The End of the War/Peace Limit on the Application of International Human Rights Law: A Comment On “The Limits of Human Rights in Times of Armed Conflict and Other Situations of Armed Violence”

Abstract

In “The Limits of Human Rights in Times of Armed Conflict and Other Situations of Armed Violence,” Andrew Clapham explains how the dynamics of international human rights law (IHRL) in recent decades, which give effect to foundational principles such as universality and the non-derogability of core humanitarian norms, have extended the limits of IHRL. This comment discusses three sets of concerns, which are also touched upon by Clapham, explicitly or implicitly: the disruptive effect of IHRL on substantive regulations of conflict situations, the functional limits of IHRL monitoring bodies and the political backlash encountered due to normative and institutional expansion. The comment also offers a number of critical observations on how IHRL has developed so far in relation to armed conflict situations and how should IHRL monitoring bodies apply IHRL in such situations.

Keywords: Armed conflict, co-application, normative expansion, political backlash, jurisdiction, human rights committee, European Court of Human Rights

JEL Classification: K33