Suchergebnisse

Policymakers, legislators, scientists, thinkers, military strategists, academics, and all those interested in understanding the future want to know how twenty-first century scientific advance should be regulated in war and peace. This book tries to provide some of the answers. Part I summarises some important elements of the relevant law. In Part II, individual chapters are devoted to cyber capabilities, highly automated and autonomous systems, human enhancement technologies, human degradation techniques, the regulation of nanomaterials, novel naval technologies, outer space, synthetic brain technologies beyond artificial intelligence, and biometrics. The final part of the book notes important synergies that emerge between the different technologies and legal provisions, existing and proposed, assesses notions of convergence and of composition in international law, and provides some concluding remarks. The new technologies, their uses, and their regulation in war and peace are presented to the reader who is invited to draw conclusions

The evolution of the law of weaponry -- Components of the international law of weaponry -- The use of weapons and the law of targeting -- Customary principles-superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering -- Customary principles-indiscriminate weapons -- Weapons and the environment -- Conventional Weapons Convention -- Poison, poisoned weapons, asphyxiating gases, biological and chemical weapons -- Firearms, bullets, and analogous projectiles -- The rules relating to mines, booby-traps, and other devices -- Rules relating to other specific technologies -- Nuclear weapons -- Applying weapons law to particular weapon systems -- Cluster munitions -- Weapons in sea warfare -- Unexploded and abandoned weapons -- Non-international armed conflict -- Compliance with international weapons law -- Technology, humanitarian concern, and international weapons law -- The future of weapons law

In this, the second decade of the 21st Century, the law relating to conflict is confronted by a number of challenges this book seeks to identify and to discuss. Topics as diverse as the evolving spectrum of conflict, innovations in weaponry, automated and autonomous attack, the depersonalisation of warfare, detention operations, the influence of modern media and the application of human rights law to the conduct of hostilities are examined to see to what extent existing legal norms are under attack. The book takes each topic in turn, explains relevant provisions of contemporary law and analyses exactly where the legal problem lies. The analysis then develops the theme, examining for example the implications of current rules as to deception operations for certain applications of cyber warfare. The book, written in an accessible style, demonstrates the continuing relevance of established rules and the importance of compliance with them. It is a valuable tool for further discussion and research involving academics, military lawyers and commanders, governments, ministries of defence and foreign affairs, libraries, diplomats, think tanks, policy units, NGOs, journalists, students and all others with an interest in law of armed conflict issues. Dr William H. Boothby is the Former Deputy Director of Legal Services, Royal Air Force, United Kingdom