Suchergebnisse

War crimes are the cornerstone of the concept of international individual criminal responsibility. This essay tries to elucidate whether the definition of such crimes and the methods of prosecution thereof were initially a domestic criminal law concern in certain states that found its way towards international law cooperation efforts and regime or whether the domestic regulation has been the result of ex novo international legal obligations. This is called the epic question. For that purpose, the study analyses the evolution of international treaties on the topic while confronting them with two national legal orders, the United States of America and Spain's legislation on war crimes, mainly from nineteenth century onwards. These two very different legal orders show various options, including a dual path for military and ordinary criminal definition and prosecution of war crimes at a national level under shifting international and domestic rules. The result of the cross-checking clarifies an interpretation that answers the epic question accordingly.

Institutional and programmatic aspects, 1990-99.

Cover -- Half Title -- Series -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Introduction -- Bibliography -- Primary sources and supplementary material -- 2 Collective punishment and the law of armed conflict -- Introduction -- The legal regulation of collective punishment under the law of armed conflict -- Treaty law -- Customary international law -- International criminal law -- Definition and scope of collective punishment -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Primary sources and supplementary material -- Cases -- Online sources -- 3 Case study: Collective punishment in the Occupied Palestinian Territories -- Introduction -- Setting the scene - Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories -- Punitive house demolitions -- The legal basis of punitive house demolitions -- Punitive house demolitions and the Israeli Supreme Court -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Primary sources and supplementary material -- Cases -- Online sources -- 4 Collective punishment and human rights law -- Introduction -- Reference to collective punishment relating to states of emergency -- Related rights and principles in international and regional human rights instruments -- The right to life -- The prohibition of torture -- The protection of property -- The prohibition of discrimination -- The principle of individual responsibility -- Group rights in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights -- Minority rights -- Reference to the term 'collective punishment' in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Primary sources and supplementary material -- Cases -- Online sources -- 5 Case study: Collective punishment in Chechnya -- Introduction -- Setting the scene - two non-international armed conflicts and Chechnya's current status -- Two non-international armed conflicts in Chechnya.

This article examines modern approaches to assessing the effectiveness of international legal norms, analyzes international law aspects of the use of military force, and defines the criteria of its adminissibility and legitimacy as a means of conflict resolution. It differentiates between inviolability of the state sovereignty and human rights protection in the aspect of military invasion based on humanitarian reasons. This note emphasizes that at the inception of the multipolar international system, the old legal toolkit, which dates back to the Cold War period is incapable of solving problems that arise in the 21th century. The examples provided here demonstrate that not only do the key geopolitical players ignore the current norms of international law and contractual obligations but they also manipulate the law to justify their geopolitical plans.
The more resources the countries own the more they are capable of ignoring the norms of international law, thus creating a threat to peace and security in the world. Attention is drawn to the fact that mechanism of solving crises begins to emerge outside the legal field, which leads to an imbalance between the condition of international law and the international legal order. The necessity of reforming the UN, which should be accompanied by the introduction of a number of changes in international law and the revision of the powers and functions of the International Court, is emphasized. Yet any political and legal innovations have to be considered from the perspective of the role of international law as a potential means of protecting the 'weaker' states from the 'more powerful' ones