Sept. 8, 2016. DoD photo…
Letter to the Editor from Professor Terry Gill on Classification of International Armed Conflict
Firstly, many thanks to Professor Adil Haque for reading my piece and for his thoughtful comments on it, both favorable and less so. Let me briefly reply to some of the points…
Letter to the Editor: Not So Fast on Calling it an “Armed Conflict” Between the US and Syria
In Tuesday’s provocative entry, “Is the United States Already in an ‘International Armed Conflict’ with Syria?,” Ryan Goodman states not only that the US is engaged…
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…
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…
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)?…
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…