The Right to Life in Armed Conflict

Disagreement reigns amongst academics, practitioners, and politicians, as to whether human rights have a place in armed conflicts, especially in extra-territorial operations, with many fearing that an application of the right to life would fetter the ability of armed forces to achieve their military objectives. Governments, including the UK, have been keen to claim derogations. Academic literature on the subject is sparse.

In this text, Ian Park seeks to fill the lacuna, by considering the UK’s litigation strategy regarding the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, including focussing on a range of cases, public enquiries, and the investigations of the Iraq Historic Allegations Prosecution Team. He puts the UK’s contribution to the NATO Operation Unified Protector in Libya in 2011 back under the spotlight, and assays the recent response to the threat of the Islamic State in Northern Iraq and Syria.

Park pulls together the most recent, and complex, case law in an area lacking previous sustained analysis, and concludes that whilst the state does have right to life obligations, the military have little reason to be concerned.