IHL

• More than a month after Hamas fighters killed 1,400 Israelis in a shock assault, bombs continue to fall on the Gaza Strip in reprisal Israeli attacks.
• “Proportionality” has a place in what is described as the “laws of war.” The Conversation turned to Robert Goldman, an expert on international humanitarian law at American University Washington College of Law, for guidance on some of the issues.

What are the ‘laws of war’?

• It also includes what is known as “customary law” – rules that are accepted by states a legally binding, but are not necessarily part of any formal treaty.
• It is important to understand that modern IHL is not concerned with the reasons for, or the legality of, going to war.

Can civilian structures ever be lawfully attacked?

• This is because they, unlike munitions factories and command and control centers, do not effectively contribute to military action.
• If enemy forces take up positions in these civilian structures, then they become military objectives and can be lawfully bombed if the raid would yield the attacking party a definite military advantage.

What exactly is the rule of proportionality?

• The rule of proportionality applies to all armed conflicts as part of customary IHL.
• As such, the rule does not apply to enemy combatants or civilians who are directly participating in hostilities.

• Such a determination requires a balancing of probabilities that take in foreseeable collateral civilian casualties and the relative importance of a particular military target.
• In addition, planners of a particular attack must choose a weapon that ideally will avoid or minimize likely civilian collateral damage.
• As such, the rule or proportionality requires the attacking party to place high priority on the timely collection and evaluation of target intelligence.

Is the rule of proportionality being observed in Gaza?

• That analysis should be based on timely, reliable and constantly updated target intelligence.
• Israeli military spokesmen have stated repeatedly that they are taking all feasible measures to avoid excessive collateral damage in their bombing campaign.
• Part of this article appeared in an earlier article published by The Conversation on Oct. 15, 2023.

Robert Goldman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Ground raids in the Belgorod region of Russia, adjacent to the north-eastern frontier of Ukraine, appear to have upped the ante.
• It creates legal complications in international humanitarian law (IHL) that will be difficult to untangle unless responsibility for the operations can be definitively attributed.

Who is involved

• The incursions have been carried out, according to Ukrainian officials, by two separate groups of Russian citizens.
• These are the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL) and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC).
• Its status is unclear when it comes to the group’s relationship with Ukraine’s military command and control.
• The answers to these questions determine whether captured fighters are protected under IHL, and who will be held accountable for their actions.

Irregular fighters and international law

• The participation of irregular units in armed conflict has been a persistent feature of warfare since at least the Peninsular War (1808-1814).
• The development of international law to reflect this reality of modern warfare was further spurred by the French use of francs-tireurs (literally, “free-shooters”) in occupied areas of north-eastern France during the Franco-Prussian war (1870-1871).
• In the second Anglo-Boer war (1899-1902), meanwhile, the entire army of the Boer republics consisted of irregular farmers who were mobilised into kommandos to resist the British invasion.
• This defines entitlement after capture to the rights and protections of prisoners of war (POWs).
• A notable feature of that conflict had been the activities of armed resistance movements in occupied territory.
• And if the FRL has been incorporated into the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, as has been reported, its fighters should be considered part of the Ukrainian armed forces.
• Because they come under the IHL definition of combatants, they should be protected from being treated as saboteurs after capture, which carries a heavy penalty under Russian law.

• Incannex owned subsidiary is being led by long time Incannex director, Mr Peter Widdows.
• (ASX: IHL) (‘Incannex’ or ‘the Company’) a pharmaceutical company developing proprietary medicinal cannabinoid products and psychedelic assisted psychotherapies for unmet needs is pleased to announce that it has developed plans for the commercialisation of its psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy business (‘Psychedelic Clinics’).
• Peter Widdows, Incannex Director and psychedelic clinics business lead said: “We initially intended to use only ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, with the possibility of expanding into psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for Generalised Anxiety Disorder subject to regulatory approval.
• I’m grateful to Incannex for providing the resources to do this work and trusting us to build the clinics of the future.

• Innocoll Holdings Ltd. (“IHL”), a global biotech pharmaceutical company and portfolio business of Gurnet Point Capital (“GPC”), today announced the appointment of Kimball Hall, a seasoned commercial operations executive, as President and Chief Executive Officer.
• As part of this appointment, Kimball will also serve as Chief Executive Officer of IHL’s two subsidiaries: Syntacoll GmbH (“Syntacoll”), a contract development and manufacturing organization (“CDMO”) specializing in collagen-based technology platforms, and Innocoll Biotherapeutics Inc. (“Innocoll”), a global biotech company focusing on delivering non-opioid alternatives for postsurgical pain management.
• View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230126005290/en/
  With over 30 years of commercial operations experience, Kimball has proven expertise developing, licensing, and supplying biopharmaceutical products for global markets.
• At IHL, Kimball will lead all functions across both Syntacoll and Innocoll.