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The involvement of multinational corporations, international traders, transporters, processors, and retailers has a crucial significance in high-risk contexts there is a wide range of commercial activities that can make economic actors criminally responsible for gross violations of international humanitarian law and human rights: this includes the sale of weaponry, pillaging or commercial transactions unrelated to war. Allowing companies and their managers to shield themselves is harmful to the development of international law. Despite the fact that international criminal law does not foresee the criminal responsibility of legal entities, international criminal law does envisage the criminal responsibility of individuals, including those in charge of large-scale commercial activities. This thesis examines the manner in which international law regulates the complicity of business executives (in their capacity as company directors/officials) managing firms within the context of an armed conflict. Complicity is a subset of culpability that connects an accomplice to a primary actor's crime. This thesis examines the framework for evaluating complicity standards and suggests alternatives to normative prosecution of company leaders. I demonstrate that international criminal law regulates individual involvement in a comprehensive manner, employing the theories of incitement and aiding and abetting to inculpate complicit actors in international crimes, and these theories are differentiated by the extent of involvement in an unlawful complicitous activity, a threshold of knowledge of the fault needed of the accomplice, and a connection requirement between the accomplice's activities and the principal’s wrong. Similarly, it investigates the evolution of the concept of complicity in customary criminal law via tribunals and hybrid courts. It examines the evolution of complicity in light of social media, war sponsorship, and profit-motivated support provided to governments

The thesis functions as an overview of the protection of children used in hostilities and their targetability under international law, primarly in international humanitarian law. The author questions the established presumption, that children directly participating in hostilities, shall be equally targetable as their adult colleges and counter parts. In times of conflicts, international humanitarian law offers children a special protection status. The prohibition against recruitment and use of children under the age of 15 illustrates two of the most relevant protective regimes. Despite these protective rules, children directly participating in hostilities remain lawful targets and their special protection status becomes severely less useful. For these reasons, the author argues, that the presumption of equal target ability hinders the Special protection of children to have the practical impact for children used on the battlefield it intened to.The tremendous amounts of child soldiers recruited by non-state armed groups shows that the prohibition against recruitment and use aren't respected. However, the author argues that the ICC juris prudence and national initiatives illustrate that the presumption of equal targetability can be challenged under international law. And, that the special protection for children in times of conflict, and international law as a whole does motivate differanting rules for targeting children versus adults participating in hostilities. For arguments presumably made on moral grounds, military personnel are willing to put themselves at greater risk to spare the life of a child soldiers forced to take part in a conflict, he or she definitely did not start. The Vancuver principles and the The Canadian Armed Forces Joint Doctrine Note shows that states are willing to follow in these footsteps by adding extra precautionary measures in the planning state of a military operation and to completely differentiate the rules for targeting children and adults. Lastly, the author argues that the rules for targeting cultural property ( set out in the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property), could be an example on how to differentiate the rules for targeting children. In this regard the author argues that, like cultural property, children directly participating in hostilities should only be lawfully targeable, at last resort, when there is no other way to fulfill the military advantage.

The way the Rome Statute deals with mistakes in armed conflicts is vague, the content of the mistake of fact provision has yet to be determined by the court. Some suggest that both objective and subjective elements exist to assess if a mistake can lead the way to the exclusion of criminal responsibility, while others suggest only a subjective element is required. This text suggests a synthesis between these concepts predicated on that mistake of fact is a provision qualifying the mental element. This qualification comes in the form of what is in the sense of the law of armed conflict reasonable to do for the actor at the specific circumstances of the inquiry. What is reasonable to do in the commission of a mistake mirrors the obligations under Additional Protocol 1 57, and boils down to certain factual obligations. One way of applying these factual obligations is through the ‘reasonable military commander’, yet the concept has some major difficulties in clearly reflecting the contents of these factual obligations on account of its foundation and construction. Superior application of these obligations is direct and ultimately what this text suggests.

Until 2024, the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for senior government officials have predominantly retained the application of indirect co-perpetration. However, the arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, related to alleged crimes in Palestine, indicates a deviation from this pattern by charging him as a co-perpetrator alongside Yoav Gallant, Minister of Defense of Israel. This thesis examines whether applying co-perpetrator liability, as opposed to indirect co-perpetrator liability under Article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute, ensures accountability for senior government officials in international criminal law. Through a case study on the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the crimes allegedly committed by Benjamin Netanyahu in Palestine, this thesis highlights that co- perpetrator liability requires an “essential contribution” to the crime, often through direct actions, complicating its application to senior government officials like Netanyahu, whose involvement is typically limited to strategic decision-making. By contrast, indirect co- perpetrator liability, based on organisational control, aligns with the hierarchical realities of senior government officials but risks overextending principal liability to individuals with vague links to specific crimes. This thesis underscores the challenge of balancing the need for accountability with the principles of individual responsibility and proportionality in international criminal law.

In the performance of law enforcement tasks, military forces frequently use expanding bullets. Such bullets are prohibited in international armed conflicts (IAC:s) by treaty, but in non-international armed conflicts (NIAC:s), the matter is regulated by the principle prohibiting means and methods of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering (SIrUS), and possibly by an independent rule of customary international humanitarian law.

This essay looks first to a proposed solution in which the law enforcement legal paradigm takes precedence, and finds such a solution incomplete and its application limited.

It proceeds to look at the prohibition of expanding bullets in NIAC:s as an independent rule,exploring the formation of customary law, the evidence value of military manuals, expanding bullets as a war crime, and the ICTY Tadíc ruling. It finds the evidence of the existence of such a rule unconvincing.

It then looks to principle of SIrUS and explores the best approaches for its interpretation and application. Ultimately, it argues that the military utility, in the form of stopping power and decreased risk of collateral injury, provided by expanding bullets is of such a scale and nature that the use of such bullets could reasonably be argued to pass the assessment as required by the principle. In light of this, the essay emphasises the need for treaty-based rules in order create effective weapons prohibitions, and that armed forces are still obliged to properly assess which set of rules govern the use of force.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the knowledge requirement in the proportionality assessment with a focus on civilian risk mitigation. More specifically, the minimum required quantum of information in the assessment. Through the legal doctrinal method, and with the strategy of examining the precautionary aspects of proportionality to infer qualities around the assessment, this paper begins by studying the obligations set forward in the law and developments in its interpretation. Secondly, the standard of the ‘reasonable commander’ is examined together with the notion of reasonableness. Lastly, potential guidance and contrasts between international humanitarian law and international criminal law are explored. Through the discussion, the conclusion reached is that the developments in the interpretation of the law, standards of conduct and guidance from international criminal law, have set forward a sizeable number of considerations in the precautionary aspects of proportionality. That given average to favourable contextual factors, should lead to a level of information making the assessment of excessiveness beyond the threshold of ‘mere speculation’. Expanding the understanding of how context influences targeting decisions, this paper furthermore explores the possibility for the concept of ‘contextual reasonableness’ in relation to proportionality. Where the required knowledge would, along a continuum, increase with higher risks of excessive harm, and where the understanding of ‘risk’ would be based more on factual circumstances than subjective appreciations. Raising the minimum quantum of required information and increasing the scope of the prior intelligence gathering process ceteris paribus. 

This thesis has investigated the status of human shields in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) conventions regulating International Armed Conflicts (IAC). It has made an introduction starting with the history of human shields. Then it has noted the contemporary view of human shields. The IHL section has concluded that forced human shields are civilians and the attacking party in situations where forced shields are present need to make proper proportionality and precautions calculations. Voluntary shields are according to the ICRC interoperative guidance not civilians Directly Participating in Hostilities (DPH). Hence voluntary shields are still civilians and still protected and should be subjected to proper proportionality and precautions calculations. Other states have disagreed with this view and noted that voluntary shields are civilians DPH and hence lose their protection during the shielding act.

The theoretical section has noted that contemporary shield allegations is mostly involving women and children. Women are assumed be civilians in war due to gender biases connected to their sexual and reproductive rights. This makes the shield classification of women in contemporary conflicts more likely to be involuntary than voluntary.

This essay has included a case example of the Gaza Protest 2018. The case regards Razzan Al-Najjar who was classified as an involuntary shield by the Israelian Defense Force (IDF). I have argued that based on the situation, Al-Razzan was classified as an involuntary shield and not a voluntary one based on her gender.

The thesis is concluded with an aim and purpose section, discussing the ethics related to the question reached. 

Dagens palestinska rättsväsende är ett resultat av de olika rättstraditioner som under årens lopp rått på Västbanken, Gazaremsan och i östra Jerusalem. De statsmakter som under olika perioder har administrerat dessa områden – ottomanerna, britterna, jordanierna, egyptierna och israelerna – har var och en på sina sätt satt djupa avtryck i såväl det allmänna rättsmedvetandet som i nu rådande rättsregler. Störst avtryck bland alla dessa har dock en annan ännu tidigare rättstradition gjort: den arabiska sedvanerätten.

The Swedish Armed Forces as an organization are undergoing an exciting phase where the conversion to a professional military, with employed soldiers, is in full swing. In a recent study the Swedish National Defence College observed a problem in the interaction between officers and soldiers in the new organization. A term that is widely used in the military profession is trust, which forms the starting point in this paper to analyze the problem from the study. The purpose of this paper is to identify whether there are preconditions for building trust from the soldier to the officer in today’s Swedish professional military.

In the paper the aforementioned study is summarized into four situations to provide a comprehensive overview of the problem. The study is analyzed out of the factors that create trust according to the theories from the Swedish and Canadian defence colleges. The analysis is structured by the factors from Swedish theory, while the factors from Canadian theory reinforce and develop the analysis further.

From the trust perspective used in this paper, the result shows that the creation of trust is impeded in all factors of the Swedish theory. The conditions that inhibit trust are: an imperfect view of how the officer deals with soldier’s experience, the platoon commander’s increased administrative services and personnel turnovers. One conclusion is that if these preconditions are changed, there will be better opportunities to build trust.

Social media platforms are increasingly important arenas for communication in today’s society. These platforms can both enable and restrict their users’ exercise of free speech. The right to freedom of expression has traditionally protected individuals against state interference. However, the most popular social media platforms are owned by private companies, which creates new challenges for the constitutional protection of freedom of expression. This study examines how constitutional free speech rights have been adapted and should be adapted to the new communicative landscape dominated by social media.

A comparative study of the adaption of constitutional free speech guarantees to social media in the US, Sweden and Germany is carried out. Relevant European law (European Convention on Human Rights and European Union law) is also included in the comparison. Four dimensions of the exercise of free speech on social media are compared. Firstly, social media users' and platforms' free speech rights are studied. Secondly, it is analysed whether constitutional free speech rights can be applied to relationships between private social media platforms and their users (horizontal effect). Thirdly, the state’s potential positive obligations to protect users' freedom of expression against social media companies are examined. Finally, laws regulating the effects of social media platforms on free speech exercise are addressed, including the Digital Services Act adopted by the European Union.

Through the comparative analysis, different constitutional law mechanisms that allow freedom of expression to impact relationships between private social media platforms and their users are identified. Constitutional free speech guarantees can affect the activities of social media platforms through the horizontal effect of constitutional rights or the state’s positive obligations. Even without horizontal effect and positive obligations, the constitutional free speech law may allow the state to regulate platforms’ power over free speech through ordinary laws. It is argued that regardless of which of these constitutional law mechanisms is used, it is necessary to balance competing free speech interests of speakers, audience, platforms and society against each other. Guidelines for weighing the various free speech interests against each other are presented in the last chapter of the dissertation. It is suggested, among other things, that democracy should be chosen as the guiding free speech value for such a balancing exercise.

Avstängningen av USA:s f.d. president Donald Trump från Twitter och flera andra sociala medieplattformar har väckt debatt kring privata företags ansvar för yttrandefrihet och demokrati. Trumps bannlysning ger upphov till flera komplexa juridiska frågor och understryker behovet av att analysera de sociala medieföretagens agerande och rättsliga ställning från ett helhetsperspektiv.

Teknologisk utveckling och framgångar avseende precisionsbekämpning, syftande till reducering av oönskade sidoeffekter, är ett område där det finns ett gott utbud av tidigare forskning. Åtminstone om man ser till precisionsbekämpning med flyg. Men hur är det inom artilleriet?

Syftet med detta arbete är att diskutera utvecklingen av svensk artilleritaktik inom ämnet precisionsbekämpning ur ett folkrättsligt perspektiv. Hur kan nyttjande av XM982 Excalibur ses som förenligt med folkrätten, och är folkrätten spårbar i våra reglementen? Detta kan synliggöras genom en fallstudie av det amerikanska användandet av granaten i Irak från och med granatens introducering på slagfältet i maj, 2007.

Genom en kvalitativ textanalys av dokument rörande arbetets ämne och en teoretisk utgångspunkt i folkrätten i form av tre utvalda folkrättsliga principer, kommer situationer där amerikanska förband genomfört insatser med Excalibur att analyseras för att skapa underlag till diskussionen kring de svenska reglementena.

Resultatet visar på att särskilda urklipp ur reglementsserien kan härledas till de folkrättsliga principerna och finna förankring i amerikansk beprövad erfarenhet.

In the summer of 2024, the first reports of “Dragon drones” in the Ukraine War was covered on social media. Videos were showing the “Dragon Drones” spewing out molten metal flakes on the battlefield. Combing Thermite and drones has never been done in modern warfare before. This raises questions of what exactly these drones are and what they are capable of? But also, what can the observations from The War tell us, are they legal? And if so, why not?

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the use of Thermite UAS in the Ukraine War. The first question is based on whether Thermite UAS can be considered an incendiary weapon according to CCW Protocol III. Second, whether this weapon system can be considered Natural or Calculated in relation to superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering under Customary International Humanitarian Law.

The result has found that Thermite is not covered by CCW because the convention specifically excludes thermite against military objectives and combatants. But the same time Thermite is covered by CCW if the conduct is considered to cause superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering. According to observations the result suggest that only military objectives have been targeted. A distinction from civilians and civilian objects has been made. The research also suggest that there is a gap between CCW and Customary International Humanitarian Law. The discourse on incendiary weapons and LAWS tends to fall in under the category of AI. The author argues that the answer to the gap between CCW and Customary International Humanitarian Law is found within the human responsibility of commanders and UAS operators. Depending on the assessment of military advantage gained from a Thermite strike it is important to balance the military necessity versus humanity in that specific military operation, due to the unique circumstances

The ‘debate’ section of the Review aims at contributing to the reflection on current ethical, legal, or practical controversies around humanitarian issues.

In this issue of the Review, we invited two experts in international humanitarian law (IHL) and multinational peace operations – Professor Eric David and Professor Ola Engdahl – to debate on the way in which the involvement of a multinational force may affect the classification of a situation. This question is particularly relevant to establishing whether the situation amounts to an armed conflict or not and, if so, whether the conflict is international or non-international in nature. This in turn will determine the rights and obligations of each party, especially in a context in which multinational forces are increasingly likely to participate in the hostilities.

I Estland 2007 utbröt vad som kommit att kallas ”Cyberwar I”, vari ett stort antal centrala myndigheters, tillika finansiella institutioners servrar attackerades av massiva så kallade Computer Network Attacks (CNA), utfört av framförallt ryska aktörer. Estland protesterade högljutt, men frågan huruvida CNA är att beteckna som olovligt är allt annat än klar. Prövningen sker mot den folkrättsliga regimen Jus ad Bellum, och huruvida metoden uppfyller vissa centrala begrepp. Men hur skall denna regim appliceras CNA?

De frågeställningar som avses besvaras är: hur kan CNA utgöra våld eller hot om våld i enlighet med FN-stadgans artikel 2(4) samt hur kan CNA utgöra väpnat angrepp i enlighet med FN-stadgans artikel 51? Detta avses göras genom en studie inbegripande flertalet folkrättsliga experters teorier på området CNA och våldsanvändning, samt applicering av desamma på en fallstudie av händelserna i Estland 2007.

Sammanfattningsvis konstateras att flertalet variabler har bärighet i hur CNA kan uppfylla artiklarnas centrala begrepp, vari frågan om association, effekt, aktör och mål tydligast faller ut. I en efterföljande diskussion påvisas dock hur variablerna endast är att betrakta som indicier på hur CNA kan klassas så som olovligt, varvid endast statspraxis kan ge den slutgiltiga bedömningen.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine and shed light on the potential long-term effects of depleted uranium weapons on the environment and civilians while placing it in the legal context of the law of armed conflict, specifically in relation to the principle of proportionality in attack and the accompanying incidental harm assessment. The thesis question is, “do the potential long-term effects on the environment and civilians when using depleted uranium weapons form part of the incidental harm assessment when calculating proportionality in the attack?”

The thesis starts by explaining what depleted uranium is and why it is used in weapons. It then briefly presents the extent to which the weapon has been used historically. It then details the alleged long-term effects of the weapon on both the environment and health together with the accompanying debate and controversy regarding those effects. Thereafter, it sets out a brief summary of LOAC and the targeting framework, followed by a more detailed overview of the principle of proportionality. The thesis then delves into the more complex issues at hand concerning long-term effects, temporal scope, the causal link, and if the environment forms part of incidental harm. 

Based on the majority view of scholars, treaty interpretation and state practice the author concludes that long-term effects form part of the incidental harm. Further, the author concludes that long-term or reverberating effects have no decisive temporal scope. The only limiting factor is that the effect should be reasonably foreseeable for the commander planning the attack. Reasonably foreseeability is the test and causal link in determining what ‘may be expected’. The author also concludes that environmental damage is part of the incidental harm side of proportionality. 

In regard to the main question, the author concludes that the potential long-term effects of DU weapons on civilians do not form part of the proportionality calculation because they are merely too speculative and not reasonably foreseeable with regard to the current scientific state. However, the long-term environmental effects may form part of the proportionality calculus on an operational level due to the existence of more evidence that DU weapons used on a major scale could potentially affect the environment even though the risk is small, making it reasonably foreseeable to a certain degree.

The 1994 Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel (Safety Convention) was the first multilateral convention to deal specifically with the protection of personnel engaged in peace operations. It should be viewed against the background of the increasingly volatile environments in which peace operation personnel were required to operate at the beginning of the 1990s.

Protection, for which a host government is responsible for securing for personnel in peace operations, may be categorised as a general and a special protection. The former includes, for example, human rights law and international humanitarian law. The latter comprises privileges and immunities accorded to agents of states or organisations.

The contribution of the Safety Convention is mainly one of interstate penal law co-operation. States parties are obligated to co-operate in order to effectively prosecute the perpetrators of stipulated crimes. The protection afforded by the Safety Convention may therefore be categorised as being part of an emerging legal regime against impunity. The Safety Convention’s scope of application, however, has been criticised and at the time of writing an additional protocol was being discussed within the framework of an Ad Hoc Committee. This committee has met annually since 2002.

Current peace operations often include a regional dimension. The multifunctional character of such operations requires a wide range of personnel, from military forces to civilian contractors. They are often based upon Chapter VII of the UN Charter and charged with enforcement capabilities.

An effective protection needs to address the specific challenges surrounding such operations. Some of these challenges, identified in this study, include the need to broaden the scope of application of the Safety Convention and the interplay between the rules of peace and war as well as responsibility and accountability of protected personnel. It is also contended that there is a need for an effective implementation of existing rules, and a careful development of so-called status-of-forces agreements applicable in peace operations.