Human Rights, International Law, and Just War

Question 1

What is International Law?

Answer 1

Law that governs states and other international actors.

Question 2

Define Humanitarian.

Answer 2

Concerned with, or seeking to promote, human welfare.

Question 3

What is a significant characteristic of international law?

Answer 3

International law is uncodified.

Question 4

List the sources of international law.

Answer 4

• Treaties and conventions between states
• International custom (such as diplomatic immunity)
• General principles of law recognised by civilised nations
• Judicial decisions
• Legal writings

Question 5

What are the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals significant for?

Answer 5

They are significant in human rights law, established after the Second World War.

Question 6

What is the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC)?

Answer 6

To investigate and put on trial individuals involved in genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Question 7

When was the ICC established?

Answer 7

The ICC was set up in 1998 by the Rome Statute and came into force in 2002.

Question 8

What is the ICC’s jurisdiction?

Answer 8

It only tries cases where a national court has not been willing or able to bring an individual to justice.

Question 9

Which countries have withdrawn from the ICC?

Answer 9

• South Africa
• Burundi
• Gambia
• Russia

Question 10

What is the Council of Europe?

Answer 10

An organization established in 1949 in response to the human-rights abuses of the Holocaust.

Question 11

How many member states are in the Council of Europe?

Answer 11

47 member states.

Question 12

What is the European Court of Human Rights?

Answer 12

A court based in Strasbourg that hears cases from individuals or groups who feel their rights have been breached.

Question 13

What is the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR)?

Answer 13

A document that set out a series of rights applicable to all human beings.

Question 14

Is the UDHR legally binding?

Answer 14

No, it is not legally binding.

Question 15

What was the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam?

Answer 15

A 1990 document by Islamic countries presenting their view on human rights from an Islamic perspective.

Question 16

What are the moral and legal questions surrounding humanitarian intervention?

Answer 16

• Assumes universal moral absolutes
• Potential cultural imperialism
• May escalate conflict
• Contradicts state sovereignty
• Contravenes ‘Just War’ theory

Question 17

What are the three categories of ‘Just War’ Theory?

Answer 17

• Jus ad bellum
• Jus in bello
• Jus post bellum

Question 18

Name a key theorist of ‘Just War’ theory.

Answer 18

• St. Thomas Aquinas
• Hugo Grotius
• Carl von Clausewitz
• Sun Tzu