Interstitial rules and the contested application of human rights law and the laws of war in counterterrorism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13009019 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael E Newell (0000-0002-4642-1746, Syracuse University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 207-237 |
| Publication date | 2016-06-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Global Constitutionalism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2045-3817 • E-ISSN: 2045-3825 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s2045381716000071 |
| OpenAlex | W2469223038 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 19 |
The laws of war and international human rights law (IHRL) overlap, often with competing obligations. When two or more areas of the law overlap, political agents attempt to address these areas of ambiguity with interstitial rules. However, a lack of consensus on interstitial rules can destabilise the law, leading to increased contestation of legal norms and principles. Such is the case for international law in counterterrorism. Prior to the 11 September 2001 attacks (9/11), international agreements and US domestic practices placed counterterrorism within the framework of law enforcement. After 9/11, the Bush Administration replaced law enforcement with armed conflict and the laws of war as the dominant paradigm for counterterrorism, but this decision, among other legal justifications in the War on Terror, has been contested by the international legal community. As IHRL still applies in law enforcement operations, international law in counterterrorism now sits within a contested overlap of IHRL and the laws of war. The contestation of US policies in the War on Terror, including the use of drone strikes in particular, is a product of this unresolved overlap and the lack of clear interstitial rules. Lacking these rules, US counterterrorism policies risk undermining the rule of law
Ambiguity · Human rights · International human rights law · International law · Law and economics · Law enforcement · Law of war · Municipal law · Political science · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law · War, Ethics, and Justification
Contesting Global Governance
Rules, Norms, and Decisions
On the Construction of a Social Reality
The American Way of Bombing
World of Our Making
Conflicts of rights in international human rights
Rules about rules’ and the endogenous dynamics of international law
A means-methods paradox and the legality of drone strikes in armed conflict
Treaty Interpretation
Toward a Drone Accountability Regime
Rules, Norms, and Decisions. On the Conditions of Practical and Legal Reasoning in International Relations and Domestic Affairs
International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law, and Fragmentation of International Law
The Laws of War
The Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Contemporary Conflict
Interesting Times for International Humanitarian Law
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |