International Law Call for Papers AALS Annual Meeting 2008 New York Association of American Law Schools

Call for Brief Commentaries

The AALS Section on International Law will sponsor a panel at the 2008 AALS Annual Meeting in New York City, from 4:00-5:30 pm on Friday, January 4, 2008.

The topic for the Section's 2008 Panel is "A Century of Humanitarian Law (Hague 1907-Darfur 2007): Successes and Failures-'A Report Card'".

The tentative formal panel will address the following topics:

1. The Law of War: Criteria for a "Report Card".
2. Absence or inefficacy: The Law of War in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Darfur.
3. The Changing Challenges of war (1907-2007): How Has Humanitarian Law Responded?
4. Scoring Successes and Failures: (a) Outlawry of War; (b) Regulating Non-International Armed Conflicts; (c) Protecting Civilians; and (d) Controlling Weapons of Mass Destruction.
5. Implementing/Enforcing Humanitarian Law

The main task of the panel will be to survey the changing challenges posed by war during the 20th Century, as a result of the dramatic changes in the characteristics of armed conflicts, and to assess the law's responses.

The focus of the panel will be on how the law's objectives and diverse protected communities (i.e., belligerents, sick and wounded, prisoners of war and civilians) have fared in view of the changes in the conduct of warfare and the law.

The century's dramatic developments, affecting both jus ad bellum and jus in bello, have included several noted conceptual and operational transitions:

From "Just War" to the "Outlawing" of War;
From International Armed Conflicts" to "Intra-national and Transnational Conflicts";
From the Containment of Armed Conflicts (through the Principle of Distinction, Neutrality, etc.) to a resort to "Total War" (through strategic bombing, terrorism, etc.);
From conventional weapons to weapons of mass destruction;
From quasi-public (ICRC, etc.) and national policing of Humanitarian Law to international policing.

The panel, relying on both chronological and thematic approaches, will seek to assess the impact of these developments on Humanitarian Law's functions in several conflict arenas, including Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, Kashmir, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan and former Yugoslavia.

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Given the Section on International Law's desire to give an increasing number of members an opportunity to take a more active part in the annual meeting programs, our intention is to make more innovative use of the limited time allocated to us at the annual meetings. Accordingly, we will supplement the formal panel and the printed proceedings with several Brief Commentaries contributed by the membership.

We invite members to submit brief commentaries on any of the issues encompassed within the broad of scope of the planned panel: A Century of Humanitarian Law-"A Report Card".

The commentaries should range in length from 250 to 500 words each. Up to four commentaries will be selected and the writers will be given 3 minutes each, at the conclusion of the formal panel, for "sound-bite" summaries of their papers.

Arrangements are being made for the publication of the panel proceedings, and all Brief Commentaries submitted by members will be considered for inclusion.

Members are urged to submit their Brief Commentaries by e-mail to Editor, International Law Brief, genih@aol.com no later than October 15, 2007.

Any comments, suggestions, additions, etc. regarding the planned panel or any other section business will be greatly appreciated. Best wishes for a productive year and looking forward to seeing you in New York City in January, 2008.