{"title":"Lessons from the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: The Plight of Diaspora Fighters in Levées en Masse","authors":"Elliot Winter","doi":"10.1163/18781527-bja10103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-bja10103","url":null,"abstract":"The concept of the <jats:italic>levée en masse</jats:italic> was designed to legitimise armed civilian opposition to an unfolding invasion by conferring temporary combatant status upon certain civilians. The range of individuals eligible for this status was defined narrowly to include only ‘inhabitants’ of invaded territories. This approach made sense in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when international travel was beyond the reach of all but the elite minority. Today however, mass air transit has expanded horizons and allows people to travel and to emigrate much more readily. Consequently, the global diaspora of emigrants is larger now than ever before. As seen during the Russian invasion of Ukraine beginning in February 2022, many among these diaspora communities wish to return to defend their homelands upon invasion. This is precluded under the orthodox interpretation of international humanitarian law owing to their lack of residency. This is unsatisfactory as it bars individuals with legitimate familial, political, cultural, and historical connections to a State from participating in a <jats:italic>levée</jats:italic> in its defence. This article sets out the policy and legal arguments in favour of recognising non-resident citizens – or ‘diaspora fighters’ – as legitimate participants in levées en masse.","PeriodicalId":41905,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142207416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Proportionality in Bello: A Case Against Indirect Military Advantage in War","authors":"Surbhi Soni","doi":"10.1163/18781527-bja10100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-bja10100","url":null,"abstract":"Rule of proportionality strikes a bargain in launching attacks. It demands that military commanders suspend or cancel operations if collateral damage anticipated from an attack exceeds the potential military advantage offered. The definitional phrase <jats:italic>military advantage</jats:italic> has been the subject of a rich debate, varyingly interpreted to expand or limit the scope of attacks. This paper participates in the debate, advocating that <jats:italic>military advantage</jats:italic> must be limited to exclude attacks on objects that indirectly contribute to military potential, such as, economic, social, psychological or political advantage, which invariably target civilians or civilian enterprises. It critically engages with the principles and precedents invoked to legitimise a broader understanding of <jats:italic>military advantage</jats:italic>. It posits that such attacks disregard belligerents’ privileges, and render unbound categories of civilian objects susceptible to destruction. Pursuantly, the rule of proportionality, originally articulated to nuance and improve the rule of distinction, is usurped to violate the latter.","PeriodicalId":41905,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies","volume":"158 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141868845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Safeguarding the Vulnerable: A Comprehensive Approach to Protecting Detainees in Contemporary Non-International Armed Conflicts and Counterterrorism Operations","authors":"Kasim Balarabe","doi":"10.1163/18781527-bja10098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-bja10098","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article explores the critical issue of detainee protection in the complex landscape of contemporary non-international armed conflicts and counterterrorism operations. It examines the interplay between international humanitarian law and international human rights law, highlighting the challenges in their application and interpretation. The article delves into the contemporary challenges faced in protecting detainees, including the involvement of non-state armed groups, extraterritorial detention practices, administrative detention, and the impact of counterterrorism measures. It proposes a multifaceted approach to enhancing detainee protection, encompassing strategies for strengthening compliance with the legal framework, addressing the specific needs of vulnerable groups, and promoting best practices and capacity-building. The article argues that a comprehensive and contextualised approach, grounded in the principles of humanity and human dignity, is essential to effectively safeguard the rights and well-being of detainees in these challenging contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":41905,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141548431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Environmental Protections During Armed Conflict as Supportive Mechanisms for the Prevention of Atrocity Crimes","authors":"Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria","doi":"10.1163/18781527-bja10096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-bja10096","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The potential exacerbating impact of environmental damage incurred during armed conflict has gained increasing attention in regional and international fora. The links between conflict and the environment are indirect, but irrefutable. Environmental damage further has the potential to adversely affect risk factors associated with atrocity crimes. It is necessary to consider adequate environmental protections to avoid serious and negative long-lasting effects, and to prevent the exacerbation of conflicts into atrocity crimes. The vulnerability of the population generally and the environment is evident in armed conflict. This article explores the nexus between environmental damage and atrocity crimes generally before considering existing environmental protections during armed conflict and opportunities for progressive development. It argues that the enhancement of existing international legal obligations either through additional protections or improved implementation measures is necessary to protect the environment and contribute to the reduction of the risk of atrocity crimes.</p>","PeriodicalId":41905,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies","volume":"48 3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141548411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Demokratia: Will the Greek Ideal Work in Greece’s Favour to Return the Parthenon Marbles under International Law?","authors":"Lauren Bursey","doi":"10.1163/18781527-bja10097","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-bja10097","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article reviews the recent publications concerning the centuries-old dispute over the Parthenon Marbles. The discussion focuses on the application of international law to the question of the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, and reviews Professor Catharine Titi’s book <em>The Parthenon Marbles and International Law</em>, with reference to and comparison with Alexander Herman’s book <em>The Parthenon Marbles Dispute</em>. This review specifically evaluates the question of whether there is a customary international law on the return of unlawfully removed cultural heritage, which would require States, and specifically the United Kingdom, to be bound to such a rule. The existence of this rule would strengthen the efforts of Greece to argue for the return of the Marbles, which Titi argues is best resolved through diplomacy, and not recourse to the European Court of Human Rights or the International Court of Justice. Despite a growing global discussion about the need for repatriation of colonial-looted cultural objects, it remains to be seen whether it will have any impact, or indeed put pressure on, the Trustees of the British Museum or the UK Parliament which must pass an act to deaccession the Marbles from the national collection.</p>","PeriodicalId":41905,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141548432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reappraising Reprisals Against Enemy Civilians in Customary International Humanitarian Law","authors":"Lindsay Moir","doi":"10.1163/18781527-bja10095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-bja10095","url":null,"abstract":"Belligerent reprisals are a controversial and largely discredited mechanism for the enforcement of international humanitarian law. Additional Protocol <jats:sc>i</jats:sc> of 1977 prohibits a range of reprisal activity, including reprisals against enemy civilians. A (relatively small) number of States are not Parties to Additional Protocol <jats:sc>i</jats:sc>, whilst some States Parties have made declarations and/or reservations to the Protocol which could be seen as attempts to limit the operation of the prohibition. Its status as a rule of customary international law is therefore an important question. This article argues that opposition to the prohibition in customary law is neither as widespread nor consistent as has previously been suggested and that the weight of evidence points towards the existence (or development) of a customary prohibition. Consistent opposition by the UK and the US, however, makes it unlikely that the customary prohibition would be opposable to those particular States.","PeriodicalId":41905,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140834093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ukraine and Violations of International Humanitarian Law – A Critical Analysis of the Amnesty International Report","authors":"Agnieszka Szpak","doi":"10.1163/18781527-bja10093","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-bja10093","url":null,"abstract":"<p>On 4 August 2022, Amnesty International published its report ‘Ukraine: Ukrainian Fighting Tactics Endanger Civilians’, in which it accused Ukraine of violating international humanitarian law ‘by establishing bases and operating weapons systems in populated residential areas, including in schools and hospitals’ and in this way putting civilians at risk. According to the report, ‘[s]uch tactics violate international humanitarian law and endanger civilians, as they turn civilian objects into military targets. The ensuing Russian strikes in populated areas have killed civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure’. The report sparked some controversies. The question that the author attempts to answer in this article is whether there are any factual or legal arguments supporting the conclusions of the report.</p>","PeriodicalId":41905,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140571602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Legal Status and Targeting of Hacker Groups in the Russia-Ukraine Cyber Conflict","authors":"Giacomo Biggio","doi":"10.1163/18781527-bja10078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-bja10078","url":null,"abstract":"The armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been characterized by a considerable number of cyber operations by States and non-State actors in support to either party to the conflict. One year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ‘Russia-Ukraine cyber conflict’ offers valuable insights for estimating the effectiveness of International Humanitarian Law in regulating the status and the conduct of individuals engaging in cyberspace operations during wartime. By discussing the status of hackers groups and individuals who have conducted cyber operations in support of Ukraine, this Article claims that the relevance of the concept of combatancy is diminished in the cyber domain, and that the notion of direct participation in hostilities must be adapted to the specific features of cyberspace. Furthermore, the article focuses on the issues relating to the targeting of individual who directly participate in hostilities by conducting cyber operations in support of Ukraine. By doing so, the Article argues that cyber direct participants place themselves at an increased risk of being attacked, even though the Russian armed forces are limited in their targeting decisions by the principles of proportionality and precaution.","PeriodicalId":41905,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140204405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ensuring Lawful Use of Autonomous Weapons: An Operational Perspective","authors":"Camilla G. Cooper","doi":"10.1163/18781527-bja10091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-bja10091","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The use of autonomous weapons systems (‘<span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">aws</span>’) is the source of extensive discussions within the international legal community and beyond. After years of discussing definitions, the discourse is slowly moving on to discuss <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">aws</span> in light of existing law of armed conflict (‘<span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">loac</span>’) rules. This article aims to support these discussions by providing a military legal perspective. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">aws</span> offers great potential benefits to both soldiers and civilians, and control mechanisms already in place for military operations may be employed to define when and how <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">aws</span> can lawfully be used. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">aws</span> can reduce the exposure of soldiers to dull, dirty and dangerous environments and the risk of incidental civilian harm. To exploit these potentials and ensure legality, regulators need to understand how military forces employ and control the use of force to support their operations, and military planners and decision-makers need to understand the limits of and possibilities within <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">loac</span>.</p>","PeriodicalId":41905,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies","volume":"115 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140055423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Finding Fairness: Two Perspectives in International Criminal Law","authors":"Michelle Coleman","doi":"10.1163/18781527-bja10089","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-bja10089","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This review essay discusses two books: Fairness and Rights in International Criminal Procedure by Sophie Rigney and Punishing Atrocities through a Fair Trial by Jonathan Hafetz. It discusses the methods used in each book, their conceptions of fairness, and what they see as the future of fairness in international criminal law. The review argues that when the two books are read together they show how far fairness has come, where it is now, and where fairness is headed in the future.</p>","PeriodicalId":41905,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138824130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}