The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict

Stockton Professor of International Law, US Naval War College.

Acknowledgement; Introduction; Table of cases; Table of treaties; List of abbreviations; Part I. The General Framework: 1. The sources; 2. The semantics; 3. Inter-state armed conflicts; 4. Military necessity and humanitarian considerations; 5. Humanitarian law and human rights; 6. Dissemination; Part II. Lawful Combatancy: 7. Combatants and civilians; 8. Lawful and unlawful combatants; 9. The entitlement to prisoners of war status under customary international law; 10. The Legal Position under Protocol I of 1977; 11. A case study: the war in Afghanistan; 12. Mercenaries; 13. Armed merchant vessels; Part III. Prohibited Weapons: 14. Introduction; 15. The principle prohibiting unnecessary suffering; 16. Explicit prohibitions and restrictions of certain weapons; 17. The status of nuclear weapons; 18. Development of new weapons; Part IV. Legitimate Military Objectives: 19. The principle of distinction and military objectives; 20. The definition of military objectives by nature, location, purpose and use; 21. General problems relating to the scope of military objectives; 22. Defended and undefended localities in land warfare; 23. Special problems relating to sea warfare; 24. Special problems relating to air warfare; Part V. The Protection of Civilians and Civilian Objects from Attack: 25. Definitions; 26. Direct attacks against civilians; 27. Indiscriminate attacks; 28. The principle of proportionality; 29. Legitimate collateral damage; 30. Precautions in attack; 31. Cessation of protection and 'human shields'; 32. Starvation of civilians; Part VI. Measures of Special Protection: 33. Persons entitled to special protection; 34. Cultural property and places of worship; 35. Medical units; 36. Works and installations containing dangerous forces; Part VII. Protection of the Environment: 37. Introduction; 38. The international legal texts; 39. The dissimilarities between the ENMOD convention and protocol I; 40. A case study: setting fire to oil wells in the Gulf War; 41. Conclusion; Part VIII. Other Methods and Means of Warfare: 42. Perfidy and ruses of war; 43. Espionage; 44. Seizure and destruction of enemy property; 45. Belligerent reprisals; 46. War crimes, command responsibility and defences; 47. The definition of war crimes; 48. The Distinction between war criminals and unlawful combatants; 49. Command responsibility; 50. Admissible and inadmissible defences; General conclusions; Index.