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It is both terribly pleasing and terrifying to be invited to have a book symposium around a recent book. A substantive conversation with a group of diverse, insightful, and engaged readers is exactly the kind of exercise that academia should more systematically foster, but in reality most of us are over-solicited in too many different …

“Rebel Courts” Book Symposium – Author Response to Contributors Read More »

Some years ago, when I was doing research on rebel governance, I heard a story about a truck driver going from Syria to Iraq through ISIS-held territory. He paid customs duties to ISIS, and continued on to the area controlled by the Iraqi state. When he reached a government checkpoint, the Iraqi officials honored his …

“Rebel Courts” Book Symposium – Rebel Courts and the Rule of Law Read More »

When armed groups in zones of armed conflict succeed in conquering territories and establishing their control thereupon, they often (though not always) proceed to engage in practices of governance (Arjona et al. 2015). As part of their effort at (insurgent) governance, armed groups can opt to intervene in a variety of tasks, such as the provision …

“Rebel Courts” Book Symposium – Legality of Rebel Courts? An Assessment of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the Taliban in Afghanistan Read More »

Article 3 common to the 1949 Geneva Conventions (CA 3) prohibits “[T]he passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples”. Unfortunately, the 1949 Conventions, including their travaux preparatoires, are silent on what is meant by …

“Rebel Courts” Book Symposium – Do Rebel Courts Need to be “Established by Law”? The Conundrum of “Regular Constitution” Read More »

Professor René Provost’s new book Rebel Courts: The Administration of Justice by Armed Insurgents is a must read for anyone dealing with or interested in the topic addressed and with non-State armed groups (NSAGs) more broadly. Its focus on a little-explored facet of rebel governance is primarily normative and conceptual, but is underpinned by a fascinating review …

“Rebel Courts” Book Symposium – Rebel Courts: A Tour de Force Read More »

Recently, I was asked by a prominent activist for the rights of indigenous peoples whether international law prohibited the taking up of arms when all other measures had failed. Her eyes lit up when I pointed to the third recital in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘Whereas it is essential, if man is not …

“Rebel Courts” Book Symposium – Rebel Justice Can Be Music to My Ears Read More »

René Provost’s latest book, Rebel Courts, addresses the numerous legal issues surrounding courts established by non-state armed groups in armed conflict. Combining a legal pluralistic methodology with field work and case studies, Provost’s analysis of rebel courts ranges from the legality of their establishment, to the applicable law and due process guarantees, to the recognition of …

“Rebel Courts” Book Symposium – The Prosecution of Conflict-related Offences by Courts of Armed Groups Read More »

Are the courts administered by rebel groups, the people who participate in them, and the decisions made in them, recognizable by other legal venues, such as states or international courts, whose legitimacy is rarely questioned? René Provost takes up these questions in the fourth part of his book, Rebel Courts: The Administration of Justice by Armed …

“Rebel Courts” Book Symposium – The Paradoxical Recognition of Rebel Rule Read More »