The Protection of Civilians in International Law

The protection of civilians is a highly topical issue at the forefront of international discourse, and has taken a prominent role in many international deployments. It has been at the centre of debates on the NATO intervention in Libya, UN deployments in Darfur, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and on the failures of the international community in Sri Lanka and Syria. Variously described as a moral responsibility, a legal obligation, a mandated peacekeeping task, and the culmination of humanitarian activity, it has become a high-profile concern of governments, international organisations, and civil society, and a central issue in international peace and security.

This book offers a multidisciplinary treatment of this important topic, harnessing perspectives from international law and international relations, traversing academia and practice. Moving from the historical and philosophical development of the civilian protection concept, through relevant bodies of international law and normative underpinnings, and on to politics and practice, the volume presents coherent cross-cutting analysis of the realities of conflict and diplomacy. In doing so, it engages a series of current debates, including on the role of politics in what has often been characterized as a humanitarian endeavour, and the challenges and impacts of the use of force.

The work brings together a wide array of eminent academics and respected practitioners, incorporating contributions from legal scholars and ethicists, political commentators, diplomats, UN officials, military commanders, development experts and humanitarian aid workers. As the most comprehensive publication on the subject, this will be a first port of call for anyone studing or working towards a better protection of civilians in conflict.

Haidi Willmot has held a number of positions in the United Nations Secretariat, including in the United Nations Operations and Crisis Centre and the Office of the Chief of Staff and Office of Military Affairs in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Prior to joining the Secretariat, Ms Willmot was the Peacekeeping Policy Officer at the Australian Mission to the United Nations, and worked as an analyst with the New Zealand government. She previously worked in Vanuatu with the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid) and in legal practice in Australia and throughout the island nations of the Paci?c. Ms Willmot holds an BA/LLB (hons) from the Australian National University and a MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. She has published academic work in peer-reviewed journals, in edited volumes and with the International Peace Institute.


Ralph Mamiya leads the Protection of Civilians Team in the United Nations Department Peacekeeping Operations/Department of Field Support. He has spent more than seven years working on peacekeeping and protection issues, including tours with United Nations missions in Sudan and South Sudan. He has published articles on international law and international relations in journals and in edited volumes, including the Oxford Handbook on the Use of Force in International Law (2015). Mr Mamiya holds a Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School.


Scott Sheeran is Senior Legal Counsel and Leader of the Peace Operations and Sanctions Teams for the New Zealand Permanent Mission to the United Nations, in its delegation on the Security Council. He is also a Senior Lecturer (on leave) at the School of Law and Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex. He is a graduate of Cambridge University and was a United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Fellow at Columbia Law School. Mr Sheeran has previously worked as a diplomat, legal adviser, and United Nations and human rights adviser, including in New York and Geneva, and has served on the advisory council of human rights NGOs including Universal Rights Group. While posted in New York, he was Vice Chair of the United Nations Legal (Sixth) Committee. Mr Sheeran has published widely on the law of the United Nations, peacekeeping, international human rights law, and public international law.


Marc Weller is Professor of International Law and International Constitutional Studies in the University of Cambridge and the Director of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law. From 1997 to 2000 he was Deputy Director of the Centre of International Studies. During 2011/12 he served as Senior Mediation Expert in the Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat in New York. He advised on the transitions in Cote dIvoire and Egypt, and supported mediation efforts during the armed con?ict in Libya and the transition in Yemen. He served as an adviser in the Doha negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the Darfur crisis, and advised on constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Professor Weller holds Masters degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the University of Cambridge, and Doctorates in Law, in Economic and Social Sciences, and in International Law from the Universities of Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Cambridge respectively.