The Law Against War

The Law against War is a translated and updated version of a book published in 2008 in French (Le droit contre la guerre, Pedone). The aim of this book is to study the prohibition of the use of armed force in contemporary positive international law. Some commentators claim that the field has undergone substantial changes arising especially since the end of the Cold War in the 1990s. More specifically, several scholars consider that the prohibition laid down as a principle in the United Nations Charter of 1945 should be relaxed in the present-day context of international relations, a change that would seem to be reflected in the emergence of ideas such as 'humanitarian intervention', 'preventive war' or in the possibility of presuming Security Council authorisation under certain exceptional circumstances. The argument in this book is that while marked changes have been observed, above all since the 1990s, the legal regime laid down by the Charter remains founded on a genuine jus contra bellum and not on the jus ad bellum that characterised earlier periods. 'The law against war', as in the title of this book, is a literal rendering of the familiar Latin expression and at the same time it conveys the spirit of a rule that remains, without a doubt, one of the cornerstones of public international law.

From the Foreword by Bruno Simma
'Corten's book is weighty not just by its size, but above all through the depth and comprehensiveness with which it analyzes the entirety of what the author calls the law against war, the jus contra bellum… Corten tackles his immense task with a combination of methodical rigour, applying modern positivism and abstaining from constructions of a lex ferenda, and great sensibility for the political context and the ensuing possibilities and limitations of the legal regulation of force.'

Part 1 : Outlines of the prohibition of resorting to force

1: Methodological debates and methodological options
1.1: The methodological debate relating to the non-use of force : extensive approach versus restrictive approach
1.2: Methodological options ensuing from the choice of a restrictive approach : conditions governing the evolution of the rule prohibiting the use of force

2 : Th subject matter of the prohibition : "resort to force" and "threat"
2.1: Prohibition of the resort to " force "
2.2: Prohibition of the " threat " of using force

3 : The impact of the prohibition : "International Relations" and effects on Third States
3.1:Resorting to force in " International Relations " - the problem of non-State actors
3.2: Third States in an armed conflict

4 : The peremptory nature of the prohibition of using force and its consequences
4.1 : A peremptory norm (jus cogens).
4.2 : A rule tolerating no circumstance precluding unlawfulness


Part 2 : Limits to the prohibition of resorting to force

5 : Intervention by invitation
5.1 : The general legal system of military intervention by invitation
5.2 : The legal system of military intervention by invitation in an internal conflict

6 : Security Council authorization
6.1 : The general legal system of authorized military intervention
6.2 : The problem of the presumed authorization

7 : Self-defence
7.1 : The condition relating to the existence of an "armed attack"
7.2 : Necessity and proportionality

8 : Humanitarian Intervention
8.1 : The absence of recognition in legal instruments
8.2 : The absence of conclusive precedents.

“...a comprehensive, meticulously-researched study of contemporary international law governing the use of armed force in international relations [that] offers valuable insights into the positivist methodology that underpins much of the European scholarship of international law.

...an important addition to the literature on the use of force and should really be read by all those who are interested in this fundamental area of international law.

” –  Andrew Garwood-Gowers, Queensland University of Technology Law Review, Volume 12(2)

“His exhaustive and clear study is without doubt a very useful contribution to a controversial and still fundamental field in public international law.” –  Irene Couzigou, Global Law Books

“The three books under review offer excellent examples of legal positivism at its best and provide windows into the French ways of thinking about matters that are central to international law… They are all well worth reading to understand what the modern positivist method is, to evaluate its usefulness to the international lawyer, and to gain a better understanding of French perspectives on international law.

(Review of 3 titles in the French Studies in International Law Series: International Law, Power, Security and Justice by Serge Sur, The Advancement of International Law by Charles Leben, The Law Against War by Olivier Corten).

” –  Martin A. Rogoff, American Journal of International Law, Vol 105, 2011