Equitable Framework for Humanitarian Intervention

Dr Ciarán Burke is a Lecturer at the University of Passau, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Brussels School of International Studies. He is also a freelance legal consultant.

• Introduction 1 The Humanitarian Intervention Discourse: A Debate on the Edges of the Law I. General Introduction II. Historical IntroductionIII. 'Kosovo' as an Illegal Operation IV. 'A Thin Red Line' – The Argument of 'Near-Legality' V. 'Contemporary Trends' and the Reform of Customary International Law VI. Legal Inadequacy and 'Solidarist Intervention' VII. 'A Custom More Honour'd in the Breach than in the Observance' – The Turn to Ethics VIII. Illegal International Law Reform: Ethics in Action IX. Necessity as the Mother of Invention X. Taking Human Rights Seriously? From Just War to Neo-Imperialism XI. Obscuring the Law XII. The Responsibility to Protect XIII. Conclusion 2 The Third Source of International Law I. Introduction II. Article 38(1) as the Wellspring of International Legal Sources III. General Principles of Law in the World Court IV. Conclusion 3 Equity as 'General Principles' in the Legal Systems of 'Civilised Nations' I. Introduction: A Bayonet to Prick the Conscience II. Legal Rigidity as the Crux of the Problem III. Equity outside the English Common Law Model IV. The Common Core of Equity V. Conclusion: Equity as a Hallmark of 'Civilised' Legal Systems 4 Equity in International Legal Practice I. Introduction II. Equitable General Principles in the Judgments of the World Court III. Equity by Analogy – The Third Category of the Third Source IV. Conclusion 5 A Framework for Equitable Humanitarian Intervention I. Introduction II. The Relationship between Equity, General Principles and Other Sources of International Law III. The Third Exception? International Equity and Humanitarian Intervention IV. Conclusion Conclusion I. Libya 2011 II. Syria 2012 III. To Be or Not To Be?

...the value of this book lies in its extensive analysis of the principles of equity in national and international law...It is certainly refreshing to find a book that puts so much law into a discussion on humanitarian intervention...