International Committee of the Red Cross Library

  • English
  • Français
  • Home
  • Extended Search
  • Search for recent acquisitions
  • Predefined searches
    • Digitized heritage collection on the First Geneva Convention (1864)
      1949 Geneva Conventions : travaux préparatoires and final records
      1977 Additional Protocols : travaux préparatoires and final records
      Annual reports
      e-books

Terrorism, counter-terrorism, and international humanitarian law / Ben Saul

  • Back to last authority
Save
    • Save

    Please click ob the desired format to save the file

    • PDF
    • Word
    • RTF
Document type:
Chapter
Title:
Terrorism, counter-terrorism, and international humanitarian law
Author zone:
Ben Saul
In:
The Oxford guide to international humanitarian law
Editor:
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2020
Physical description:
p. 403-423
Languages:
English
Abstract:
This chapter focuses on three key legal issues of particular relevance and specificity to terrorism in armed conflict. First, it examines IHL’s specific, narrow prohibitions on ‘terrorism’ in armed conflict and the connected war crime of intending to spread terror amongst a civilian population, which is distinct from peacetime legal notions of terrorism. The war crimes jurisprudence has been developed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), and has implications for criminal jurisdiction under customary IHL and before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Second, the chapter analyses the varied and complicated relationships between IHL and different international counter-terrorism law (CTL) norms and instruments. Depending on the norm and context, CTL can apply, not apply, or partially apply in armed conflict, and there is no general international rule determining whether CTL or IHL is the more special law (lex specialis). Often CTL complements and extends IHL’s focus on preventing and criminalizing attacks on civilians. Further, CTL often does not directly conflict with IHL. However, some aspects of CTL interfere with IHL’s delicate balance between humanitarian protection and military necessity, by ‘taking sides’, undermining the equality of the parties, and ultimately reducing incentives for non-state armed groups (NSAGs) to comply with IHL. The chapter concludes by exploring the related, adverse effects of CTL on humanitarian relief operations in armed conflict. National implementation of CTL has variously chilled, restricted, prohibited, and even criminalized humanitarian engagement by external actors with armed ‘terrorist’ groups. These measures have both inhibited effective humanitarian assistance to vulnerable civilian populations and undermined the confidence of NSAGs in humanitarian cooperation with the international community.
Links:
  • Full text (restricted access : ICRC)
Authors:
Saul, Ben
Keyword in English:
TERRORISM
IHL (INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW)
NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT
NON-STATE ARMED GROUP
FORM OF WAR
Keyword in French:
TERRORISME
DIH
CONFLIT ARME NON INTERNATIONAL
GROUPE ARME NON ETATIQUE
FORME DE GUERRE
Go to:
  • The Oxford guide to international humanitarian law / ed. by Ben Saul and Dapo Akande

You might be interested in this too

Call numberDisposability / Due date
345.2/1059See main document
List
0 entries
  • No entries found
  • Permalink for this page:

Contact details

ICRC Library
International Committee of the Red Cross
Avenue de la Paix 19, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
+41 22 730 20 30
library@icrc.org

Opening hours

Monday - Friday

09:00 - 13:00


until 17:00 by prior appointment only

Quicklinks

https://www.icrc.org/en/library
http://blogs.icrc.org/cross-files/

NetBiblio WebOPAC 4.0.0.211 © Copyright 2009 - 2021 AlCoda GmbH Build Date: 03.07.2019