No One Shall Be Held in Slavery or Servitude: A critical analysis of international slavery conventions
Traces the development of slavery definitions in international agreements from 1815 to 2001. Overview of slavery definitions in international law; Historical analysis of the evolution of slavery definitions in international agreements; Analysis of the main characteristics of slavery in international agreements; Types of social theory that can be used in illuminating slavery; Discussion on the dimensions of slavery.
International Coercion and World Public Order: The General Principles of the Law of War
THE importance today to every human being of community control of international coercion needs no pedant's footnotes to bestow upon it a sense of reality. The increasingly rapid multiplication and diffusion of weapons capable of shattering the globe, the most recent successful orbiting of artificial satellites and launching of guided and ballistic missiles of intercontinental reach,' the continued, if decelerated, hostile polarization of power in the world arena, the ever more precarious equilibrium between the polar opponents, the high and still rising levels in tension and expectations of comprehensive violenceall these and many other aspects of the contemporary world arena magnify with chilling insistence, even for the willful blind, the urgent need for rational inquiry into the potentialities and limitations of our inherited principles and procedures for controlling violence between peoples and for the invention and establishment of more effective alternatives in principles and
The Legal Nature of War Crimes and the Problem of Superior Command
One of the most crucial and controversial questions in the field of international criminal justice is that of whether “superior command” is a good defense in a war-crime trial. The answer is of cardinal importance, since trials of war criminals may prove entirely useless if accused persons are permitted simply to pass on the responsibility for their acts to their superiors. The line would lead straight to the omnipotent leader, who might choose to escape prosecution altogether by putting an end to his life. Opinions of writers on the subject are divided, and so are court decisions, war manuals, and legislative provisions. While the American and British war manuals, backed by Oppenheim's authority, recognize “superior command” as a full defense, Anglo-American practice, expressed in numerous decisions and supported by many authorities, refuses to ascribe to it any exculpating effect. Some theories recognize “superior command” as a defense to a limited extent only, dependent upon whether the subordinate actually knew, or had reasonable grounds for knowing, that a given command contemplated a punishable, or at least an illegal, action. What has not been tried up to now, and what seems a worth-while undertaking, is to analyze the general conception of war crimes and to try to reach a solution of the indicated problem out of a clearer understanding of that conception.