Analysis

Islamic jus ad bellum: the legitimacy of the use of force by states and armed groups

By /

Today Erik Tristan Zouave joins us again for a guest post on Islamic jus ad bellum and what it says about the legitimacy of the use of force by states and armed groups. Erik (LLM University of York), a former Research Assistant at the Swedish National Defense College International Law Center, has published guest posts with us …

Islamic jus ad bellum: the legitimacy of the use of force by states and armed groups Read More »

Guest post by Erik Zouave: Iraq, Syria and the trade in opposition oil Part II: On balancing pillage against claims for legitimate use of natural resource wealth  

By /

On 30 June 2014, Erik Tristan Zouave (LLM University of York), a former Research Assistant at the Swedish National Defense College International Law Center, gave a general background of the recent seizing of oil wells by armed groups, such as ISIS, in Syria and Iraq. Today, he analyzes whether such actions can be treated and …

Guest post by Erik Zouave: Iraq, Syria and the trade in opposition oil Part II: On balancing pillage against claims for legitimate use of natural resource wealth   Read More »

Guest Post by Erik Zouave: Iraq, Syria and the trade in opposition oil – A background to armed group activities and control of oil wells

By /

About the Author Erik Tristan Zouave joins us again for a guest post. This time, Erik (LLM University of York), who is a former Research Assistant at the Swedish National Defense College International Law Center, will address in two posts the very topical issue of oil wells (and/or refineries) being taken over by opposition forces …

Guest Post by Erik Zouave: Iraq, Syria and the trade in opposition oil – A background to armed group activities and control of oil wells Read More »

Guest post by Jennifer Easterday – Katanga Trial:Will the OTP Learn from its Mistakes?

By /

Jennifer Easterday is a Trial Monitor and Consultant for Open Society Justice Initiative and a PhD Researcher at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies at Leiden University. These comments are made in her personal capacity and do not reflect the opinions of her employers. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Last week, a majority of Trial Chamber II of …

Guest post by Jennifer Easterday – Katanga Trial:Will the OTP Learn from its Mistakes? Read More »

Guest Post by Erik Zouave: The Weaponization of the Falluja Dam and the River Euphrates: A Non-State Test for International Environmental Humanitarian Law

By /

Erik Tristan Zouave (LLM, University of York) is a trainee at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) Iraq Unit and a former research-assistant at the Swedish National Defense College’s International Law Center. He recently contributed to the book Regional Organizations and Peacekeeping: Challengers to the UN?  (available here). Erik thanks Hayder Al-Shakeri (National Program Officer …

Guest Post by Erik Zouave: The Weaponization of the Falluja Dam and the River Euphrates: A Non-State Test for International Environmental Humanitarian Law Read More »

Islamic law, jihadists and humanitarian norms: IRIN series

By /

On 24th April, the IRIN published an informative series of articles by Heba Aly on the intersection between Islamic law, jihadists and humanitarian norms. In a series of reports, Aly explores the tension and overlap between Islamic jurisprudence and international humanitarian law. She also reports on how jihadists are interpreting Islamic edicts , and how humanitarians are …

Islamic law, jihadists and humanitarian norms: IRIN series Read More »

The end of non-international armed conflicts and the application of IHL

By /

The past few weeks, several ceasefire and peace agreements were concluded in a number of non-international armed conflict situations: in South-Sudan, the Philippines and Myanmar. However, as is often the case when there are peace talks or even peace agreements in a country, the fighting between the opposing sides does not (immediately) cease. In South-Sudan, the …

The end of non-international armed conflicts and the application of IHL Read More »

Does the violence between Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces amount to a non-international armed conflict?

By /

As the increasingly horrifying tit-for-tat of violence between Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces continues to escalate, one cannot help but wonder whether the situation in northern Nigeria has now reached the threshold of a non-international armed conflict. A recent report from the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC finds that it does but …

Does the violence between Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces amount to a non-international armed conflict? Read More »

Charles Taylor’s conviction confirmed on appeal

By /

Yesterday, the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone dismissed most of the Defence’s and Prosecution’s grounds of appeal and confirmed Taylor’s sentence of 50 years imprisonment. With this judgement the Special Court closes its doors. In comparison with the Trial Judgement, the 306-page Appeals Judgment was available on the Court’s website surprisingly …

Charles Taylor’s conviction confirmed on appeal Read More »

Guest Post by Nelleke van Amstel: Rules for Detention by Armed Groups

By /

Nelleke van Amstel recently published In Search of Legal Grounds to Detain for Armed Groups in the latest issue of the Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies. In this post, Nelleke discusses her main arguments set out in the said article. At the time of writing the article, Nelleke was a legal adviser at the Netherlands Red Cross. Naturally, the …

Guest Post by Nelleke van Amstel: Rules for Detention by Armed Groups Read More »