Armed Groups and International Law

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Armed Groups and International Law

In the Shadowland of Legality and Illegality

9781800888333 Edward Elgar Publishing
Edited by Katharine Fortin, Associate Professor, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands and Ezequiel Heffes, Director, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, New York City, US
Publication Date: September 2023 ISBN: 978 1 80088 833 3 Extent: c 320 pp
Through its careful consideration of the status of armed groups within a complex legal landscape, this insightful volume identifies and examines the tensions that arise due to their actions existing across a spectrum of legality and illegality. Considering the number of armed groups currently exercising governance functions and controlling territory and population in the world, its analysis is especially topical.

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Through its careful consideration of the status of armed groups within a complex legal landscape, this insightful book identifies and examines the tensions that arise due to their actions existing across a spectrum of legality and illegality. Considering the number of armed groups currently exercising governance functions and controlling territory and population in the world, its analysis is especially topical.

Armed Groups and International Law provides essential peer-reviewed analyses of the place of armed groups in the legal framework. A collaborative effort between eminent scholars from different disciplines, it summarises various points of contention within the study of these armed actors, detailing examples that are highly relevant to the contemporary world, such as Afghanistan and Syria.

Addressing law-making, rebel governance and accountability, this illuminating book will be of great benefit to students of international humanitarian law, human rights law, international criminal law, and public international law seeking to expand their understanding of the treatment of armed groups within the international legal system. It will also serve as a useful resource for practitioners working in the area of civilian protection and academics conducting research on armed conflict from a variety of disciplines.
Critical Acclaim
‘This book takes the reader beyond the paradox that armed groups are both illegal and engaged in law-enforcement. The authors take us into the day-to-day world of rebel governance and explore the work done by law. We are treated to something which is both scholarly and practical. This kind of inquiry can only benefit the millions living under rebel control.’
– Andrew Clapham, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Switzerland

‘This wide-ranging collection brings together experts from across political science and legal studies to probe one of the most complex and pressing problems facing the world today: how should the international community understand the reality of rebel rule? Tackling both the big picture as well as delving into the intricacies that have bedeviled analysts and policy makers, contributors push the analysis in new directions while unearthing long forgotten truths. An agenda-setting volume, the book will shape the debate on international law and armed groups for the foreseeable future.’
– Zachariah Mampilly, The City University of New York, US

‘A thoughtful and thought-provoking collection by some of the leading voices in the field. Expertly curated, this is valuable reading for anyone interested in issues relating to armed groups and international law.’
– Sandesh Sivakumaran, University of Cambridge, UK

‘Fortin and Heffes have assembled a stellar collection of leading scholars on the difficult topic of armed groups under international and domestic law, providing us with thoughtful and rigorous analysis and insight into a complex area that defies easy legal and political solutions.’
– Emily Crawford, The University of Sydney Law School, Australia

‘This superlative collection addresses a highly significant and still overlooked dimension of international and domestic law, namely its application to internal armed conflicts and to non-state armed groups. Noting the relative dearth of substantive attention to this relationship, even as the numbers of armed conflicts and non-state armed groups proliferate, the editors and contributors provide clear, astute, and original analyses of the range of implications which draw equally from rich and carefully detailed histories of the development and application of humanitarian, human rights and criminal law and their use in a range of fascinating cases. Conceptually and empirically grounded, this volume is by far the best introduction to the fundamentally necessary, and continually urgent, understanding of armed groups and international and domestic law.’
– Helen M. Kinsella, University of Minnesota, US
Contributors
Contributors include: Niels H. Appeldorn, Rogier Bartels, Annyssa Bellal, Daniëlla Dam-de Jong, Helen Duffy, Katharine Fortin, Marta Furlan, Gloria Gaggioli, Ezequiel Heffes, Hyeran Jo, Giovanni Mantilla, Luke Moffett, Alessandra Spadaro, Ilya Sobol
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