International humanitarian law, postcolonialism and the 1977 Geneva Protocol I

Journal article


Alexander, Amanda. (2016). International humanitarian law, postcolonialism and the 1977 Geneva Protocol I. Melbourne Journal of International Law. 17(1), pp. 15 - 50.
AuthorsAlexander, Amanda
Abstract

The 1977 Geneva Protocols are the core of the contemporary international humanitarian law regime. This article looks at how Protocol I was drafted and how it introduced and managed significant changes to the ius in bello concerning the character of national liberation movements, the status of irregular belligerents and the protection of civilians. It shows that while the delegates fought passionately over some of these changes, compromised and equivocated over others, there were other changes that they accepted readily, without even regarding them as change. The article examines the disciplinary strategies and conventions that allowed the delegates to conceal change in this way. It argues that the most successful legal changes were enabled by discursive changes that had already taken place outside the legal sphere. Postcolonial discourse and social movements had transformed the available possibilities of speech and thought, rendering the traditional understanding of the law reprehensible. Lawyers were compelled to erase the existing provisions of the law and posit new ones that were more in line with contemporary sentiment. Many of these new provisions were problematic and paradoxical, but they were all that could be said at the time. The result was a document that was rejected by military states for many years, but survived as a resource that was eventually adopted by more sympathetic lawyers. In this way, the article historicises the provisions of the Protocol I, while showing the influence of external movements and anticolonial thought on international humanitarian law.

Year2016
JournalMelbourne Journal of International Law
Journal citation17 (1), pp. 15 - 50
PublisherUniversity of Melbourne
ISSN1444-8602
Web address (URL)http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/meljil17&collection=journals&id=25&startid=25&endid=60
Page range15 - 50
Research GroupThomas More Law School
Publisher's version
File Access Level
Controlled
Place of publicationAustralia
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/89ww1/international-humanitarian-law-postcolonialism-and-the-1977-geneva-protocol-i

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 170
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 5
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Revolutionary War and the Development International Humanitarian Law
Alexander, Amanda Elana. (2023). Revolutionary War and the Development International Humanitarian Law. In In Cuddy, Brian and Kattan, Victor (Ed.). Making Endless War: The Vietnam and Arab-Israeli Conflicts in the History of International Law pp. 112-144 University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.12584508
Filling the gaps : The expansion of international humanitarian law and the juridification of the free-fighter
Alexander, Amanda. (2023). Filling the gaps : The expansion of international humanitarian law and the juridification of the free-fighter. Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies. pp. 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-BJA10075
The ethics of violence : Recent literature on the creation of the contemporary regime of law and war
Alexander, Amanda. (2023). The ethics of violence : Recent literature on the creation of the contemporary regime of law and war. Journal of Genocide Research. 25(2), pp. 235-251. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2021.1985809
Narrative contingency and international humanitarian law : Crimes against humanity in Cixin Liu’s post-humanist universe
Alexander, Amanda. (2021). Narrative contingency and international humanitarian law : Crimes against humanity in Cixin Liu’s post-humanist universe. In In Venzke, Ingo and Heller, Kevin Jon (Ed.). Contingency in international law : On the possibility of different legal histories pp. 351-369 Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192898036.003.0021
Lenin at Nuremberg : Anti-imperialism and the juridification of crimes against humanity
Alexander, Amanda. (2021). Lenin at Nuremberg : Anti-imperialism and the juridification of crimes against humanity. In In Greeman, Kathryn, Oxford, Anne, Saunders, Anna and Tzouvala, Ntina (Ed.). Revolutions in International Law : The legacies of 1917 pp. 56-82 Cambridge University Press.
"The Good War" : Preparations for a War against Civilians
Alexander, Amanda. (2019). "The Good War" : Preparations for a War against Civilians. Law, Culture and the Humanities. 15(1), pp. 227-252. https://doi.org/10.1177/1743872116651224
New histories and new laws : Crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Alexander, Amanda. (2019). New histories and new laws : Crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Leiden Journal of International Law. 32(4), pp. 801-818. https://doi.org/10.1017/S092215651900044X
A short history of international humanitarian law
Alexander, Amanda. (2015). A short history of international humanitarian law. European Journal of International law. 26(1), pp. 109 - 138. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chv002