YFIL Graduate Talking Series - Isaias Yemane Tesfalidet

The Yale Forum on International Law (YFIL) is pleased to welcome

Isaias Yemane Tesfalidet

an L.L.M. student from Eritrea, who will present his paper

"Construal of the Rules on Legitimate Military Objectives under the Laws of War (jus in bello) by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission"

April 7 at 1:00 p.m.,  Room 109

The decision of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission (established to ajudicate through binding arbitration claims arising out of violations of international law including the Geneva Conventions during the 1998-2000 war) to declare the Hirgigo power station a legitimate military objective raises some serious questions on understanding of the military objectives in times of conflict and the liberty that dispute settlement organs such as this Commission enjoy in international humanitarian law litigation while interpreting key terms. The presentation will try to highlight some flaws in the award, particularly the interpretation of Article 52 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, and discuss how the totality of the handling of the dispute by the Commission may create an erroneous precedent for future international decisions regarding the definition of legitimate military objectives in the realm of international humanitarian law.