International Law and the Use of Force by National Liberation Movements

This book examines two branches of the international law of armed conflict as they apply to national liberation movements. First, it explores the idea that national liberation movements may legitimately resort to the use of force to secure the right of their peoples to self-determination. Second, it examines the application of the humanitarian law of armed conflict in wars of national liberation.

Part 1 The law: the concept of law - definitions and subjects, sources of international law, the UN and the development of law; the authority to use force in international law - the concept of legitimacy, the authority to use force in world politics, intervention in internal conflicts; humanitarian protection in international law - humanity and warfare, humanitarian protection when belligerency is recognized, humanitarian protection without recognition of belligerency, national liberation movements. Part 2 Self-determination: self determination in international law - Wilson and the League, the UN charter, post-war acceleration and metamorphosis, self-determination in positive law, self-determination as a right in law, the concept of "self". Part 3 Right authority: the authority of use force by national liberation movements - United Nations resolutions, the practice of states, the 1977 protocols, the legal arguments; national liberation movements as representative authorities - international recognition. Part 4 Protection of victims: the law of armed conflict in wars of national liberation - United Nations resolutions, recent trends in state practice, the 1977 protocols additional to the Geneva conventions; the prospects for application.