Umanity In War

Work of Humanity in War

Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, Volume 24 (2021)

Volume 24 of the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is dedicated to investigating IHL’s universalist claims from different perspectives and regarding different areas of IHL. While academic debates about “universalism versus particularism” have dominated much of the critical scholarship in international law over the past two decades, they remain relatively underexplored in the field of IHL. The current volume fills this gap in IHL literature by focusing on the ways in which different interpretive communities approach questions of IHL from differing perspectives. Authors were invited to use the concept of culture to deconstruct and take critical distance from the production, interpretation, and application of IHL, and those keen on challenging the idea that IHL needs critical deconstruction were also invited to argue their case. The Volume contains four articles dedicated to the subject of cultures of IHL. It also features a book symposium on Samuel Moyn’s Humane: How The United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War (2021) and ends, as usual, with a Year in Review section. The Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law is a leading annual publication devoted to the study of international humanitarian law. The Yearbook has always strived to be at the forefront of the debate of pressing doctrinal questions of IHL and will continue to do so in the future. As this volume shows, it is also a forum for taking a step back and reflecting on the broader, theoretical issues that inform the practice and thinking about the field. The Yearbook provides an international forum for high-quality, peer-reviewed academic articles focusing on this crucial branch of international law. Distinguished by contemporary relevance, it bridges the gap between theory and practice and serves as a useful reference tool for scholars, practitioners, military personnel, civil servants, diplomats, human rights workers and students.

Armed Conflict and International Law: In Search of the Human Face

This book is written in memory of Avril McDonald, who passed away in April 2010. Avril was an inspired and passionate scholar in the fields of international humanitarian law, international criminal law, human rights law and law in the field of arms control and disarmament. What in particular made Avril’s work special, was her strong commitment with the human aspects throughout. Fourteen scholars and practitioners have contributed to this liber amicorum, which has led to a rich variety of topics within the disciplines of Avril’s expertise. They all have in common that they deal with the human perspectives of the discipline of law at hand. They concentrate on the impact of the developments in international law on humans, whether they are civilians, victims of war or soldiers. This human perspective of law makes this book an appropriate tribute to Avril McDonald and at the same time a unique and valuable contribution to international legal research in the present society. A society that becomes more and more characterized by detailed legal systems, defined by institutions that may frequently lack sufficient contact with the people concerned.