Chapter

Courts of armed groups : a tool for inducing higher compliance with international humanitarian law ?

Jan Willms

Inducing compliance with international humanitarian law : lessons from the African Great Lakes Region

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2015

p. 149-180

English

This chapter analyses rebel courts and their potential for law enforcement. If insurgent governance can be established even under the condition of armed conflict in areas of limited statehood, armed groups themselves may play a role in law enforcement. Though international law does not forbid such courts, their potential for enforcement and protection of civilians is impaired by the fear of the nation-State that these courts might legitimize insurgent governance. Based on a case study, Jan Willms concludes that there is a limited potential for enforcement and suggests ways to improve it.

• Full text : restricted access (ICRC)

• Comment : perspectives on courts established by armed opposition groups / Dieter Fleck

• Inducing compliance with international humanitarian law : lessons from the African Great Lakes Region / ed. by Heike Krieger ; assistant ed. Jan Willms