Search: self-defense
29 Mar War in Ukraine: Time for a Collective Self-Defense?
...declared a determination to defend its members. A Right to Collective Self-defense Article 51 of the UN Charter enshrines a right to individual and collective self-defense (“nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations…”). Although there is no doubt that Ukraine is legitimately exercising its right to individual self-defense under this provision, it is less clear what conditions must be met for other countries to lawfully join the military struggle. As...25 Jul Guest Post: Henderson & Cavanagh on Self-Defense During Armed Conflict
have at times been so confusing. The inapplicability of self-defense to LOAC is aptly encapsulated by Professor Ohlin vis-à-vis its interplay with the combatant’s privilege: the latter trumps the former, thereby rendering reliance upon it both unnecessary and self-defeating. Claiming self-defense in the face of criminal or disciplinary proceedings is essentially an excuse, but a privileged combatant who has exercised lethal force in compliance with LOAC has no need for vindication. In fact, he or she may be in line for a medal. Yet, I am left wondering whether the...15 Sep Guest post: A Response to Kevin Heller on the Nature of Self-Defense
not neutral, so 4) I will take out your air defense systems. Best, Ben Jordan Agreed that "unwilling or unable" is not a limitation of the inherent right of self or collective self-defense and would only be relevant if a minority viewpoint regarding "anticipatory" self-defense could be accepted despite the express limitation of whatever had been self-defense under CIL in Article 51 of the UN Charter, e.g., "if an armed attack occurs." Hey Ben: the Assad regime could ask Iran to provide "boots on the ground" as part of collective...28 Apr Torture, Necessity, Self-Defense — and John Yoo’s Fundamental Dishonesty
scholars. That’s it. Not a US case. Not a foreign case. Not an international case. Not a ratio. Not an obiter. Nothing. According to Yoo, CIA interrogators can claim self-defense because two criminal-law scholars believe that traditional self-defense doctrine is inadequate in the post-9/11 era. Again, the dishonesty of Yoo’s legal “analysis” is staggering. I am glad that Kopel is trying to rekindle debate over necessity and self-defense. Perhaps this time we can bury the mistaken idea that a CIA interrogator could rely on those defenses once and for all....03 Mar Colombia’s Incursion into Ecuador and Anticipatory Self-Defense
...of CONTROL. Anyway, assuming that, in principle, Colombia can respond to an attack by FARC from Ecuador by entering Ecuador itself, the second problem with this case is anticipatory self-defense. As far as I can tell, Colombia is not making the same preventative self-defense argument that Bush did in the National Security Strategy. On the contrary, its legal argument is the much more classical case of anticipatory or interceptive self-defense in relation to an attack which is imminent, or is an ongoing process. Think, for example, of the Caroline incident....09 May Gang Warfare and Preemptive Self-Defense
...stated that: Defendants’ conduct can most generously be characterized as preventive self-defense, a concept that finds no support in state or federal law. Preventive self-defense is an offensive concept, properly understood to constitute aggression, and is, in fact, the opposite of defense. To endorse preventive self-defense in the prison context would be to transform correction institutions into combat zones, in which legal sanction is granted to inmates who would sooner kill a potential enemy than seek assistance from the prison administration. “Under the law of the jungle a good offense...
02 May Soldier Self-Defense Symposium: Self-Defense vs. Combatant Immunity
the civilian. Put another way, combatants “have the right to participate directly in hostilities.” But the soldier claims that she and the civilian were not participating directly in hostilities when one attacked and the other defended. Finally, combatant immunity applies to acts that are governed but not prohibited by the law of armed conflict. Again, the gist of the soldier’s defense is that her act of self-defense was not governed by the law of armed conflict at all. What follows? The contributors focus their discussion on the elements of self-defense...17 Sep The “Unwilling or Unable” Standard for Self-Defense
...-- non-state actor armed attacks against Canada could justify appropriate measures of self-defense without U.S. consent and when the U.S. was not at war with Canada and when there was no attribution or imputation to the U.S. -- the debate was about the appropriate test for actual self-defense method uses. see http://ssrn.com/abstract=1520717 Yes, there is no unwilling or unable test that would allow preemptive self-defense before a process of armed attacks begin, but there is also no unwilling or unable limitation of the right to engage non-state actors once the...22 Oct Self-Defense and Non-International Armed Conflict in Drone Warfare
...ground justifying the use of drone warfare and targeted killing, as well as setting rules for its conduct, is the international law of self defense. I maintain, and certainly continue to maintain, that there are circumstances in which the use of targeted killing can and as a proper legal description should be understood to be the use of force as a lawful act of self defense even though it takes place outside of an armed conflict, and even though that use itself does not create an armed conflict. It seems...03 Apr The US’s New Nuclear Posture Review: Blurring the Lines of Anticipatory Self-Defense
...within the orbit of international law. It is thus important to understand how the NPR captures the US current stance on the possibility of using nuclear weapons in self-defense where an armed attack has not yet occurred, particularly in light of deteriorating relations between the US and North Korea, as well as Russia’s nuclear weapons modernization efforts. We argue that the NPR is not compliant with international law standards on self-defense. The NPR: Brief Overview The NPR is a legislatively-mandated review, produced by the Secretary of Defense, that establishes US...