Details
- Makes sense of the rules and principles applicable to non-international armed conflict, the world's most prevalent and deadly type of war
- Provides new insights on the law of non-international armed conflict, drawing on the views and practice of both governments and irregular armed forces
- Identifies and synthesizes the relevant rules from international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law
- Takes a historical view: analyses armed conflicts from the US civil war, the Algerian War of Independence, and the attempted secession of Biafra, through to the current conflicts in the Colombia, Philippines, and Sudan
The Law of Non-International Armed Conflict brings together and critically analyses the disparate conventional, customary, and soft law relating to non-international armed conflict. All the relevant bodies of international law are considered, including international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and international human rights law.
The book traces the changes to the legal framework applicable to non-international armed conflict from ad hoc regulation in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, to systematic regulation through the 1949 Geneva Conventions and 1977 Additional Protocols, to the transformation of the law in the mid-1990s. Armed conflicts ranging from the US civil war, the Algerian War of Independence, and the attempted secession of Biafra, through to the current conflicts in the Colombia, the Philippines, and Sudan are all considered.
The identification and analysis of the law is complemented by a consideration of the practice, allowing both violations of, and respect for, the law, to be ascertained. Given that non-international armed conflicts are fought between states and non-state armed groups, or between armed groups, particular attention is paid to the oft-neglected views of armed groups. This is done through an analysis of hundreds of statements, unilateral declarations, internal regulations, and bilateral agreements issued by armed groups. Equivalent material emanating from states parties to conflicts is also considered.
The book is thus an essential reference point for the law and practice of non-international armed conflicts.
Readership: Students and scholars of international humanitarian law; Government and NGO legal advisers working in this area
Introduction
Part I: Regulating Non-International Armed Conflicts
1: Ad-hoc Regulation
2: Systematic Regulation through International Humanitarian Law
3: Regulation through a Body of International Law
4: The Sources of the Law of Non-International Armed Conflict
Part II: The Substantive Law of Non-International Armed Conflict
5: Identifying a Non-International Armed Conflict: Armed Conflicts and Internal Tensions and Disturbances
6: Identifying a Non-International Armed Conflict: International and Non-International Armed Conflicts
7: Scope of Application
8: Protection of Civilians and Persons Hors de Combat
9: Conduct of Hostilities
10: Implementation and Non-Judicial Enforcement
11: Judicial Enforcement
Part III: Moving Forward
12: Developments Needed in the Law
Conclusion
Sandesh Sivakumaran is Associate Professor and Reader in Public International Law at the School of Law, University of Nottingham. He has worked at the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and has acted as an expert for intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. He is a recipient of the Giorgio La Pira Prize and the Antonio Cassese Prize for International Criminal Law Studies.
"...the book of our time on the law of non-international armed conflict." - Claus Kreß, British Yearbook of International Law
"This is a rich and lengthy book. It is also courageous: Sivakumaran does not shy away from discussing some of the most debatable issues in international humanitarian law." - Noam Zamir, Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law
