The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Acknowledgements......Page 11
Table of cases......Page 12
Table of treaties......Page 14
Abbreviations......Page 18
Introduction......Page 23
1 The general framework......Page 26
A. Customary international law and treaty law......Page 27
B. The principal treaties......Page 31
II. The semantics......Page 34
III. Inter-State armed conflicts......Page 36
IV. Military necessity and humanitarian considerations......Page 38
V. Humanitarian law and human rights......Page 42
VI. Dissemination......Page 47
I. Combatants and civilians......Page 49
II. Lawful and unlawful combatants......Page 51
III. The entitlement to prisoners of war status under customary international law......Page 55
IV. The legal position under Protocol I of 1977......Page 66
V. A case study: the war in Afghanistan......Page 69
VI. Mercenaries......Page 72
VII. Armed merchant vessels......Page 74
I. Introduction......Page 77
II. The principle prohibiting unnecessary suffering......Page 79
III. Explicit prohibitions or restrictions of certain weapons......Page 83
A. Conventional weapons......Page 85
B. Weapons of mass destruction......Page 95
IV. The status of nuclear weapons......Page 99
V. Development of new weapons......Page 102
I. The principle of distinction and military objectives......Page 104
II. The definition of military objectives by nature, location, purpose and use......Page 109
A. The nature of the objective......Page 110
B. The purpose of the objective......Page 111
C. The use of the objective......Page 112
D. The location of the objective......Page 113
E. Bridges......Page 114
F. Military objectives exempt from attack......Page 115
III. General problems relating to the scope of military objectives......Page 116
IV. Defended and undefended localities in land warfare......Page 121
C. Enemy merchant vessels......Page 124
D. Neutral merchant vessels......Page 125
E. Destruction of enemy merchant vessels after capture......Page 126
F. Blockade......Page 127
G. Exclusion zones......Page 128
H. Bombardment of coastal areas......Page 129
A. Military aircraft......Page 130
B. Civilian aircraft......Page 131
C. Strategic and ‘target area’ bombing......Page 132
I. Definitions......Page 135
II. Direct attacks against civilians......Page 137
III. Indiscriminate attacks......Page 138
IV. The principle of proportionality......Page 141
V. Legitimate collateral damage......Page 145
VI. Precautions in attack......Page 147
VII. Cessation of protection and ‘human shields’......Page 151
A. General......Page 153
B. Siege warfare......Page 155
C. Humanitarian assistance......Page 159
A. The different categories of beneficiaries......Page 163
B. Cessation of protection......Page 171
A. Introduction......Page 174
B. The legal position until 1954......Page 175
C. The Cultural Property Convention of 1954......Page 179
D. Protocol I of 1977......Page 182
E. The war crimes provisions......Page 185
F. The 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention......Page 186
A. Medical units on land......Page 188
B. Hospital ships......Page 190
C. Medical aircraft......Page 191
D. The cessation of protection......Page 193
IV. Works and installations containing dangerous forces......Page 194
I. Introduction......Page 198
A. The ENMOD Convention......Page 199
B. Protocol I of 1977......Page 203
C. Supplementary texts......Page 207
III. The dissimilarities between the ENMOD Convention and Protocol I......Page 211
IV. A case study: setting fire to oil wells in the Gulf War......Page 213
V. Conclusion......Page 218
A. The Hague Regulations of 1899/1907......Page 220
B. Protocol I of 1977......Page 222
C. Other texts relating to perfidy and ruses of war......Page 229
A. The definition of espionage......Page 230
B. The penal prosecution of spies......Page 232
III. Seizure and destruction of enemy property......Page 235
A. Pillage......Page 236
C. Prize and contraband......Page 237
D. Other destruction and seizure of enemy property......Page 240
A. The concept of belligerent reprisals......Page 242
B. Prohibitions of specific belligerent reprisals......Page 244
C. The taking of hostages......Page 249
I. The definition of war crimes......Page 250
II. The distinction between war criminals and unlawful combatants......Page 255
III. Command responsibility......Page 259
IV. Admissible and inadmissible defences......Page 265
A. Admissible defences......Page 266
B. Inadmissible defence pleas......Page 272
C. Mitigation of punishment......Page 275
General conclusions......Page 277
Index of persons......Page 280
Index of subjects......Page 285