Law and Morality at War
Adil Ahmad Haque - Oxford University Press, 2017
The
laws are not silent in war, but what should they say? What is the moral
function of the law of armed conflict? Should the law protect civilians
who do not fight but help those who do? Should the law protect soldiers
who perform non-combat functions or who may be safely captured? How
certain should a soldier be that an individual is a combatant rather
than a civilian before using lethal force? What risks should soldiers
take on themselves to avoid harming civilians? When do inaccurate
weapons become unlawfully indiscriminate? When does 'collateral damage'
to civilians become unlawfully disproportionate? Should civilians lose
their legal rights by serving, voluntarily or involuntarily, as human
shields? Finally, when should killing civilians constitute a war crime?
These are the questions that Law and Morality at War answers,
contributing to a cutting-edge international debate. Drawing on the
concepts and methods of contemporary moral and legal philosophy, the
book develops a normative framework within which the laws of war and
international criminal law can be evaluated, criticized, and reformed.
While several philosophical works critically examine the moral status of
civilians and combatants, this book fills a gap, offering both an
account of the laws of war and war crimes, and proposing how the law
could be improved from a moral point of view.
