The Use of Force

Hosted on November 13, 2024 at Georgetown University Law Center, Stephen Preston, Partner, WilmerHale and Chair, ABA Standing Committee on Law & National Security kicked off a panel discussion among several of The Manual’s experts, including. Professor John Norton Moore, Walter L. Brown Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Virginia School of Law and Professor Craig Forcese, Law Faculty, University of Ottawa.

The Manual introduces this subject with an overview of the history of the jus ad bellum, followed by an examination of the centrality of the UN Charter, its text and interpretive rules, and its legislative history. It then sets forth 56 Rules, with comprehensively documented Commentary, dealing with the subject areas of: the Rules Application; Article 2 of the United Nations Charter; An Overview of the Lawful Categories of the Use of Force under the United Nations Charter; Force Used on the Territory of a State with the Consent of the State; Measures Taken Pursuant to an Authorization of the Security Council Under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter; Measures Taken by Regional Arrangements Lawfully Acting in Accordance with Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter; Self-Defense against Armed Attacks; Response to an Armed Attack, Generally; The Principles of Necessity and Proportionality; Anticipatory Self-Defense; Collective Self-Defense; Armed Attacks by Non-State Actors (NSAs); The Relationship between Self-Defense and Security Council Measures; Measures Taken to Rescue Nationals Abroad; Humanitarian Intervention; and Obligations under Other Rules of International Law.