Environmental Law of Armed Conflict

Authors

Nada Al-Duaij, Pace University School of Law

Comments

S.J.D. Thesis, Pace University School of Law, 2002

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This thesis explains the law of the environment during armed conflicts in five parts. Part One, “General Background of Armed Conflict,” focuses on the nature of armed conflict, including international and national disputes, civil war, and the problem of applying international legal duties to internal belligerents, the impact of armed conflict on civilians, and the environmental impact of preparing for, engaging in, and recovering from armed conflict. Part Two, “Environmental Protection in International Humanitarian Law,” examines the definition of international humanitarian law (IHL), focusing particularly on the environmental protection provisions in the IHL and its current inadequacy as a tool to protect the natural environment. Part Three, “The Environmental Law Rules,” will examine relevant provisions of environmental law, and investigate environmental law rules relevant to armed conflicts in the national, comparative, and international levels. Part Four deals with “Enviro-Humanitarian Rules,” and explores the Articles of Armament Conventions, a main source of enviro-humanitarian rules. This section examines the deficiencies of those rules in the environmental protection framework. Part Five, “The Responsibility of Warfare Environmental Damage,” will examine the system of responsibility for environmental damage resulted from military activities in peacetime and in times of armed conflicts. This part explores two levels of responsibility in the international and internal systems. Part Six, “The Recommendations” in which some recommendations and proposals will be presented to better advance the environmental protection and to reduce warfare environmental damage. The recommendations are grouped according to the concerned party. Some recommendations are directed to the international community, others are directed to national societies and the last group of recommendation is directed to non-governmental organizations.

Recommended Citation

Nada Al-Duaij, Environmental Law of Armed Conflict (2002) (S.J.D. dissertation, Pace University School of Law), available at http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawdissertations/1/.