Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-06T20:02:43.147Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

16 - Aggression, Atrocities, and Accountability

Building a Case in Iraq

from Part III - The Illegal Use of Force and the Prosecution of International Crimes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2018

Leila Nadya Sadat
Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis
Get access

Summary

The principles of separation of the jus ad bellum from the jus in bello has become an axiomata of public international law. This means that, in order to protect the application of international humanitarian law during the armed conflict, grounds of legality or illegality of the initiation of hostilities are of no concern to humanitarian law itself. Equally, from an international criminal law perspective, accountability can be brought against those who perpetrate war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, but to date no justice mechanism exist to punish those who perpetrate the “supreme international crime,” the initiation of a war in violation of international law, the crime of aggression. Against the background of a quest for accountability for the illegal use of force, this Chapter will analyze both sides of the argument for and against the retention of the principle of separation vis-à-vis new legal theories of accountability for the illegal use of force, as well as some of the major doctrinal and pragmatic challenges presented to the principle of separation by certain types of military interventions, including United Nations peacekeeping and so-called “humanitarian interventions.”
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×