Searching for a 'Principle of Humanity' in International Humanitarian Law

Description

The legal norms of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) are the product of a compromise between humanitarian considerations and the demands of military necessity. In Searching for a 'Principle of Humanity' in International Humanitarian Law, international legal scholars consider whether humanitarian considerations have an independent legal impact on IHL beyond the formation of these norms. They ask whether a 'principle of humanity' can be said to have legal force in its own right. Moreover, the book investigates whether regional or national differences are emerging regarding the import and emphasis placed on humanitarian considerations. For instance, do states which are not directly affected by armed conflict attach a greater weight to humanitarian considerations when interpreting and applying IHL than those states which are more directly involved in armed conflicts? Specifically, this book examines whether a particular 'Nordic perspective' can be identified, owing to those states' involvement in armed conflicts outside their own territories in the post-Second World War era.

Kjetil Mujezinovic Larsen is an Associate Professor at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo. He is also author of The Human Rights Treaty Obligations of Peacekeepers. Camilla Guldahl Cooper is a legal adviser and lecturer at the Norwegian Defence Command and Staff College. Gro Nystuen is Associate Professor at the Norwegian Defence University College and senior partner in the International Law and Policy Institute, Oslo. She is also co-editor of Human Rights, Corporate Complicity and Disinvestment.