The International Protection of Journalists in Armed Conflict and Other Violent Situations

Australian Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 99-140, 2008

Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 09/110

31 Pages Posted: 10 Oct 2009

See all articles by Ben Saul

Ben Saul

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law

Date Written: October 8, 2009

Abstract

Journalists and war correspondents have long assumed a special importance in investigating and documenting war crimes and other human rights violations in armed conflict. In recent years, threats to the safety of journalists have proliferated. This article considers how international law protects journalists and media personnel and objects from violence. The examines the legal regimes applicable in international armed conflict, followed by non-international conflict, and finally violent situations (or public emergencies) beneath the level of armed conflict (such as low-level insurgency, terrorism or other domestic unrest). While the normative legal frameworks protecting journalists and media objects are well developed, the application of those norms raises complex interpretive issues which are examined in this article, while there remains the residual problem - common to humanitarian law as a whole - of securing enforcement and implementation of those norms.

Keywords: law of armed conflict, international humanitarian law, journalists, media, war crimes

JEL Classification: K10, K14, K30, K33

Suggested Citation

Saul, Ben, The International Protection of Journalists in Armed Conflict and Other Violent Situations (October 8, 2009). Australian Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 99-140, 2008, Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 09/110, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1485844

Ben Saul (Contact Author)

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law ( email )

New Law Building, F10
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/profiles/ben.saul.php

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