In this episode, we reflect on how Dharmic traditions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, engaged with principles of humanity in warfare long before the codification of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) with the Geneva Conventions. Joined by Dr. Robert Heinsch, Dr. Raj Balkaran, and Dr. Christina Kilby, we consider key IHL concepts such as collateral damage and proportionality, while reflecting on what ancient philosophies, theologies and laws can teach us about ethical warfare today. By reflecting on various historical roots and traditions of humanitarian principles, the episode seeks to encourage engagement with the evolution and applications of the laws of armed conflict. What role do the principles of humanity, distinction and proportionality play in the law of armed conflict? How does the element of storytelling in the Sanskrit epics contribute to the dissemination of ethical values? How has religion influenced International Humanitarian Law, specifically the implementation of humanitarian principles?

Guests:  

Dr. Robert Heinsch, Associate Professor in International Law at Leiden University

Dr. Raj Balkaran, Scholar of Sanskrit Narrative Literature, Public Intellectual, Online Educator

Dr. Christina Kilby, Associate Professor of Religion at James Madison University

Editors: 

Host - Dr Carl Lewis, Researcher in Public International Law, TMC Asser Institute 

Co-host - Wamika Sachdev, Intern, Asser Institute 

Flora Bensadon, Intern, Asser Institute

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has now provided two orders of provisional measures in the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) case, following the further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza since the 26th of January 2024. But what are provisional measures? What does it mean to invoke a breach of an obligation owed to the ‘international community’? What implications follow from these proceedings beyond the peace palace? And in what sense could it be argued that the ICJ may be denying reality? In this episode, we discuss all of this and more.

Guests:

Dr León Castellanos-Jankiewicz, Senior Researcher in International Law at the TMC Asser Institute

Dr Shahd Hammouri, Lecturer in Law at the University of Kent

Dr Giulia Pinzauti, Assistant Professor in International Law at Leiden University

Dr Sarah Thin, Assistant Professor in International and European Law at Radboud University

Host:

Dr Carl Lewis, Researcher in Public International Law, TMC Asser Institute

Why do states take maps so seriously? What role do they play in the international legal order? And how do international courts take them into consideration? We discuss all of this and more, with an eye to the ongoing Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela) case at the International Court of Justice. 

Guests: 

Dr Yusra Suedi, Lecturer in International Law at the University of Manchester. 

Dr Brendan Plant, Hopkins–Parry Fellow and Director of Studies in Law at Downing College, University of Cambridge. 

Prof Krista Wiegand, Professor in International Relations at the University of Tennessee,  

Mr William Worster, Senior Lecturer at The Hague University of Applied Sciences 

Hosts: 

Dr Carl Lewis, Researcher in Public International Law, TMC Asser Institute 

Ms Miranda Lalla, Student in the Advanced LLM in Public International Law, Leiden University and Intern, TMC Asser Institute 

Related Works:  

Bendel J and Suedi Y, Public Interest Litigation in International Law (Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group 2024).  

Plant B, ‘Arbitral Award of Oct. 3, 1899 (Guy. V. Venez.) (Decision on Jurisdiction) (I.C.J.)’ (2021) 60 International Legal Materials 1112.  

Powell EJ and Wiegand KE, The Peaceful Resolution of Territorial and Maritime Disputes (Oxford University press 2023).  

Riddell A and Plant B, Evidence before the International Court of Justice (British Inst of Internat Comparative Law 2011).  

Suedi Y, ‘Man, Land and Sea: Local Populations in Territorial and Maritime Disputes before the International Court of Justice’ (2021) 20 The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals 30. 

——, ‘Man, Land and Sea: Local Populations in Territorial and Maritime Disputes before the International Court of Justice’ accessed 8 February 2024. 

Worster WT, ‘The Frailties of Maps as Evidence in International Law’ (2018) 9 Journal of International Dispute Settlement 570.  

——, ‘Maps Serving as Facts of Law in International Law’ (2018) 33 Connecticut Journal of international law 278.