Does the law of targeting meet twenty-first-century needs ? / William Boothby

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Document type:

Chapter

Title:

Does the law of targeting meet twenty-first-century needs ?

Author zone:

William Boothby

In:

Contemporary challenges to the laws of war : essays in honour of professor Peter Rowe

Editor:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2014

Physical description:

p. 216-234

Languages:

English

Abstract:

Is international, as opposed to domestic, law in fact rooted in the past and if so is that a bad thing and, more specifically, does it mean that the law is somehow of reduced relevance when confronted by modern challenges? In seeking to answer these questions by reference to the law of targeting, this contribution starts by considering what, in summarised form, the relevant law consists of. It starts by considering the early beginnings of the law of targeting and how it was developped through the Hague Regulations then analyzes the significance of Additional Protocol I. It then reflects on the ways in which targeting activities have developed in recent decades and considers whether those developments call into question the suitability of the established legal principles and rules. While such an analytical process may appear to address the topic fully, a more complete answer only emerges if we also consider the ‘soft law’ approaches that we have seen in recent years. The article then then goes on to consider how those processes might interact with the development of substantive law.

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