Workshop: Law and ethics in war

Past Event

Date
 01 September 2011, 10:00am 02 September 2011 - 5:00pm

Location
 Merton College
Merton Street, Oxford OX1 4JD

The Third Annual ELAC Workshop on War

A workshop hosted by the Institute of Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict

Summary: Consequentialist and contractarian elements in the laws of war sit uneasily with a rights-based approach to the question whether and when combatants are liable to attack. A debate among philosophers has unfolded on whether the laws of war therefore ought to be altered.

The key aim of the third Annual ELAC Workshop on War (previously the Oxford War Group) is take stock of these questions from both an ethical and legal perspective. Recent developments in International Law and in the reality of armed conflict warrant giving renewed attention to the following critical issues:

  • The role and conduct of military lawyers
  • The role of ethics in military organizations
  • Restraints on the use of force in direct attack
  • Direct participation in hostilities and culpability

The emphasis of the workshop is on the interdisciplinary study of war, attracting in particular the leading scholars working on the interface of law and ethics. Eight papers will be pre-circulated and discussed in an intensive two-day workshop.

Speakers:

  • Dr David Rodin, Co-Director, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, Oxford Martin School
  • Dr Seth Lazar, James Martin Fellow, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, Oxford Martin School
  • George Fletcher (Colombia)
  • Charles Garraway (British Red Cross)
  • David Luban (Georgetown)
  • Larry May (Vanderbilt)
  • Victor Tadros (Warwick)

To facilitate collegial and collaborative discussion, numbers are strictly limited and registration is required.

To register please contact lucy.crittenden@politics.ox.ac.uk