International Humanitarian Law

by Emily Crawford, Alison Pert

The law that regulates armed conflicts is one of the oldest branches of international law, and yet continues to be one of the most dynamic areas of law today. This book provides an accessible, scholarly, and up-to-date examination of international humanitarian law, offering a comprehensive and logical discussion and analysis of the law. The book contains detailed examples, extracts from relevant cases, useful discussion questions, and a recommended reading list for every chapter. Emerging trends in theory and practice of international humanitarian law are also explored, allowing for readers to build on their knowledge, and grapple with some of the biggest challenges facing the law of armed conflict in the twenty-first century. This second edition offers new sections on issues like detention in non-international armed conflict, characterisation of non-international armed conflicts, expanded chapters on occupation and the protection of civilians, means and methods of warfare, and implementation, enforcement and accountability.

Genres: Nonfiction

386 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2015

Reviews

[Adrian Halpert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emily Crawford and Alison Pert give a superb overview of International Humanitarian Law, bringing readers through the it's history and development, to discussions of the Geneva Conventions, the Additional Protocols and the issues confronting IHL today, to the challenges that we could potentially face in the 21st century.
I for one, particularly enjoyed the detailed analysis of the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols and how they inform our understanding of IHL today in 2020. Whenever I'm interested in something, I always like to dig and deepen my knowledge so I also really appreciated the suggested readings at the end of each chapter.
One thing that did bug me a bit with this book however, is that the "international" in IHL has a VERY European perspective, and, as Crawford and Pert discuss, is rooted in international conflicts that took place in Europe. As IHL has developed and been applied, the rest of the world seems to be either forgotten about or acted upon (the Additional Protocols are a bit of an exception to this, being partially the result of the African Wars, which were ongoing at the time). To make the perspective in IHL truly international, I think it would have been worthwhile to take some time to analyze IHL's roots a bit more deeply, including similar or parallel developments in other cultures across the world, discuss how that informs our perspectives today and how we can incorporate other perspectives in the future.
The other thing about this book, is that it is very technical and probably not very accessible to the general reader just looking for an introduction to IHL. For students (like myself) or practitioners, this is an invaluable work and will go far in deepening their knowledge of IHL.
4/5 Stars

[Sol · Rating 3 out of 5]

yeah nah im not gonna do international law now thanks

[Amelie Rust · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book