Maria L. Nybondas, Command Responsibility and Its Applicability to Civilian Superiors

Command responsibility is one of those fascinating doctrines that, notwithstanding a long tradition, still have a controversial nature and scope. Maria Nybondas’ publication is therefore timely and it is with great interest that I ventured into its reading. My expectations were not disappointed. Nybondas managed to address the key issues in a systematic, synthetic and critical fashion, showing her intent to grasp the essence of the doctrine in order to facilitate its correct and fair application, while keeping the attention of the reader constantly alive. In doing so, the author did not limit herself to an examination from the legal perspective — the social, philosophical and moral components were also considered. This book review will discuss some of the conclusions reached by Nybondas, in an imaginary follow up conversation to one initiated almost a decade ago with her at the T.M.C. Asser Institute, and with the aim of engaging other scholars and practitioners in further discussion. After this brief introduction, the second part will highlight the different issues addressed in the book and the final part will reach conclusions

Conversation · Doctrine · Epistemology · Order (exchange · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Reading (process · Scope (computer science · Sociology · Computer Science · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · War, Ethics, and Justification · Law · Philosophy