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The Prohibition of Propaganda for War in International Law

The Prohibition of Propaganda for War in International Law

Author: Michael Kearney
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199232451
Published In: November 2007
Format: Hardback , 288 pages
Jurisdiction: International ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Description
Contents
Author
Reviews

Details

Provides an overview of current state practice in this area
Interdisciplinary analysis including international human rights law, international criminal law, and international relations
Critiques and analyses the roles and responsibilities of various international bodies, including the ad hoc tribunals and the UN Human Rights Committee

Bereft of any comprehensive analysis and subject to little if any sustained debate, the tangential location of the prohibition of propaganda for war in the discourse of international law has resulted in a situation where state conduct in this area too often appears to be acting in a legal vacuum. In proposing a more robust role for international law in responding to what is a matter of widespread public concern, the book analyses the context in which international law first came to be concerned with propaganda for war in the years following the First World War. With the establishment of the United Nations and the corresponding development of international human rights law, the issue of the prohibition of propaganda for war in both human rights law and international criminal law became a highly significant, yet frequently divisive matter during the Cold War.

Drawing on primary materials from the League of Nations to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, this book makes the case for the revitalisation of a provision of international law which can be fundamental to the prevention of war. The book examines international human rights law, the

travaux préparatoires

to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, communications between the Human Rights Committee and states parties to the Covenant, state practice, and international criminal law. Drawing on the manner by which international tribunals from Nuremberg to The Hague have approached the matter of individual criminal responsibility for 'incitement to crimes of an international dimension', the book proposes that 'direct and public incitement to aggression' be included as a crime in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Readership: Academics, scholars, and advanced students of public international law; international human rights law; united nations & UN agencies; freedom of speech; armed conflict; international criminal law; and international relations. Also judges and lawyers working in ad hoc international criminal tribunals, UN officials eg memgers of the Human Rights Committee, and Human Rights and Civil Liberties activists and NGO staff.

Introduction
The Meaning of Propaganda for War
The Technique of Propaganda for War
Freedom of Expression
The Coming of Age of International Propaganda
Chapter Outlines

1: The Roots of the Prohibition of Propaganda for War in International Law
A: The Prohibition of Propaganda for War in the Inter-War Years
B: The Second World War Trials
C: Summary
2: Propaganda for War at the United Nations General Assembly
A: State Responsibility and Propaganda for War
B: Treaty and Other Condemnations of Propaganda for War
C: Summary

3: The Travaux Preparatoires of Article 20(1) of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights
A: 'War Propaganda' as a Limitation to Freedom of Expression
B: The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred and Violence
C: The Prohibition of Propaganda for War
D: Summary

4: The Prohibition of Propaganda for War in International Human Rights Treaties
A: The International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights
B: Regional Human Rights Treaty Systems
C: Summary

5: From Nuremberg to The Hague: Towards and International Crime of Incitement to Aggression
A: The International Law Commission
B: The ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals
C: The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
D: Summary

6: Conclusion

Michael G. Kearney, RCUK Fellow in Law and Human Rights, University of York

"The book is skillfully written, providing a very well-elaborated and detailed analysis of the important issues involved. Kearney thus adds a valuable contribution to the existing knowledge on propaganda for war in international law: not only has he assembled a great deal of information about different aspects of the topic, he also lays bare some important recurring themes throughout the book...Kearney's book is definitely to be recommended to anyone with an interest in international law on freedom of expression" - Marloes Van Noorloos, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 28.2