Search: self-defense
05 Sep Iran’s Threat of Retaliation
...Lebanon, suggests an increased likelihood of military action, thereby heightening the overall threat. Threats in Self-Defense As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) prominently established in the Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion, ‘if the use of force itself in a given case is illegal […] the threat to use such force will likewise be illegal’. On the other hand, ‘if it [the threat] is to be lawful, the declared readiness of a State to use force must be a use of force that is in conformity with the Charter’ (para. 47)....
23 Dec The Illegality of the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza: What the International Court of Justice Will Have to Determine in its Advisory Opinion for the United Nations General Assembly
...Israel had a right of self-defence in 1967 that justified, legally, the introduction of the occupation then, this justification has not persisted, nor has an alternative legal justification arisen. There has been no actual or imminent armed attack justifying, as necessary and proportionate, the occupation as a means of self-defence. And the doctrine of preventative self-defence, justifying the occupation as a means of stopping a threat from emerging, has no basis in international law. Neither United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, nor the so-called Oslo Accords, provide an alternative legal...
06 Sep The Occupation is Illegal. Now What?
...involve temporary denial of some aspects of self-determination, “the Court intended to make clear that it is the particular features of Israel’s prolonged occupation that analogize it to a situation of alien subjugation and foreign domination which implicate the right to self-determination as a peremptory norm.” (Judge Cleveland, Separate Opinion, para. 33). While the court mentioned peremptory norms only once, it mentioned obligations erga omnes – i.e. the concern of all States – that Israel had violated numerous times. These are: “the obligation to respect the right of the Palestinian...03 May Bountygate, the Nuremberg Defense, and Ordering vs. Physical Perpetration
The Nuremberg defense pops up in the strangest places. As the NFL fans among our readers know, Commissioner Roger Goodell has suspended four New Orleans Saints players for their role in Bountygate — a program whereby Saints players would get financial bonuses for intentionally injuring other players on the football field, essentially the most heinous crime a football player can commit. What is most remarkable about the reaction from sportswriters to the unprecedented suspensions is how many almost reflexively invoke the Nuremberg defense in order to minimize the players’ culpability....20 Oct Why the CIA and Drones?
...on this would be useful.) It goes on for a while, so I’ll put it below the fold. (1) The USG does not see a legal problem with either participation by the CIA in the use of force under international or domestic law; either in an armed conflict as civilians taking direct participation or, under some circumstances not apparently at issue today, self-defense operations outside of technical armed conflict, or together in coordinated operations with the uniformed military. I think this point is not sufficiently emphasized – the USG, at...09 May Guest Post: Al Nashiri and the Existence of an Armed Conflict
on the panel. But in order to rehabilitate such a juror, the defense would have to get the juror to agree to keep an open mind on the existence of whether there was an armed conflict in Yemen in 2000, a position directly contrary to the position that the defense will be advancing during the trial. At best, this puts the defense in an awkward position. At worst, it will result in a jury that is skewed in favor of the prosecution. Another problem with leaving this issue to the...17 Jan Unprivileged Belligerents (Or Illegal Combatants)
...suspect that new paradigm types are merely seeking to do thing prohibited under the slightly less new (Geneva Conventions are not that old) paradigm to humans - see the torture and the anticipatory self-defense road (rather than saying war as national policy of the kind that Kellogg-Briand was trying to outlaw). Hope this helps. Best, Ben P.S. What if the security risk civilian asserts that they were fighting in self-defense against the combatant forces as a defense. That would be a very interesting question. Are they precluded from asserting self-defense?...30 Jul Guest Post: Israel’s Use of Law and Warnings in Gaza
...Janina, I completely agree that advance warning does not have any effect on the legality of an attack in terms of distinction and proportionality. The proposition that Israel is absolving itself from making the proportionality "calculus" in places where it gives advanced warning is something that should be looked into. However, like other commentators, I have some issues with the second part of your analysis: (a) when looking at motivations for giving warning, there is a spectrum between "selflessness" and malice, which seems to be absent from your analysis. States...