Suchergebnisse

When the Calderon Administration escalated anti-drug efforts in 2006, drug-related violence in Mexico reached unprecedented levels. The growing intensity of drug-related violence has led to uncertainty over how to classify the violence spreading across Mexico. Much of the public rhetoric argues that Mexico's drug-related violence has surpassed that which typically characterizes the drug trade and is instead more similar to armed conflict. Due to the changing landscape of Mexican drug violence, an assessment of whether or not the conflict meets the requisite conditions for a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) is needed to determine if the application of international humanitarian law is appropriate. This paper argues that Mexico's Drug War meets the conditions for NIAC status and application of IHL is appropriate. The question of how to respond to drug-related violence is becoming increasingly relevant as the effects of such violence extends to a more diverse geographic area within Mexico. NIAC status plays a central role in the future of anti-drug policy and has the potential to prompt significant changes in the handling of drug-related violence in Mexico. This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive answer to this question and identify the potential implications that recognition as a NIAC will have on Mexican anti-drug policy.

The island of Cyprus has been the scene of one of the most tragic conflicts in post-war Europe. A country with a long and rich tradition and much to contribute to all of the cultures of the Mediterranean, Cyprus has been torn apart almost since the day of its independence. Since 197, more than a third of the island has been occupied by Turkey. Attempts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict has come and gone but the status quo, branded as unacceptable by the United Nations, has remained. Why this is so has already been the subject of many studies. Few, however, have analysed in any detail the position of Cyprus in international law. Yet an understanding of how the rule of law in international society applies to Cyprus is essential to a proper understanding of the Cyprus question. In his new book, Dr Chrysostomides offers just such an analysis, examining with great care the constitutional history of the Republic of Cyprus, the legal principles applicable to the Turkish invasion of 10974 and subsequent occupation and the substantial body of case law and State practice regarding Cyprus since that date. He discusses the competing legal arguments concerning the application of the Republic of Cyprus to join the European Union, the controversial decisions of the European Court and commission of Human Rights, and the debates regarding the status of the occupied northern part of Cyprus. His conclusion is that the Republic of Cyprus has had a continuous existence as a State - and as the only State on the island of Cyprus - since 1960, notwithstanding all of the violations of international law to which it has been subjected. From the Foreword by Christopher Greenwood, QC

Are the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which relate to international conflicts, also applicable in the case of an "armed conflict not of an international character"?