This occasional paper provides an account of the development of the international legal system over the next three decades. It suggests that, by the year 2050, the period of classic international law will be drawing to a close. We will have entered a new stage of hybridity where the actors, processes and institutions of classic international law intermingle with a wide range of transnational actors, processes and institutions.
In 2017, the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War published the Leuven Manual on the International Law of Peace Operations. The Manual is designed to provide an authoritative restatement of the law applicable to peace operations. The Manual consists of 145 ‘black-letter rules’ and their accompanying commentary. These rules reflect the consensus of the participating experts and were drawn up with the input of observers from the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, NATO, the EU and other regional organisations and arrangements.
This year's ARRC legal conference (ARRCADE BRIEF 2015) focused on the legal challenges presented by hybrid warfare threats. The confernece built on the workshop on hybrid warfare I convened in collaboration with the ARRC in Exeter in September 2015, as well as the lessons learned during exercise ARRCADE FUSION 2015. Read on for a summary of the event by the ARRC public affairs team.
The subject of hybrid warfare – a strategy which blends conventional and irregular means of warfare – has attracted considerable attention in recent years. While the concept and its practical implications remain the subject of debate, it is clear that legal considerations and arguments play an important element of hybrid conflict. However, so far the legal aspects of hybrid warfare have received only limited attention. To address this gap, I had the pleasure of convening an expert workshop at the Strategy and Security Institute of the University of Exetetr in collaboration with the NATO Office of Legal Affairs and the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. The workshop brought together senior legal advisors and experts from across the UK and NATO in an effort to deepen our understanding of the subject and set the direction for future work. I intend to take forward some of this work in the context of a research project on the legal aspects of hybrid warfare.
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.
Led by Professor Noëlle Quénivet (UWE Bristol) and Dr Aurel Sari (University of Exeter), the purpose of the present project aims to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the challenges posed by international human rights law and its real and perceived impact on military operations. The work is funded by the British Academy and will involve a series of workshops and other activities over two years.
In 2011, the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War launched an international research project designed to produce a Manual of the International Law in Peace Operations. The Manual is intended to provide for the first time an authoritative exposé and critical assessment of the law applicable to the planning and conduct
Academy sponsored research project on visiting armed forces
