Riding the Rhino: Attempting to Develop Usable Legal Standards for Combat Activities

Abstract

The body of law regulating combat activities is, essentially, a body of preventive law which should be applied in military training, planning, and operations to minimize net human suffering and net destruction of civilian objects in armed conflict. Prosecution for violations of such law is uncommon. Such prosecutions have, however, been conducted before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). This Article reviews the relevant jurisprudence of the ICTY and asserts that effective prosecution for combat offences, such as unlawful attacks, can be conducted before non-specialist tribunals and that these prosecutions can both strengthen the law and elaborate upon its substantive provisions.