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Origin of the twin terms jus ad bellum/jus in bello

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2010

Robert Kolb
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Extract

The august solemnity of Latin confers on the terms jus ad helium and jus in bello the misleading appearance of being centuries old. In fact, these expressions were only coined at the time of the League of Nations and were rarely used in doctrine or practice until after the Second World War, in the late 1940s to be precise. This article seeks to chart their emergence.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Review of the Red Cross (1961 - 1997) , Volume 37 , Special Issue 320: 20th anniversary of the 1977 Additional Protocols , October 1997 , pp. 553 - 562
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 1997

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References

1 Jus ad bellum refers to the conditions under which one may resort to war or to force in general; jus in bello governs the conduct of belligerents during a war, and in a broader sense comprises the rights and obligations of neutral parties as well.

2 Haggenmacher, P., Grotius et la doctrine de la guerre juste, Paris, 1983, pp. 250 ff. and 597 Google Scholar ff., and “Mutations du concept de guerre juste de Grotius à Kant”, Cahiers de philosophie politique et juridique, No. 10, 1986, pp. 117–122.Google Scholar

3 There is an abundant literature on the concept of just war.

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9 The rule limiting the competence to wage war to the public authorities (i.e. the sovereign) is affirmed in an oft-quoted passage of St Thomas Aquinas which sets out the three prerequisites for such competence: auctoritas principis, justa causa and recta intentio (Summa theologica, II, II, 40, 1). See Schilling, O., Das Volkerrecht nach Thomas von Aquin Google Scholar, Freiburg im Breisgau/Berlin, 1919. On recta intentio, see Haggenmacher, , Grotius, op. cit., pp. 401 ff.Google Scholar

10 See below.

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12 Haggenmacher, , Grotius, op. cit., p. 601.Google Scholar

13 Haggenmacher, , “Mutations”, art. cit., pp. 113–117.Google Scholar

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15 On this dichotomy, see Haggenmacher, , “Mutations”, art. cit., pp. 107–108.Google Scholar

16 Haggenmacher, , Grotius, op. cit., p. 599.Google Scholar

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20 Metaphysik der Sitten, Rechtslehre, para. 53.

21 As N. Politis puts it with his usual elegance in Les nouvelles tendances du droit international (Paris, 1927, pp. 100–101)Google Scholar: “Sovereignty killed the theory of justum bellum. The States' assertion that they did not have to account for their deeds led them to claim the right to use the force at their disposal as they saw fit” — ICRC translation)

22 Wehberg, H., The outlawry of war, New York, 1931 Google Scholar, and “La mise de la guerre hors la loi”, Recueil des Cours de l'Académie de droit international de La Haye (RCADI), 1928–IV, Vol. 24, pp. 146 ff.Google Scholar; Morrison, C.C., The outlawry of war: A constructive policy for world peace, Chicago, 1927 Google Scholar; and Wright, Q., “The outlawry of war”, American Journal of International Law (AJIL), 1925, Vol. 19, pp. 76 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

23 See for example Saint Augustine, De civitate Dei, I, 1, and Epistula CXXXVI.

24 Saint Augustine, De civitate Dei, I, 1; I, 6; XIX, 23.

25 Ibid.

26 Grotius, De iure praedae, chap. VII, art. III–IV.

27 Ibid.

28 Grotius, De iure belli ac pads, Book III, chap. I, 1.

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31 G. Baker of Swinbrook, Chronicon, Oxford, 1889, pp. 86, 96 and 154.Google Scholar

32 Keen, M.H., “Treason trials under the law of arms”, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th series, 1962, Vol. 12, p. 96 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also the letter from N. Rishdon to the Duke of Burgundy, in Keen, , The laws of war, op. cit., p. 17.Google Scholar

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35 Luce, S., Histoire de Bertrand du Guesclin et de son époque. Lajeunesse de Bertrand du Guesclin, 1320–1364, Paris, 1876, pp. 600–603.Google Scholar

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39 For all these examples and others, see Contamine, Guerre, état et société, op. cit., pp. 187 ff.; Keen, , The laws of war, op. cit., pp. 1 ffGoogle Scholar; Audinet, E., “Les lois et coutumes de la guerre à l'époque de la guerre de Cent Ans”, Memoires de la Société des Antiquaires de l'Ouest, 1917, Vol. 9.Google Scholar

40 Keen, , The laws of war, op. cit., pp. 7–22 Google Scholar. It was only in the sixteenth century, at the time of the School of Salamanca, that jus belli took on the meaning that it has today in public law. See Haggenmacher, , Grotius, op. cit., p. 283.Google Scholar

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