Article

Military use of educational facilities during armed conflict : an evaluation of the Guidelines for protecting schools and universities from military use during armed conflict as an effective solution

Ashley Ferrelli

• Georgia journal of international and comparative law, Vol. 44, no. 2, 2016, p. 339-367

English

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The need for explicit standards and norms to protect schools from use by military forces resulted in the release of the Guidelines for protecting schools and universities from military use during armed conflict (the Guidelines) in 2014. This note evaluates the potential effectiveness of the Guidelines. It demonstrates the inherent problems arising from the military use of schools during armed conflict as evidenced by its effect in Syria. It then analyzes the effectiveness of the Guidelines by first comparing the advantages and disadvantages of hard law and soft law. Second it evaluates the Guidelines against key criteria set out by the Global coalition to protect education from attack, the nongovernment organization that effectuated the Guidelines. Lastly this note recommends that states adopt the Guidelines, and suggests amendments and additions to this document, namely inclusion of a reparations structure and accountability mechanisms.

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