Posted by The Law School
14 November 2023In early November 2023, Professor Kubo Mačák participated in the 2023 Lieber Workshop on Civilian Protection in Armed Conflict, organized by the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
Professor Mačák presented the findings of a study, co-authored with Ms. Ellen Policinski, on the object and purpose of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. The research for the study was conducted in the context of the International Committee of the Red Cross’s project on the Updated Commentaries on Geneva Conventions, which both authors are involved in.
The study was presented on a panel dedicated to “Unresolved Foundational Issues”, which additionally featured papers on the protection of civilians during the invasion phase of international armed conflict (by Professor Michael Meier, Emory University) and the personal scope of application of the Fourth Convention (by Professor Marten Zwanenburg, Amsterdam University).
The annual Lieber Workshop is a by-invitation-only Chatham House Rule guided event intended to foster an exchange of views among military practitioners, government officials, academia and civil society on some of the salient issues related to the applicability and interpretation of the law of armed conflict. This year’s workshop was coordinated by Ms. Jelena Pejic, the Institute’s Lieber Scholar for 2023, with the support of Captain Margaret Kotlik (West Point). It consisted of six panels, each focusing on different aspects of the protection of civilians during armed conflicts, including the legal constraints on permissible security measures, the prohibitions of forced conscription and displacement, and the role of human rights law.
