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Cluster Munitions

Gary Solis** (Download pdf) Cluster bombs are not banned weapons. Cluster bomb units (CBUs) do not fall under any of the five 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) protocols, yet fear of non-detectable fragments of exploding CBUs was a driving force behind CCW Protocol I. “Although the effects of unexploded cluster bomblets are in

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Maritime Piracy and International Law

By Professor Donald R. Rothwell Posted October 2009 (Download pdf) 2008 saw an unprecedented upsurge in piracy at sea resulting in significant international efforts to suppress pirate attacks. The scale and frequency of the pirate incidents throughout the past year combined to create contemporary challenges for international shipping which have probably not experienced such significant

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Terrorism and Human Rights

by Conor Gearty *Originally published in the journal, “Government and Opposition” Volume 42, No. 3 Summer 2007, p.340-362 (Download pdf) THE PURPOSE OF THIS ESSAY IS TO CONSIDER THE IMPACT ON HUMAN rights of the recent rise in the importance attached to, and the perceived danger arising from, violent acts of terrorism. By ‘human rights’

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A Brief Overview of International Law

by Janet Munro-Nelson March 2009 (Download pdf) In matters of world-wide concern, it is international law that determines the responsibilities and obligations of each State, organisation or individual. In the past 50 years, the world has become even more interconnected with the huge leaps in communication and technology, and a growing dependency on other countries

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The Convention on Cluster Munitions

by Janet Munro-Nelson Posted: November 2008 Updated: 31st August 2011 (Download pdf) On 30 May 2008 in Dublin, Ireland, some 107 countries negotiated and adopted a draft treaty to ban the use of cluster munitions. The draft of the new treaty, “the Convention on Cluster Munitions” (CCM), was finally agreed after ten intensive days

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“Change Direction” 2006: Israeli Operations in Lebanon and the International Law of Self-Defense

Michael N. Schmitt* (Download pdf) On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah launched Operation True Promise, the ambush of Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers patrolling the border with Lebanon.1 Three Israelis were killed and two captured. Four more died in an IDF tank responding to the attack, while an eighth perished as Israeli forces attempted to recover

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Child “Soldiers” and Civilians—Some Controversial Issues

Jenny Kuper* (Download pdf) There is a common misperception that the issue of children in armed conflict is a simple one, i.e.: that children should not be involved in armed conflict as “soldiers” or civilians, ever. In an ideal world that would certainly be the case. Indeed, in such a world no-one would be involved

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