Human Rights
874 Articles
The Laws of War: Their Nature and Moral Function
In his final address on issues of war and peace, President Obama reminds us all that “[w]e are a nation that stands for the rule of law, and strengthen[s] the laws of war.”…
Letter to the Editor: Response to Human Rights in Armed Conflict, Part I
In a previous post, I raised numerous concerns with Prof. Adil Haque’s novel proposal that lowers the threshold for determining what constitutes a non-international armed conflict…
Human Rights in Armed Conflict, Part II
In my previous post, I took seriously Jonathan Horowitz’s concern that some States believe that the application of international humanitarian law (IHL) may displace or reduce…
Human Rights in Armed Conflict, Part I
When powerful States adopt a mistaken view of international law, should we—scholars, practitioners, and activists—resist their view and insist on our own? Or should we regard…
Accountability for States’ Assisting Other States’ Wrongful Acts: The Superior Effectiveness of Human Rights Norms
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 in Armed Conflict…
The Right to Life as the Jus ad Bellum of Non-International Armed Conflict (A Reply to Lieblich)
An important question raised in a recent post in Just Security is what law governs when a state can resort to military force against a threat from a non-state actor. Professor…
What Law Applies to the Resort to Force Against Non-State Actors? Filling the Void of “Internal Jus Ad Bellum”
What international legal rules determine when the U.S. government can resort to force against a non-state armed group such as the Khorasan Group, if that organization plans an…
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)?…
The UK’s Al-Saadoon Case: Stepping Back From the Extraterritorial Application of the ECHR for Physical Force
On September 9, the United Kingdom’s Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in Al-Saadoon and Others v. Secretary of State for Defence. This is a case dealing with almost 1,300…
Aiding and Abetting for Saudi War Crimes: Lessons from Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project
In 2010, human rights organizations argued in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project that if we want to promote compliance with the law of armed conflict, we cannot punish advocacy…
Just Security’s Questions for Clinton and Trump
Given the importance of tonight’s prime-time debate between US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, we’re again running our list of vital national…
The Saudi Weapons Block Wouldn’t be the First: Some Past Examples of Halts on US Arms Transfers
In the United States, concerns over the conduct of the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen have grown in intensity in recent weeks amid reports that US-supplied weapons have…