Respect and Violation of the Law of War in Ukraine and in the Middle East: Understanding regulations and their limitations
Seminar (in person)
28. November 2024, 9:30 bis 11 Uhr
fjum, Presseclub Concordia
Registration
In-person only. No recording. Please register HERE. Number of seats is limited.
Background
The wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East have generated numerous condemnations based on legal arguments, evoking war crimes, deliberate targeting of civilian population, etc. Publicly used legal arguments do not always correspond to the laws currently regulating armed conflicts. Are there clear legal definitions? Or it is a question of interpretation?
For example, who are the war parties in Ukraine and how to define them? At what point should one consider the NATO a war party in Russia? What is an invasion and what is an incursion? When does an armed conflict become a war? Which targets are legitimate in Ukraine (and beyond) and which in the Middle East? Which law defines the role of the North Corean soldiers in Russia? When are civilian victims justified, from the military perspective?
Who is bound by these laws and agreements?
Legal aspects and definitions matter during peace negotiations. International courts can use them to prosecute war crimes and /or order reparations, to name two examples.
Brigadier General Edlinger will reply to these and any other questions the participants may have.
Speaker
Brigadier General Karl Edlinger is a retired military officer with forty-seven years‘ service in the Infantry Corps and the Armed Forces Legal Service. After completing a law degree at the University of Vienna, he was posted to the Austrian Ministry of Defence, responsible for administrative and military law. From 1998 to 2002 he was responsible for the legal training of senior officers at the National Defence Academy in Vienna. Since 2008 he served as a legal adviser for commanders on different levels and as legal expert for various project teams or inquiry boards.
BrigGen Edlinger developed and conducted courses on Law of Armed Conflict at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in Sanremo. Since 2021, he has been a guest lecturer at military academies in Rwanda, Portugal, Italy, and Greece, as well as at different institutions in North Macedonia, Serbia Türkiye, Switzerland, Ukraine, Iraq and Austria.
Format and Moderation
Conversation moderated by Mirjana Tomic, fjum/Presseclub Concordia, followed by a Q&A session. Participants are invited to ask questions even before the assigned Q&A time.
The conversation will be held in German.