Book contents
- The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict
- The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Introduction to the Fourth Edition
- Preface
- Table of Cases
- Table of Treaties
- Abbreviations
- 1 The General Framework
- 2 Lawful Combatancy
- 3 Prohibited Weapons
- 4 Lawful Targets of Attack
- 5 Protection from Attack of Civilians and Civilian Objects
- 6 Persons Entitled to Special Protection
- 7 Objects Endowed with Special Protection
- 8 Protection of the Natural Environment
- 9 Specific Methods of Warfare
- 10 War Crimes, Orders, Command Responsibility and Defences
- General Conclusions
- Index of Persons
- Index of Subjects
General Conclusions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 November 2022
- The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict
- The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Introduction to the Fourth Edition
- Preface
- Table of Cases
- Table of Treaties
- Abbreviations
- 1 The General Framework
- 2 Lawful Combatancy
- 3 Prohibited Weapons
- 4 Lawful Targets of Attack
- 5 Protection from Attack of Civilians and Civilian Objects
- 6 Persons Entitled to Special Protection
- 7 Objects Endowed with Special Protection
- 8 Protection of the Natural Environment
- 9 Specific Methods of Warfare
- 10 War Crimes, Orders, Command Responsibility and Defences
- General Conclusions
- Index of Persons
- Index of Subjects
Summary
Law must not be confused with liturgy. It is not enough to enact and reiterate the law: to be meaningful, norms must be adhered to in reality. The nature of LOIAC is such that Belligerent Parties tend constantly to trade mutual accusations of breaches and worse. Absent effective modalities of supervision and dispute settlement, there is no way to guarantee a thorough implementation of LOIAC in violent clashes between States. No enforcement mechanism established thus far has been crowned with signal success. There is a growing acknowledgement of the need to prosecute and punish war criminals for serious breaches of LOIAC, especially since the establishment of the ICC. Yet, it is by no means certain that war crimes trials by themselves can put an end to LOIAC infractions. Debates about forging novel mechanisms, with a view to securing a more efficacious performance of LOIAC undertakings, are not likely to fade away in the foreseeable future.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022