Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC)
600 Articles

UN Drone Strike Inquiry: Summary of the New Interim Report
Today, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and countering terrorism, Ben Emmerson QC, issued an interim report on his international investigation into drone strikes and targeted…

Second Major UN Drones Report Now Publicly Available
The second major UN Report on drones this week is now publicly available — by Ben Emmerson, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism. Just Security’s Sarah…

Scientists from 37 Countries Call for Ban on Autonomous Lethal Targeting
Today, an organization of scientists released a call for a preemptive legal ban on autonomous weapons systems (AWS) – those that can select and engage targets without human intervention. …

The Al-Libi Case Is a Step Forward, Even if Not (Yet) A Paradigm Shift
Jack Goldsmith on the Lawfare blog has an interesting response to Mary DeRosa and Marty Lederman’s take on the implications of the al-Libi and Ikrima operations. I agree…

New UN Report Released; Addresses Legal Controversies in Drone Use
A new UN report on drone strikes and targeted killings by the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions has been published, ahead of a UN General Assembly debate scheduled…

The Libya Raid to Capture Abu Anas al-Liby and The Persistence of Memory of Due Process
Now that Abu Anas al-Liby has been brought to the U.S. and may be appearing in court as you read this to face criminal charges, it might be tempting to say that all concerns…

Reviving Opinio Juris and Law of Armed Conflict Pluralism
It is by now hackneyed routine. A U.S. government attorney or legal policymaker invited to appear at a law of armed conflict (LOAC) conference prefaces her remarks with a pro forma…

The Case of Abu Anas al-Libi: International Law Q & A
On Saturday, October 5, 2013, the US captured terrorist suspect Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai (Abu Anas al-Libi) in Tripoli, Libya, and, reportedly, is now interrogating him on a…

Maj. Kurt M. Sanger, Letter to the Editor: Response to Harold Koh’s Just Security post of Oct 2, 2013
While considering Harold Koh’s interpretation of the UN Charter and its justifications for the use of force against Syria, try standing in the shoes of foreign ministers in China…

Al-Liby: “Rendition to Justice” under Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
The U.S. government is reportedly holding Abu Anas al-Liby (Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai) on a Navy ship following a military-led apprehension in Tripoli on October 5. The capture…

Harold Koh’s Case for Humanitarian Intervention
The week before last, Harold Koh posted a defense of President Obama’s authority to use force in Syria without congressional authorization. Last week Professor Koh turned to…

Debate (Round 2): A Reply to Rona and Corn
This post is the final post in a series from Gabor Rona, Geoffrey Corn, and Just Security’s Derek Jinks. The debate addresses a fundamental question for US national security…