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Self-defence In International Law
International law recognizes a right of self-defense according to the Chapter VII, Article 51 of the UN Charter, as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) affirmed in the '' Nicaragua Case'' on the use of force. Some commentators believe that the effect of Article 51 is only to preserve this right when an armed attack occurs, and that other acts of self-defence are banned by article 2(4).Randelzhofer, ''Article 2(4) in'' The Charter of the United Nations: A Commentary (1994). Another view is that Article 51 acknowledges the previously existing customary international law right and then proceeds to lay down procedures for the specific situation when an armed attack does occur. Under the latter interpretation, the legitimate use of self-defence in situations when an armed attack has not actually occurred is still permitted, as in the ''Caroline'' case noted below. Not every act of violence will constitute an armed attack. The ICJ has tried to clarify, in '' Nicaragua Case'', what ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Law
International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generally do, obey in their mutual relations. In international relations, actors are simply the individuals and collective entities, such as states, International organization, international organizations, and non-state groups, which can make behavioral choices, whether lawful or unlawful. Rules are formal, typically written expectations that outline required behavior, while norms are informal, often unwritten guidelines about appropriate behavior that are shaped by custom and social practice. It establishes norms for states across a broad range of domains, including war and diplomacy, Trade, economic relations, and human rights. International law differs from state-based List of national legal systems, domestic legal systems in that it operates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preemptive Strike
A preemptive war is a war that is commenced in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (allegedly unavoidable) war ''shortly before'' that attack materializes. It is a war that preemptively 'breaks the peace' before an impending attack occurs. Preemptive war is sometimes confused with preventive war: the difference is that a preventive war is launched to destroy the potential threat of the targeted party, when an attack by that party is not imminent or known to be planned. The U.S. Department of Defense defines a preventive war as an armed conflict "initiated in the belief that military conflict, while not imminent, is inevitable, and that to delay would involve greater risk." A preemptive war is launched in anticipation of immediate aggression by another party. Most contemporary scholarship equates preventive war with aggression, and therefore argues that it is illegitimate.Shue, Henry and Rhod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodily Harm
Bodily harm is a legal term of art used in the definition of both statutory and common law offences in Australia, Canada, England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions. It is a synonym for injury or bodily injury and similar expressions, though it may be used with a precise and limited meaning in any given jurisdiction. The expression grievous bodily harm first appeared in a statute in Lord Ellenborough's Act (1803). Canada In the Canadian Criminal Code, "bodily harm" is defined as "any hurt or injury to a person that interferes with the health or comfort of the person and that is more than merely transient or trifling in nature." England and Wales The expression is not defined by any statute. It currently appears in a number of offences under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (ss. 18, 20, 23, 26, 28, 29, 31, 35, and 47) and in the offence of burglary under the Theft Act 1968 (s. 9). It is also used in the definition of murder (as it appears in case law) in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Threat Of Force (public International Law)
Threat of force in public international law is a situation between states described by British lawyer Ian Brownlie as: :an express or implied promise by a government of a resort to force conditional on non-acceptance of certain demands of that government.International Law and the Use of Force by States Ian Brownlie, CBE, QC, FBA, March 26, 1963, Submission by Aidan O’Neill QC , Aidan O' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Targeted Killing
Targeted killing is a form of assassination carried out by governments Extrajudicial killing, outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield. Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and between various nations. Historically, at least since the mid-eighteenth century, Western thinking has generally considered the use of assassination as a tool of statecraft to be illegal. Some academics, military personnel and officials describe targeted killing as legitimate within the context of self-defense, when employed against terrorists or combatants engaged in asymmetrical warfare. They argue that unmanned combat aerial vehicles (drones) are more humane and more accurate than manned vehicles. Scholars are also divided as to whether targeted killings are an effective counterterrorism strategy. Africa Targeted killings have also been used in Kenya and American intervention in Libya (2015–present), Libya. Somalia and Rwan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religious War
A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war (), is a war and conflict which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion and beliefs. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to which religious, economic, ethnic or other aspects of a conflict are predominant in a given war. The degree to which a war may be considered religious depends on many underlying questions, such as the definition of religion, the definition of 'war', and the applicability of religion to war as opposed to other possible factors. According to scholars such as Jeffrey Burton Russell, conflicts may not be rooted strictly in religion and instead may be a cover for the underlying secular power, ethnic, social, political, and economic reasons for conflict. Other scholars have argued that what is termed "religious wars" is a largely "Western dichotomy" and a modern invention from the past few centuries, arguing that all wars that are classed as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preventive War
A preventive war is an armed conflict "initiated in the belief that military conflict, while not imminent, is inevitable, and that to delay would involve greater risk." The party which is being attacked has a latent threat capability or it has shown that it intends to attack in the future, based on its past actions and posturing. A preventive war aims to forestall a shift in the balance of powerTaming American Power, Stephen M. Walt, pp 224 by strategically attacking before the balance of power has had a chance to shift in the favor of the targeted party. Preventive war is distinct from preemptive strike, which is the first strike when an attack is imminent. Preventive uses of force "seek to stop another state . . . from developing a military capability before it becomes threatening or to hobble or destroy it thereafter, whereas eemptive uses of force come against a backdrop of tactical intelligence or warning indicating imminent military action by an adversary." Criticism The m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laws Of War
The law of war is a component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war (''jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of hostilities (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territories, occupation, and other critical terms of law. Among other issues, modern laws of war address the declarations of war, acceptance of surrender and the treatment of prisoners of war, military necessity, along with ''distinction'' and ''proportionality''; and the prohibition of certain weapons that may cause unnecessary suffering. The ''law of war'' is considered distinct from other bodies of law—such as the domestic law of a particular belligerent to a conflict—which may provide additional legal limits to the conduct or justification of war. Early sources and history The first traces of a law of war come from the Babylonians. It is the Code of Hammurabi, king of Babylon, which in 1750 B.C., explains its laws imposing a code o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Just War Theory
The just war theory () is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics that aims to ensure that a war is morally justifiable through a series of #Criteria, criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just. It has been studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policymakers. The criteria are split into two groups: ("right to go to war") and ("right conduct in war"). There have been calls for the inclusion of a third category of just war theory (''jus post bellum'') dealing with the morality of post-war settlement and reconstruction. The just war theory postulates the belief that war, while it is terrible but less so with the right conduct, is not always the worst option. The just war theory presents a justifiable means of war with justice being an objective of armed conflict. Important responsibilities, undesirable outcomes, or preventable atrocities may justify war. Opponents of the just war theory may either be inclined to a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decolonization
Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby Imperialism, imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on Separatism, independence movements in the Colony, colonies and the collapse of global colonial empires. As a movement to establish independence for colonized territories from their respective Metropole, metropoles, decolonization began in 1775 in American Revolution, North America. Major waves of decolonization occurred in the aftermath of the First World War and most prominently after the Second World War. Critical scholars extend the meaning beyond independence or equal rights for colonized peoples to include broader economic, cultural and psychological aspects of the colonial experience. Extending the meaning of decolonization beyond political independence has been disputed and received criticis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casus Belli
A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one bound by a mutual defense pact. Either may be considered an A declaration of war usually contains a description of the ''casus belli'' that has led the party in question to declare war on another party. Terminology The term ''casus belli'' came into widespread use in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries through the writings of Hugo Grotius (1653), Cornelius van Bynkershoek (1707), and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (1732), among others, and due to the rise of the political doctrine of '' jus ad bellum'' or " just war theory". The term is also used informally to refer to any "just cause" a nation may claim for entering into a conflict. It is used to describe the case for war given before the term came into wide use, and to descri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
