Abstract
Prima facie, compassion and law seem to belong to two different worlds. However, they are interrelated. Focusing on international humanitarian law, this contribution illustrates the extent to which compassion can be a driver of international humanitarian law, it highlights integral and textual elements of compassion in international humanitarian law, and it discusses compassionate attitudes in the operation of the law. As important as the distinction between compassion and law is, this paper argues that a compassionate lawyer may enhance the effectiveness of international humanitarian law.
Prof. Dr. iur. Thilo Marauhn, M.Phil.; Chair of Public Law and International Law at Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany; Head of Research Group “Public International Law”, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, Germany; Special Chair Arms Control Law, University of Amsterdam/Asser Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands.
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Notes
- 1.
I have been thinking about the topic of this paper for quite a while. However, I have not yet come to any definite conclusions. Thus, it remains a sketch of ideas. This has meant to test the patience of the editors of this liber amicorum, and I am grateful to them that they have been lenient with me. One of the consequences of this being merely a sketch of ideas is the purposeful omission of footnotes. As a substitute, I am happy to add the principal readings which have had an impact on my thinking, in order to enlighten the bibliographic background of this chapter: Bothe (2003); Feenan (2017); Schircks (2002); Schmahl (2011); Steiner (2010); Witt (2012).
References
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Feenan D (ed) (2017) Law and compassion (special issue). Int J Law Cont 13(2):121–224, with contributions by Dermot Feenan, Maksymilian Del Mar, Jonathan Herring, Hazel Biggs, Susan A. Bandes, Marinos Diamantides and Iain Wilkinson
Schircks R (2002) Die Martens’sche Klausel. Nomos, Baden-Baden
Schmahl S (2011) The development of international humanitarian law since the 19th century. In: Marauhn T, Steiger H (eds) Universality and continuity in international law. Eleven Publishing, The Hague, pp 485–504
Steiner Y (2010) Henry Dunant. Appenzeller Verlag, Herisau
Witt JF (2012) Lincoln’s code. The laws of war in American history. Free Press, New York et al.
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© 2023 Der/die Autor(en), exklusiv lizenziert an Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, ein Teil von Springer Nature
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Marauhn, T. (2023). Compassion and International Humanitarian Law. In: Donath, P.B., Heger, A., Malkmus, M., Bayrak, O. (eds) Der Schutz des Individuums durch das Recht. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66978-5_25
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