The Distinction and Relationship between Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello

(Hardback)

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This book explores the distinction and relationship between two principal branches of international law regulating the use of force: jus ad bellum (international law regulating the resort to force) and jus in bello (international humanitarian law). Two principles traditionally govern the relationship between the two: 1) separation of jus ad bellum and jus in bello and 2) equal application of jus in bello to the conflicting parties. These principles emerged in response to the claim that a conflicting party using force illegally under jus ad bellum should not benefit from the protection for victims of armed conflict under jus in bello, which would completely defeat the humanitarian purpose of jus in bello to protect all victims of armed conflict impartially. There is, however, a third principle: concurrent application of jus ad bellum and jus in bello. Unlike in the past, jus ad bellum now regulates the use of force during a conflict alongside jus in bello and hence, the two are now considered as one set of rules applying during a conflict. The book explores in detail the interaction between jus ad bellum and jus in bello in the light of these three principles. The relationship between the two has been principally discussed in the context of the use of force in self-defence and international armed conflict. However, this book examines the relationship in other contexts of a very different nature, namely the use of force under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, non-international armed conflict, and armed conflict of a mixed character. The book concludes that the three principles governing the relationship are equally valid, with certain variations, in these different contexts.

Reviews

The body of the book is a careful excavation (not untypical of a good PhD thesis which is where this book began) of the interaction and relationship of jus in bello and jus ad bellum. The complexity of the task should not be under-estimated, nor its political significance...For international lawyers concerned with the application of international humanitarian law this book will be indispensable... -- Wade Mansell * Law and Politics Book Review, Vol. 23 No. 10, *
... it is clear that, in the future, it would not be possible to discuss the relationship between jus ad bellum and jus in bello without this book. The author and others like us should pursue further discussions, taking the book as the starting point. (translated from the original Japanese) -- Professor Kyo Arai * Journal of International Law and Diplomacy *
...a unique contribution to the literature of contemporary international law. A work of this nature and this level of detail was needed in the field of IHL; reviewing recent developments in the law, convention and custom in the second decade of the century is a very difficult task. Perhaps the biggest criticism is that Spanish-speaking scholars do not have a version in their own language to share Okimoto's learning with their own students. Translated from the original Spanish -- Professor Juan Carlos Sainz-Borgo * Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional, Volume XIII *
Une varit de liens entre les deux branches du droit ressort de cette tude, mene partir d'un matriau trs vaste relatif la pratique des tats et des organisations internationales, la jurisprudence internationale et de nombreux travaux doctrinaux. travers une analyse claire et rigoureuse qui le conduit juste titre soulever plus de questions qu'il n'apporte de rponses, l'auteur dmontre ainsi que les principes rglementant les rapports entre jus ad bellum et jus in bello permettent le plus souvent d'viter les conflits entre ces branches du droit et de limiter les lacunes dans la rglementation internationale de l'emploi de la force. loin de se limiter un travail thorique, cette tude fouille est destine aussi bien aux universitaires qu'aux praticiens -- Sarah Cassella * Annuaire Franais de Droit International *

Author Bio

Keiichiro Okimoto was a delegate and legal adviser to the Delegations of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Territories, the Philippines, and Rwanda.