The Laws of War: A Comprehensive Collection of Primary Documents on International Laws Governing Armed Conflict - Softcover

Reisman, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 067973712X ISBN 13: 9780679737124

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1994

Synopsis

From the Nuremberg trials to the grisly campaign of "ethnic cleansing" in today's Bosnia, the world recognizes that certain actions are morally and legally unacceptable even in the midst of war. This book features extensive excerpts from treaties and charters that define the proper treatment of civilians, detainees, and POWs during wartime.

About this title

From the Back Cover

From the Nuremberg Trials to the grisly campaign of "ethnic cleansing" in today's Bosnia, the world recognizes that certain actions are morally and legally unacceptable even in the midst of war. But when is a nation justified in going to war? And how far can it go in inflicting damage on an enemy? What weapons can be developed and stockpiled? What is the proper treatment of civilians, detainees and POWs? "The Laws of War" features extensive excerpts from treaties and authoritative judgments to answer these and other questions. The result is a unique and comprehensive reference work on global problems ranging from terrorism and guerrilla warfare to the prosecution of war crimes. Documents include: The Charter of the United Nations, The Hague Convections, The Geneva Conventions and Protocols, The Nuremberg Judgment, Israeli commission of inquiry into the events at the refugee camps in Beirut and an investigation of alleged war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

Reviews

Outlawing war is futile, as the farcical fate of the Kellog-Briand Pact of 1928 indicates, but codifying its conduct has proved more fruitful. In this signal edition of excerpts from treaties, Hague and Geneva conventions, UN declarations, and a few famous cases (such as Lieutenant Calley's trial), the meliorative edges of war march by in legalese: the treatment of prisoners, the notional inviolability of civilians and their property, restrictions on a combatant's operational freedom, and, of course, judgment day for war criminals. This volume, assembled from a myriad of sources, saves time for the busy student or for the lawyers, journalists, and clerics whom the editors conceive to be their core readership. It's timely, too, should the UN's new war crimes tribunal, its only one ever (Nuremberg was a four-power agreement), give atrocities in Bosnia a hearing. A likely candidate for a long shelflife--unless some civilian criminal absconds with it. Gilbert Taylor

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 067973712X
• ISBN 13: 9780679737124
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 484