Emily Crawford - International Humanitarian Law

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Emily Crawford and Alison Pert 2015

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It has become something of a clich in the general literature on international humanitarian law (IHL also known as the law of armed conflict, or less frequently, the law of war

These charges, while compelling, are inaccurate. IHL is one of the oldest branches of international law, and a complex and diverse area of law, covering matters such as the treatment of civilians in times of armed conflict, permissible means and methods of waging such armed conflicts, instruction for occupying forces, rules on the protection of certain kinds of property, such as cultural property and the natural environment, and rules regarding implementation, enforcement and accountability. Research into international humanitarian law indicates that the rules are, for the most part, followed

Sadly, when the rules are broken or ignored, they often result in brutal and inhumane outcomes, as we have seen in recent years in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, in the ISIS held territories of Syria and Iraq, in the genocide of Rwanda and the ethnic cleansing of the Former Yugoslavia. The laws governing conduct in armed conflicts were designed to try and mitigate some of the horrors of warfare. It is unsurprising then that when those rules are violated, horrible outcomes eventuate.

However, part of the process of ensuring that those violations are addressed, and that people are held accountable for such outcomes in some way, is to educate society about the laws of armed conflict, to ensure that people are aware that there are rules that govern conduct in armed conflicts, and that when violations of the rules are brought to light, some public accounting for such acts takes place. This book is a part of that process, and contributes to the process of disseminating the law of armed conflict, and bringing knowledge about its content to society at large. This book looks at this complex and dynamic part of international law, outlining the relevant law, the historical context in which the law developed and emerged, and looks at future challenges to the law.

The authors of this book have many people to thank for helping get this book to publication. First, we must thank our editorial and production team at Cambridge University Press, including Marta Walkowiak, Finola O'Sullivan and Valerie Appleby, who helped shepherd this book in its various incarnations to the work it is today. We also must acknowledge and thank the reviewers of this work, whose thoughtful comments helped shaped and develop the text. Thanks must also go to our colleagues at the Sydney Law School at the University of Sydney, whose collegiality and friendship played no small part in helping us complete the work. Alison Pert is particularly grateful to Lorraine Walsh and Sarah Schwartz for their sterling editorial assistance, and above all to her co-author Emily Crawford for her extraordinary intellectual and personal generosity in all things.

Emily Crawford would like to thank Dr Christian Henderson at the University of Liverpool for his helpful and considerate comments on early drafts of this work, which were immeasurably helpful in improving and developing the manuscript. Acknowledgments must also go to Associate Professor Christopher Michaelsen at UNSW, for his help with an early version of this text. Emily would also like to extend her profound and heartfelt thanks to her co-author, Dr Alison Pert, without whom this text would have never been finished. Emily would like to express her gratitude to her family Marisa, James, Rebecca, Graham, Daniel, Sofia, Stella, Sadie, Lynn, Phil, Liv, Dem and Lachlan, for their continued support and kindness. Finally, eternal thanks goes to James Ryan, for always making everything better.