Description
How relevant is the concept of war today? This book examines how notions about war continue to influence how we conceive rights and obligations in national and international law. It also considers the role international law plays in limiting what is forbidden and legitimated in times of war or armed conflict. The book highlights how, even though war has been outlawed and should be finished as an institution, states nevertheless continue to claim that they can wage necessary wars of self-defence, engage in lawful killings in war, imprison law-of-war detainees, and attack objects which are said to be part of a war-sustaining economy. The book includes an overall account of the contemporary laws of war and delves into whether states should be able to continue to claim so-called 'belligerent rights' over their enemies and those accused of breaching expectations of neutrality. A central claim in the book is as follows: while there is general agreement that war has been abolished as a legal institution for settling disputes, the time has come to admit that the belligerent rights that once accompanied states at war are no longer available. The conclusion is that claiming to be in a war or an armed conflict does not grant anyone a licence to kill people, destroy things, and acquire other people's property or territory.
About the Author
Andrew Clapham is Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, which he joined in 1997. He has been a member of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan since October 2017. He is an Honorary Member of the International Commission of Jurists. In 2003 he was an Adviser on International Humanitarian Law to Sergio Vieira de Mello, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Iraq.
Reviews
Written in a personal and simple but not simplistic way with references to art, literature, films, and various statements and case law, it paints a nuanced picture of how the concept of war is used and abused. The book is a compilation of extensive doctrinal knowledge in all spectrums of war. * Maria Varaki, Leiden Journal of International Law *
The book offers a forensic account of what international law has to say about war, drawing on a detailed reading of national and international legal instruments and dozens of legal cases. Clapham provides a comprehensive survey of legal debates, innovations and progress in the regulation of war. He pays equal attention to the causes of war--examining war declarations, the outlawing of war, the place of force in the UN Charter and the question of war powers--and to the regulation of its conduct, including the protection of civilians and other persons, the triggering of the laws of armed conflict and the question of belligerent rights in naval operations. * Alex J. Bellamy, University of Queensland, International Affairs *
The book stands out as it comprehensively focalises on the legal dimension of war, whereas previous writings on war have covered its application in terms of policy instrument, rationalising planning and conduct of hostilities. * Atul Alexander and Sanyam Jha, Journal of Indian Law and Society *
Here is an oeuvre which is at one and the same time a law book (you could teach a course out of it) and a book about the law (it does so much more than simply outline the law of armed conflict both jus ad and jus in). It contextualizes it, historicizes it, makes it human in its inhumanity (wonderful chapter on victims) ... If you are new to the subject (hard to imagine among readers of EJIL and ICON...) you could not find a better introduction. If you are an old hand, you will both profit and enjoy, maybe with a tinge of jealousy. * J. H. H. Weiler, New York University School of Law, ICONnect *
The book War by law professor Andrew Clapham is a flash of light. It is a flash of light not only because it reveals the oft-neglected meanings of international rules on war, but also because it organically depicts the essential logics of functioning of the modern laws of war and patiently deals with its intrinsic aporias. * Martino Tognocchi, Global Intellectual History *
Book Information
ISBN 9780198810476
Author Andrew Clapham
Format Paperback
Page Count 624
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 217mm * 138mm * 33mm
About the Author
Andrew Clapham is Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, which he joined in 1997. He has been a member of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan since October 2017. He is an Honorary Member of the International Commission of Jurists. In 2003 he was an Adviser on International Humanitarian Law to Sergio Vieira de Mello, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Iraq.
Reviews
Written in a personal and simple but not simplistic way with references to art, literature, films, and various statements and case law, it paints a nuanced picture of how the concept of war is used and abused. The book is a compilation of extensive doctrinal knowledge in all spectrums of war. * Maria Varaki, Leiden Journal of International Law *
The book offers a forensic account of what international law has to say about war, drawing on a detailed reading of national and international legal instruments and dozens of legal cases. Clapham provides a comprehensive survey of legal debates, innovations and progress in the regulation of war. He pays equal attention to the causes of war--examining war declarations, the outlawing of war, the place of force in the UN Charter and the question of war powers--and to the regulation of its conduct, including the protection of civilians and other persons, the triggering of the laws of armed conflict and the question of belligerent rights in naval operations. * Alex J. Bellamy, University of Queensland, International Affairs *
The book stands out as it comprehensively focalises on the legal dimension of war, whereas previous writings on war have covered its application in terms of policy instrument, rationalising planning and conduct of hostilities. * Atul Alexander and Sanyam Jha, Journal of Indian Law and Society *
Here is an oeuvre which is at one and the same time a law book (you could teach a course out of it) and a book about the law (it does so much more than simply outline the law of armed conflict both jus ad and jus in). It contextualizes it, historicizes it, makes it human in its inhumanity (wonderful chapter on victims) ... If you are new to the subject (hard to imagine among readers of EJIL and ICON...) you could not find a better introduction. If you are an old hand, you will both profit and enjoy, maybe with a tinge of jealousy. * J. H. H. Weiler, New York University School of Law, ICONnect *
The book War by law professor Andrew Clapham is a flash of light. It is a flash of light not only because it reveals the oft-neglected meanings of international rules on war, but also because it organically depicts the essential logics of functioning of the modern laws of war and patiently deals with its intrinsic aporias. * Martino Tognocchi, Global Intellectual History *
Book Information
ISBN 9780198810476
Author Andrew Clapham
Format Paperback
Page Count 624
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 217mm * 138mm * 33mm
