A public lecture by Frédéric Mégret, Associate Professor of Law and Dawson Scholar, Faculty of Law, McGill University and 2018 UWA Institute of Advanced Studies Visiting Fellow.
International humanitarian law is traditionally about the "other" side in the war, whether combatants or non-combatants. Just war theorists however have hinted at the idea that there is an "internal jus in bello" that applies in the relationship of the sovereign to its own population in war.
In this lecture, Professor Mégret will explore that possibility in existing international humanitarian law. To what extent are some rules in armed conflict actually about protecting ones own population (eg: not recruiting child soldiers; not placing military assets next to civilian installations)? What if the state has duties towards its own combatants? The recent judgment of the International Criminal Court convicting Ntaganda for sexual slavery against ones own troops points to this emerging dimension. It implicates some crucial debates about the relationship of international humanitarian law to international human rights law, and emphasizes some of the challenges involved: is there a risk, for example, of being too protective of the lives of ones soldiers at the expense of non-combatants on the other side?
This public lecture is presented by the Australian Red Cross, the UWA Law School and the UWA Institute of Advanced Studies.
International humanitarian law is traditionally about the "other" side in the war, whether combatants or non-combatants. Just war theorists however have hinted at the idea that there is an "internal jus in bello" that applies in the relationship of the sovereign to its own population in war.
In this lecture, Professor Mégret will explore that possibility in existing international humanitarian law. To what extent are some rules in armed conflict actually about protecting ones own population (eg: not recruiting child soldiers; not placing military assets next to civilian installations)? What if the state has duties towards its own combatants? The recent judgment of the International Criminal Court convicting Ntaganda for sexual slavery against ones own troops points to this emerging dimension. It implicates some crucial debates about the relationship of international humanitarian law to international human rights law, and emphasizes some of the challenges involved: is there a risk, for example, of being too protective of the lives of ones soldiers at the expense of non-combatants on the other side?
This public lecture is presented by the Australian Red Cross, the UWA Law School and the UWA Institute of Advanced Studies.