How is “the civilian” made knowable in contemporary war? This article argues that civilian status is increasingly produced as an epistemic outcome at the intersection of international humanitarian law (IHL) status categories, surveillance governance, and evidentiary/justificatory regimes. Through a socio-legal reading of treaty law, ICRC commentaries, military manuals, civilian-harm mitigation policies, selected jurisprudence, and public justifications, it traces two coupled production loops: pre-strike classification (pattern-of-life inference, metadata, probabilistic thresholds) and post-strike recognition (recording, investigation, secrecy, and narrative closure). The analysis shows how the presumption of civilian status in doubt can be practically inverted by risk-calculus and intelligence “confidence”, while accountability mechanisms can stabilise or erase civilianhood through files, standards of proof, and disclosure practices.
"This paper argues that modern warfare operates through an ethical infrastructure that enables, rather than restrains, the use of violence. Contrary to the common assumption that moral frameworks such as Just War Theory function as safeguards against harm, the historical record shows that ethical language, humanitarian...
Katerina Udov· Binghamton University Underg...· 0 citations
In a context marked by democratic backsliding worldwide and the additional pressures that hybrid warfare linked with the war in Ukraine places on democratic governance in European states, the foundations of military subordination to civilian authority warrant renewed scrutiny. Such strains can put pressure on defining...
Digitalization is revolutionizing the exercise and protection of civil rights and the allocation of potential risks arising from the use of automated systems. This article examines whether the above changes indicate a humanitarian crisis in civil law or reflect its adaptation to a rapidly digitalizing legal environment...
R. I. Gazizullin, F. Khamidullina· Kazan Journal of Historical,...· 0 citations
This article examines the legal position of the 1949 Geneva Conventions in resolving contemporary international conflicts. It analyzes the Conventions as the central treaty framework of international humanitarian law and evaluates their continuing relevance in international and non-international armed conflicts, asymme...
Isabelle Rochat· ILAW; International Journal...· 0 citations
This contribution traces the evolution of international legal protection for foreign-owned property from the late nineteenth century to the present. It begins by examining the pre-1900 era, when private property was largely deemed inviolable and disputes were governed by host-state treatment, before turning to the prin...
Oliver Diggelmann· ˜The œLawyer Quarterly· 0 citations
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