Human Rights and Military Operations: Confronting the Challenges

Noëlle Quénivet (UWE Bris­tol) and myself have just published SSI Occasional Paper No 2, entitled ‘Human Rights and Military Operations: Confronting the Challenges’. The paper summarizes the findings of a workshop held in February 2015 as part of a British Academy-funded research project we are conducting on the impact of international human rights law on the British armed forces.

As the occasional paper explains in greater detail, the workshop confirmed that the application of international human rights law, in particular the European Convention on Human Rights, to deployed operations presents significant legal and practical challenges. The proceedings also confirmed, however, that confronting these challenges requires a nuanced approach, as the nature of the problem neither demands nor admits of an absolute solution. In particular, the increased complexity and uncertainty of the law cannot be eliminated, but may only be mitigated. Flexibility and adaptability are therefore key. You can read more about the project here.