3.6.1. The Martens Clause

Anti-Personnel Mines under Humanitarian Law: A View From the Vanishing Point considers in depth the various customary and conventional legal regimes applicable to the use of anti-personnel mines. All involved with the global effort to control and eliminate anti-personnel mines as well as the policy-makers who are concerned about the devastation resulting from the widespread deployment of these arbitrary weapons need to familiarize themselves with the information presented in this timely volume. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

This book provides an examination of whether there is a legally independent 'principle of humanity' in international humanitarian law.

The twenty-first century global community is confronted with unprecedented challenges as well as unique opportunities. The degree to which it can establish and institutionalize norms and mechanisms designed to promote and sustain meaningful global cooperation will determine the future course of civilization. This volume brings together a broad range of scholars to highlight some of the areas of contemporary transnational cooperation and to examine the scope and levels at which cooperation can and does take place. The study examines the issue of weapons of mass destruction, explores the promises of biotechnology and space technology, and investigates the roles of global conventions and institutions as strategies for addressing the common threats facing the international system. In short, the volume raises important, timely issues regarding the challenges and opportunities confronting the global community which both policy makers and academicians will find informative and thought-provoking in their efforts to understand the nature and complexity of the twenty-first century global community.

The humanitarian framing of disarmament is not a novel development, but rather represents a re-emergence of a much older and long-standing sensibility of humanitarianism in disarmament. The Book rejects the 'big bang' theory that presents the Anti-Personnel Landmines Convention 1997, and its successors – the Convention on Cluster Munitions 2008, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 2017 – as a paradigm shift from an older traditional state-centric approach towards a more progressive humanitarian approach. It shows how humanitarian disarmament has a long and complex history, which includes these treaties. This book argues that the attempt to locate the birth of humanitarian disarmament in these treaties is part of the attempt to cleanse humanitarian disarmament of politics, presenting humanitarianism as a morally superior discourse in disarmament. However, humanitarianism carries its own blind spots and has its own hegemonic leanings. It may be silencing other potentially more transformative discourses.

Drone strikes have become a key feature of counterterrorism operations in an increasing number of countries. This work explores the different domestic and international legal regimes that govern the manufacture, transfer, and use of armed drones. Chapters assess the legality of armed drones under jus ad bellum, the law of armed conflict, the law of law enforcement, international human rights law, international criminal law and domestic civil and criminal law. The book also discusses the application of law to fully autonomous weapons systems where computer algorithms decide who or what to target and when to fire.

The Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law provides a truly international forum for high-quality, peer-reviewed articles, commentaries on current developments, reports on state practice and documentation that have international humanitarian law as their focal point. The cosmopolitan character of the Yearbook is ensured by its international board of editors, drawn from outstanding experts in the field, as well as by its global network of correspondents, reporting on state practice. All aspects of international law applicable during international and internal armed conflicts are covered, in addition to interesting and significant developments in related fields, such as international criminal law, human rights law, disarmament law and refugee law. Distinguished by its topicality and contemporary relevance, the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law bridges the gap between theory and practice and serves as a useful reference tool for scholars, practitioners, military personnel, civil servants, diplomats, human rights workers and students.

Security is an all-encompassing term of art which is subject to diverse interpretations and understandings. It includes notions of protection against transnational threats, including terrorism, inter- and intra-state conflict, nuclear proliferation, forced migration, violation of women’s rights, climate change, etc. The papers in this collection provide fresh voices in the security debate, uniting scholars from different fields of law and philosophy to address normative gaps in interpretation, evolution and application. Part I considers calls for an expanded mandate for the UN Security Council and regional international organisations. Part II reviews innovations within the arena of international humanitarian law, including whether it is possible to balance human rights and humanitarian law standards in peacekeeping operations, responses to “voluntary human shielding”, and normative evolution in the removal of anti-personnel mines and the ban on cluster munitions. Part III embarks upon the realm of Ethics and Democracy: assessing the engagement of private soldiers and the legitimacy of targeted strikes pursuant to the “responsibility to prevent terrorism”. It also considers internal conflicts within the notion of “democratic security”, affirms the procedural guarantees of habeas corpus and non-refoulement as central elements of global justice, and calls for evaluation of gender equity as a measure of state fragility. Part IV confronts the global challenge of climate change as a security threat. Finally, Part V provides a practitioner’s perspective which discusses possible grounds for a gap between academics and security practitioners.

The law of armed conflict is a key element of the global legal order yet it finds itself in a state of flux created by the changing nature of warfare and the influences of other branches of international law. The Routledge Handbook of the Law of Armed Conflict provides a unique perspective on the field covering all the key aspects of the law as well as identifying developing and often contentious areas of interest. The handbook will feature original pieces by international experts in the field, including academics, staff of relevant NGOs and (former) members of the armed forces. Made up of six parts in order to offer a comprehensive overview of the field, the structure of the handbook is as follows: Part I: Fundamentals Part II: Principle of distinction Part III: Means and methods of warfare Part IV: Special protection regimes Part V: Compliance and enforcement Part VI: Some contemporary issues Throughout the book, attention is paid to non-international conflicts as well as international conflicts with acknowledgement of the differences. The contributors also consider the relationship between the law of armed conflict and human rights law, looking at how the various rules and principles of human rights law interact with specific rules and principles of international humanitarian law in particular circumstances. The Routledge Handbook of the Law of Armed Conflict provides a fresh take on the contemporary laws of war and is written for advanced level students, academics, researchers, NGOs and policy-makers with an interest in the field.

This book provides a detailed history of the global movement to ban anti-personnel landmines (APL), marking the first case of a successful worldwide civil society movement to end the use of an entire category of weapons. In March 1995, Belgium became the first state to pass a domestic anti-personnel landmine ban. In December 1997, 122 states joined Belgium in signing the comprehensive Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Treaty. The movement to ban landmines became a turning point in global politics that continues to influence policy and strategy decisions regarding weapon use today. Disarming States: The International Movement to Ban Landmines describes how non-government organizations (NGOs) brought the landmine issue to international attention by forming the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). The author presents new information gleaned from interviews and intensive research conducted around the world. The critical role of mid-size states—such as Austria, Canada, and Switzerland—recruited to back the movement's goals is examined. The book concludes by examining how NGOs affect the international political agenda, especially in seeking legal prohibitions on weapons and changes in states' behaviors.