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"Preface" [2013] ELECD 1049; in Pocar, Fausto; Pedrazzi, Marco; Frulli, Micaela (eds), "War Crimes and the Conduct of Hostilities" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013) x

Book Title: War Crimes and the Conduct of Hostilities

Editor(s): Pocar, Fausto; Pedrazzi, Marco; Frulli, Micaela

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781955918

Section Title: Preface

Number of pages: 2

Extract:

Preface
A look at the growing national and international case law on war crimes
in the last decades shows that serious breaches of international humani-
tarian law rules governing the conduct of hostilities constitute the basis of
war crimes charges only in a limited number of cases, as compared with
the more frequent charges for violations of the rules on the treatment of
protected persons in an armed conflict. This is at least partly due to the
looseness of the rules on the conduct of hostilities in light of the margin
of appreciation that the application of the principles of distinction and
proportionality implies, as well as to the difficulty of implementing rules
shaped for traditional international armed conflicts between States with
respect to contemporary national asymmetrical conflicts involving non-
State armed groups. These considerations and the consequential eviden-
tiary problems that they raise, may explain the reluctance of prosecutors
to charge this class of war crimes. The present book aims at identifying
the challenges faced by prosecutors, investigators and courts and tribunals
in the definition, investigation and adjudication of war crimes based on
violations of the rules of international humanitarian law on the conduct
of hostilities, with a view to contributing to, and clarifying, this somewhat
neglected area of international criminal law. A comprehensive considera-
tion of the multifaceted issues implied in these challenges is more topical
as we are witnessing an extensive and increasing involvement of civilians in
current armed conflicts and a growing debate on the use ...