The first comprehensive monograph on the defence of superior orders after the second world war, which remains pre-eminent in the field, the republication of this highly-sophisticated work once again makes this book available to scholars and students in the field. First published in 1965, Yoram Dinstein set the standard for future analysis of this issue, providing a ground-breaking interpretation that integrated domestic and international law to provide a subtle and nuanced challenge to the countervailing perceptions of the time, shaped as they were by the Nuremburg and Eichmann trials. The recent jurisprudence of the ad hoc Tribunals has shown remarkably similar analyses to those offered by Dinstein in this book, demonstrating that this key work remains relevant today. Reviewing the relevant precedents that existed at the time, this book shows that superior orders were not, in and of themselves, a defence, but that orders were relevant to other defences, and therefore should not be entirely ignored. Assessing the issue on a conceptual and practical level, and offering an extraordinary level of detail, this is a is a seminal work in international criminal law. It makes required reading for scholars, students, and practitioners of international criminal law.

This book explores the unique social and environmental factors which influence soldiers to commit war crimes. With a focus on decision-making processes, this monograph provides a significant interdisciplinary analysis of how soldiers decide to follow the commands of their superior officers, even if that means acting illegally. Making the key distinction between normal civilian society and the shocking realities of war, the author facilitates the reader with a comprehensive understanding of what a front-line soldier faces in contemporary combat situations. Killing on Command presents the limits of the law in preventing the occurrence of war crimes. Realistic and practical measures for armed conflict, including the regulation and prevention of violence, and the just implementation of legal standards are all questioned and examined in depth. Given a current focus on the regulation of conduct in war, and the recent prosecution of soldiers, this book will be of particular interest to scholars in the fields of criminology and international relations, as well as policy-makers.

Sergeant William Calley's defense of his behavior in the My Lai massacre and the widespread public support for his argument that he was merely obeying orders from a superior and was not personally culpable led Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton to investigate the attitudes toward responsibility and authority that underlie "crimes of obedience"--not only in military circumstances like My Lai but as manifested in Watergate, the Iran-Contra scandal, and the Kurt Waldheim affair. Their book is an ardent plea for the right and obligation of citizens to resist illegal and immoral orders from above.

International human rights law grants individuals both rights and responsibilities. In this respect international criminal and international humanitarian law are no different. As members of the public international law family they are charged with the regulation, maintenance and protection of human dignity. The right and duty to disobey manifestly illegal orders traverses these three schools of public international law. This book is the first systematic study of the right to conscientious objection under international human rights law. Understanding that rights and duties are not mutually exclusive but complementary, this study analyses the right to conscientious objection and the duties of individuals under international law from various perspectives of public international law.

This report was prepared for the Working Group on the Crime of Aggression at the 8th session of Preparatory Commission, held in September-October 2001. The paper consists of four parts relating to: the Nuremberg tribunal; tribunals establish pursuant to Control Council Law number 10; the Tokyo tribunal; and the United Nations. Annexes contain tables regarding aggression by a State and individual responsibility for crimes against peace. The paper seeks to provide an objective, analytical overview of the history and major developments relating to aggression, both before and after the adoption of the UN Charter.

The Israel Yearbook on Human Rights- an annual published under the auspices of the Faculty of Law of Tel Aviv University since 1971- is devoted to publishing studies by distinguished scholars in Israel and other countries on human rights in peace and war, with particular emphasis on problems relevant to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The Yearbook also incorporates documentary materials relating to Israel and the Administered Areas which are not otherwise available in English (including summaries of judicial decisions, compilations of legislative enactments and military proclamations).