09/02/2024
_The whole world watched as Israel defended itself against South Africa’s pursuit of an injunction in the Int’l Court of Justice, because Israel understood the gravity of the genocide accusations, and any orders from the Court, against it. In that case, and in many others that will likely follow, due to events not only in the Gaza Strip, but also in Ukraine, Sudan and so on, the law that will be applied, and the law expected to give victims justice, is international humanitarian law (IHL), also known as the law of war, whose importance cannot be understated._
_The Society invites Dr Miriam Bradley to explain the importance and fundamental aspects of IHL: why we need it, maybe now more than ever before, and how within its tenets lie the lessons from the unfathomably brutal and horrifying past of war, with all its human bloodshed and extremities. She’s an expert in international humanitarian studies, and she’s held teaching and research posts at the University of Oxford, UCL and the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals, whose research specialisms involve safeguarding civilian life in wartime conditions, and the political, practical and principles elements of international humanitarianism. She is more than qualified to lecture on this topic, and her insights into this area of the law, which unfortunately has become much more relevant, are well worth the listen._
