Conflict Law The Influence of New Weapons Technology, Human Rights a
In this, the second decade of the 21st Century, the law relating to conflict is confronted by a number of challenges this book seeks to identify and to discuss. Topics as diverse as the evolving spectrum of conflict, innovations in weaponry, automated and
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William H. Boothby
Conflict Law
William H. Boothby
Conflict Law The Influence of New Weapons Technology, Human Rights and Emerging Actors
123
William H. Boothby Woking, Surrey UK
ISBN 978-94-6265-001-5 DOI 10.1007/978-94-6265-002-2
ISBN 978-94-6265-002-2
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014931206 T.M.C.
ASSER PRESS
and the author 2014
Published by T.M.C. ASSER PRESS, The Hague, The Netherlands www.asserpress.nl Produced and distributed for T.M.C. ASSER PRESS by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
To my parents and to my wife Thank you for everything
Preface
In this, the second decade of the twenty-first century, the law relating to conflict is confronted by a number of challenges that this book seeks to identify and to discuss. It was a deliberate decision that the book should cover the whole spectrum of conflict from general war to situations below the armed conflict threshold. The title ‘Conflict Law’ should be seen in that light. Old legal certainties based on a bi-polar system of war and peace have given way to ambiguities as we apply the current, more extensive legal spectrum of conflict to contemporary transnational conflicts involving loosely affiliated armed groups. Gaps in treaty law governing armed conflict seem unlikely to be filled in the short term, so what is the legal status of the numerous writings of Experts that we have seen in recent decades? The Internet offers a new environment in which hostilities can be conducted and for which there are no treaty rules of the game. Technological advance seems likely to produce, in both the real and virtual environments, increasing numbers of automated and, in due course, autonomous weapons that make their own attack decisions, which the machine then implements. How does a body of law written on the implicit premise of human decisionmaking cope with the onward march of the empowered machine? Weapons technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, but states are obliged to apply existing legal principles when determining the legitimacy of the new tools of war. Determining how the rules should be applied to cutting edge technologies, such as autonomous, cyber, nanotechnology and outer space weapons, is going to be an important undertaking. Remote attack t
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