The Military Commander's Necessity : The Law of Armed Conflict and its Limits - Sigrid Redse Johansen

The Military Commander's Necessity

The Law of Armed Conflict and its Limits

By: Sigrid Redse Johansen

Paperback | 20 May 2021

At a Glance

Paperback


RRP $71.95

$67.90

or 4 interest-free payments of $16.98 with

 or 

Aims to ship in 7 to 10 business days

The idea of military necessity lies at the centre of the law of armed conflict and yet it is less than fully understood.

This book analyses which legal limits govern the commander's assessment of military necessity, and argues that military necessity itself is not a limitation. Military necessity calls for a highly discretionary exercise: the assessment.

Yet, there is little guidance as to how this discretionary process should be exercised, apart from the notions of 'a reasonable military commander'. A reasonable assessment of 'excessive' civilian losses are presumed to be almost intuitive.

Objective standards for determining excessive civilian losses are difficult to identify, particularly when that 'excessiveness' will be understood in relative terms.

The perpetual question arises: are civilian losses acceptable if the war can be won? The result is a heavy burden of assessment placed on the shoulders of the military commander.
Industry Reviews
'Johansen's contribution is an important one that adds to the repudiation of the discredited, but stubbornly irrepressible, concept of kriegsraison geht vor kriegsmanier-the assertion that 'necessity knows no law.'' Beth Van Schaack, American Journal of International Law

More in Military & Defence Law

In Defence of Canada : Reflections Of A Patriot - General Maisonneuve
Shaping a Genuine Area of Freedom, Security and Justice - Koen Lenaerts
War Commerce and International Law - James Thuo Gathii

RRP $186.95

$146.50

22%
OFF
Eichmann in Jerusalem : A Report on the Banality of Evil - Hannah Arendt
International Counterterrorism Law - Stuart Casey-Maslen

RRP $230.95

$190.75

17%
OFF
Asymmetric Conflicts : War Initiation by Weaker Powers - Thazha Varkey Paul
Stay the Hand of Vengeance : The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals - Gary Jonathan Bass