Video: The 8th Annual Minerva/ICRC International Conference on International Humanitarian Law

The 8th Annual Minerva/ICRC International Conference on International Humanitarian Law took place in the Hebrew University, Jerusalem on November 24-25, 2013.

The topic of the conference:

Military Objectives and Objects of War: An Uneasy Relationship

Opening Remarks

Juan Pedro Schaerer / Head of Delegation, International Committee of the Red Cross, Israel and the Occupied Territories

Michael Mertes / Director, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Israel

Tomer Broude / Vice-Dean, Faculty of Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Session 1: Opening Address

Chair: David Kretzmer / Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Sapir College

Speaker: Francoise Hampson / School of Law and Human Rights Centre, University of Essex, The Mystery of Tests and Triggers: Does it All Boil Down to the Standard of Proof?

Session 2: Overarching Principles

Chair: Yael Ronen / Sha'arei Mishpat Law College; Academic Editor, Israel Law Review

Speakers:

Robin Geiss / School of Law, University of Glasgow, Dual Use Objects

Laurent Gisel / Legal Adviser, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, Current Challenges With Regard to the Notion of Military Objective: An ICRC Perspective

Pnina Sharvit Baruch / Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Tel Aviv University, Dilemmas Regarding the Relation Between the Principles of Distinction and Proportionality

Session 3: Military Objectives in Non-Traditional Conflicts

Chair: Yuval Shany / Dean, Faculty of Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Speakers:

Eitan Barak / Department of International Relations, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Military Objectives in Asymmetric Conflicts: The Worrisome Case of the Second Lebanon War

Noam Neuman / Head of International Law Department, Military Advocate General's Corps, Israel Defence Forces, Spatial Delimitation of Military Objectives in Asymmetric Warfare

Noam Zamir / Doctoral Candidate, University of Cambridge, Distinction Matters: Rethinking the Protection of Civilian Objects in Non-International Armed Conflicts

Ruvi Ziegler and Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne / University of Reading School of Law, 'Military Objective' in Non-International Armed Conflicts: Incorporating Post-conflict Considerations

Session 4: New Challenges to Traditional Objective Designations

Chair: Rotem Giladi / Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Speakers:

Lance Bartholemeusz / Acting Director of Legal Affairs, UNRWA HQ, Jerusalem, United Nations Law, IHL and Military Objectives

Daphné Richemond-Barak and Ayal Feinberg / Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Israel, The Irony of the Iron Dome: Defensive Systems under IHL

Ido Rosenzweig / Israel Democracy Institute; Chairman, ALMA - Association for the Promotion of International Humanitarian Law, Judging a Civilian by its Cover: Can a Civilian be Part of a Military Object?

Session 5: Military Objects in Cyberspace

Chair: Guy Pessach / Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Speakers:

Heather A. Harrison Dinniss / International Law Centre, Swedish National Defence College, The Nature of Objects: Targeting Networks and the Challenge of Legitimate Cyber Military Objectives

Kubo Mačák / University of Exeter Law School, IHL 2.0: Interpreting Military Objectives in Time of Cyber Warfare

Michael Schmitt / United States Naval War College; University of Exeter School of Law; NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, The Tallinn Manual and the Law of Military Objectives

Session 6: Broadening the Definition of Military Objective

Chair: Eitan Diamond / International Committee of the Red Cross

Speakers:

Agnieszka Jachec-Neale / University of Essex, Targeting the State and Political Leadership Infrastructure- Selected Legal and Factual Considerations

Guy Keinan / International Law Department, Military Advocate General's Corps, Israel Defence Forces, Targeting Decisions, Incomplete Information and the Role of Probability

Ken Watkin / Former Judge Advocate General for the Canadian Forces, Military Advantage: A Matter of Strategy and Tactics?