Unlawful Combatants or Unlawful Legislation? An Analysis of the Imprisonment of Unlawful Combatants Law

Abstract:     
The paper examines the degree to which the Israeli Imprisonment of Unlawful Combatants Law conforms to both international law and the norms of Israel's constitutional law. The Law was originally intended to provide tools for dealing with terrorists who are defined by Israel as foreign unlawful combatants. The analysis of the Law leads to the conclusion that it is inconsistent with the conventions of international law; it also proves that the Law does not respect the limitations imposed by Israel's Basic Laws which seek to insure minimal interference with human liberty. Consequently, two different solutions are proposed. On the one hand, abolishing the Law and applying the Emergency Powers Law (Detentions) 1979, whose most regulations relate to similar problems to those the Unlawful Combatants Law confronts. On the other hand, recommendations for adapting the Law to the demands of the two legal regimes, i.e., international law and constitutional law, are proposed.

Keywords: Unlawful, Unprivileged, Combatant, Detention, Terrorism, Humanitarian law, IHL

Accepted Paper Series