Description
Book SynopsisThe Fourth Geneva Convention, signed on 12th August 1949, defines necessary humanitarian protections for civilians during armed conflict and occupation. One-hundred-and-ninety-six countries are signatories to the Geneva Conventions, and this particular facet has laid the foundations for all subsequent humanitarian global law. How did the world – against seemingly insurmountable odds – draft and legislate this landmark in humanitarian international law?
The Fourth Geneva Convention for Civilians draws on archival research across seven countries to bring together the Cold War interventions, founding motives and global idealisms that shaped its conception. Gilad Ben-Nun draws on the three key principles that the convention brought about to consider the recent events where its application has either been successfully applied or circumvented, from the 2009 Gaza War, the war crimes tribunal in the former Yugoslavia and Nicaragua vs. the United States to the contemporary conflict in Syria. Weaving historical archival research, a grounding in the concepts of international law, and insightful analysis of recent events, this book will appeal to a broad range of students, academics and legal practitioners.
Trade ReviewA fascinating account, well documented and richly supplemented by background materials, of the drafting process of key provisions that revolutionized the protection of civilians. The author manages to bring to life the protagonists responsible for those important innovations, describe their motivations and explain their strategy. -- Eyal Benvenisti, Whewell Professor of International law and Director of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge, UK
Table of ContentsIntroduction: ‘
A Treaty after Trauma’ Chapter 1: Background: Significant Historical Omissions in GC-IV’s Current Literature PART 1: PROTECTION FOR ALL: THE MAKING OF COMMON ARTICLE 3 Chapter 2: Initial Ideas for Civilian Protection: The Dilemma of State Consent Chapter 3: Stockholm’s Universalist Revolution: Protections to all Civilians Chapter 4: The Final Act: The Soviets Come on Board – Geneva 1949 PART 2: THE INHERENT ILLEGITIMACY OF OCCUPATION: ARTICLES 49 & 68 Chapter 5: Conquest Contested: Georg Cohn, Carl Schmitt and Non-Recognition Chapter 6: Cohn’s Drafting of the Prohibition on Settlements – Article 49 paragraph 6 Chapter 7: Georg Cohn’s Crusade Against the Death Penalty -Art. 68 PART 3: THE STRUGGLE AGAINST NON-APPLICABILITY Chapter 8: Arbitration, Judicial Settlement and the ICJ’s roles vis-à-vis GC-IV Chapter 9: Non-Application from Colonialism to Terrorism: 1950s-2000s Conclusion Appendix GC-IV’s French 1st Draft Adopted in Geneva – April 1947 Notes Glossary Bibliography and Sources
