Week 7: limits to using force

Question 1

Responsibility to protect (R2P)

Answer 1

Is used for international crimes, i.e. genocide

Action needs to be taken through the UNSC

Question 2

Human rights law

Answer 2

application as lex generalis, broadly applicable in all situations, mostly about how States treat their own

Question 3

Humanitarian law

Answer 3

lex specialis, applicable in situations of armed conflict, mostly about how States treat nationals of adverse and neutral parties

Question 4

International Humanitarian Law (IHL)

Answer 4

Evolves detailed provision to govern soldiers’and civilians’ conduct in situations of armed conflict, it is the primary body of law applicable in all situations of armed conflict

Question 5

Status mixtus

Answer 5

Simultaneously observing the law of war for some purposes and the law of peace for others
It offers more manoeuvre, diplomatically and politically

Question 6

When does an armed conflict exist, definition offered by the International Criminal Tribunal of Yugoslavia

Answer 6

An armed conflict exists whenever there os a resort to armed force between States or protracted armed violence between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups in a State.

Question 7

International armed conflict, defined by the Geneva convention & its additional protocol I (1977)

Answer 7

All cases of declared war or any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting parties, even if the state of war is not recognised by one of them.
The additional protocol I widens the scope what is considered as an armed conflict struggle: armed struggles where people exercise their right to self-determination is also seen as an armed conflict

Question 8

The Hague Regulations of 1977

Answer 8

Laws, rights and duties of war apply not only to armies but also to militia and volunteer groups fulfilling the following conditions

1. to be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates
2. to have a fixed distinctive symbol recognizable at a distance
3. to carry arms openly
4. to conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs f war

Question 9

Mercenary

Answer 9

A mercenary fights for a desire for private gain, is neither a national or resident in a party to a conflict
! additional Protocol 1 to the Geneva Convention, art. 47: mercenaries are not entitled to prisoner of war status if captured

Question 10

Doctrine of collateral damage

Answer 10

Permissibility of civilian casualties to the standards of proportionality. It depends on circumstances ruling at the time and operational context.

Question 11

Drone strikes according to IL

Answer 11

Generally perceived as unlawful, because of civilian casualties they cause and because it facilitates extrajudicial execution or even assassination

Question 12

Prisoners of war (POW)

Answer 12

Soldiers who surrender are under the protection of the capturing enemy State. This is based on the notion of reciprocity. The State that has captured them is responsible under IL for their good treatment

Question 13

Civilian

Answer 13

Anyone who isn’t a combatant as defined by the Geneva Convention III and, for those States party to it, additional Protocol I

They are protected under Geneva Convention IV when they are in power of another belligerent