In its case law on the use of lethal and potentially lethal force, the European Court of Human Rights declares a fundamental connection between the right to life in Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and democratic society. This book discusses how that connection can be understood by using narrative theory to explore Article 2 law's specificities and its deeper historical, social and political significance. Focusing on the domestic policing and law enforcement context, the book draws on an extensive analysis of case law from 1995 to 2017. It shows how the connection with democratic society in Article 2's substantive and procedural dimensions underlines the right to life's problematic duality, as an expression of a basic value demanding a high level of protection and a contextually limited provision allowing states leeway in the use of force. Emphasising the need to identify clear standards in the interpretation and application of the right to life, the book argues that Article 2 law's narrative dimensions bring to light its core purposes and values. These are to extract meaning from pain and death, ground democratic society's foundational distinction between acceptable force and unacceptable violence, and indicate democratic society's essential attributes as a restrained, responsible and reflective system.

The 'Legal Pluriverse' Surrounding Multinational Military Operations conceptualizes and examines the "Pluriverse": the multiplicity of rules that apply to and regulate contemporary multinational missions, and the array of actors involved. These operations are further complicated by changes to the classification of the conflict, and the asymmetry of obligations on participants. Structured into five parts, this work seeks, through the diversity of its authorship, to set out the web of legal regimes applicable to military operations including forces from more than one state. It maps out the ways in which different regimes interact, beginning with the laws of armed conflict and their relation to international humanitarian and human rights norms, and extending through to areas like law of the sea and environmental law. A variety of contributors systematically compile and take stock of the various legal regimes that make up the pluriverse, assessing how these rules interact, exposing norm conflicts, areas of legal uncertainty, or protective loopholes. In this way, they identify and evaluate approaches to better streamline the different applicable legal frameworks with a view to enhancing cooperation and thereby ensuring the long-term success of multinational military operations.

In clear and concise words, this Handbook offers a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the European Convention and the European Court of Human Rights and its case-law. Numerous cross-references guide the reader through the various topics. Various summaries condense the different principles of the Court’s case-law. With a Foreword by Judge Robert Spano, President of the European Court of Human Rights.

What place does the right to life have in armed conflicts? And does it lock down military objectives? In the first sustained coverage of the area, Ian Park examines conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria to explicate how far governments should be entitled to derogations from human rights whilst engaging in combat operations.

This book analyses the law of the European Convention on Human Rights as relevant to the exercise of ‘hard power’, which expression includes armed conflict, belligerent occupation, peacekeeping and peace-enforcing, anti-terrorism and anti-piracy operations, hybrid warfare, cyber-attack and targeted assassination.

This book guides civil rights lawyers-and informs judges, legislators, and academics-in the effective use of international law in U.S. federal and state cases. The author highlights many concrete areas in which international law can enhance human rights protection both in the U.S. and abroad, such as: Death penalty Lethal force by police and military authorities Extraterritorial privacy protection Gay and lesbian rights Government liability for foreseeable harm Compensation for unintentional false imprisonment. This eminently practical approach-based on model briefs developed for and used by leading U.S. civil rights lawyers and organizations-presents an extremely rare treatment of international human rights law. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law: Treaties, Cases, and Analysis introduces the reader to the international legal instruments and case law governing the substantive and procedural dimensions of international human rights and humanitarian law, including economic, social, and cultural rights. The book, which was originally published in 2006, also discusses the history and organisational structure of human rights and humanitarian law enforcement mechanisms. A chapter is devoted a chapter to the issues surrounding the incorporation of international law into U.S. law, including principles of constitutional and statutory interpretation, conflict rules, and the self-execution doctrine. Questions and comments sections provide critical analyses of issues raised in the materials. The last chapter addresses theoretical issues facing contemporary international human rights and humanitarian law and its enforcement.

"The threat posed by the recent rise of transnational non-state armed groups does not fit easily within either of the two basic paradigms for state responses to violence. The crime paradigm focuses on the interception of demonstrable immediate threats to the safety of others. Its aim is to protect specific persons and members of the general public from violence by identifiable individuals, who may be acting alone or in concert. In pursuit of this aim, the state uses police operations and the criminal justice system. Both of these tools are governed by human rights principles that significantly constrain state power. A state may not restrict liberty unless it has demonstrable evidence that an individual may pose a danger to others. It may not use force if other means will be effective to stop a threat. If using force is unavoidable, it must be the minimum amount necessary. Furthermore, a state generally may not take life unless no other measure will intercept an immediate threat to life"--

The right to life is a core human right which has not yet received the detailed legal analysis that it requires. This book provides detailed, critical analysis of the controversial human right to life and, in particular, assesses the weight of conflicting interests which could and/or should serve to override the right. This contemporary study of the right to life focuses on the legal, as well as ethical, issues raised by the value of life in modern day society. It seeks to analyse the development, meaning and value of the fundamental human right to life in the context of its conflicts with other competing interests. The book begins with an overview of the right to life in which the concept of life itself is first analysed, before both the right and its legal protection and enforcement are subjected to historical, philosophical and comparative analysis. The remainder of the book identifies, and assesses the merits of, various competing interests. These comprise armed conflict; prevention of crime; rights of others; autonomy; quality of life; and finite resources. The right to life is unusual in having potential application to so many of today's ethically controversial questions. This new work investigates specific topics of current political, legal and ethical concern such as the right to life during international conflicts, the role of lethal force in law enforcement, the death penalty, the right to life of a foetus in the context of legalised abortion, and the significance of quality of life and autonomy issues in respect of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

This unique and challenging volume is the result of a major international rights conference entitled Human Rights in the Twenty-First Century: A Global Challenge convened in Banff, Alberta, Canada in November 1990. The conference was supported and organized under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, The European Court of Human Rights, the European Human Rights Commission, the Strasbourg Institute of Comparative Human Rights Law, the Alberta Law Foundation and the International Centre at the University of Calgary. Its main objectives were legal education and legal research, which were met by a total of 92 speakers representing 24 different nationalities presenting their views on 24 human rights topics. Women and participants from developing countries in particular, brought a new vision of human rights to topics as varied as reproductive technology, state violence, and biotechnology. The theme of this book is thus the interdependence of legal, social, economic and environmental problems which transcend national and international boundaries and the spirit of solidarity which is required to resolve them. Written by a team of international and renowned human experts, it will provide a substantial contribution to the legal literature on international human rights.