Discussion Topic: Coalition in the Air, Rebellion on the Ground, and

Sovereignty in the Balance: Where is International Law in the Libyan

Conflict?

The Centre for Policy Research is delighted to invite you to the discussion "Coalition in the Air,
Rebellion on the Ground, and Sovereignty in the Balance: Where is International Law in the
Libyan Conflict?" led by Professor Vik Kanwar on the 8th of April 2011. This seminar is part of
the International Law Seminar Series organized by the Group of International Lawyers in Delhi
(GUILD), anchored at CPR.

Date: Friday, 8 April 2011

Time: 5:00 - 6:30pm
Venue: Conference Room, Centre for Policy Research, Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri, New
Delhi – 110021

Prof. Kanwar will analyze the events unfolding in Libya from the point of view of the applicability
of international law to situations of rebellion and intervention. He will situate Libyan sovereignty in
terms of the government’s contentious relationship with international community and its peculiar
experiments in participatory democracy over the last four decades. He will then discuss the rebellion
in terms of doctrines covering civilians directly participating in hostilities (DPH), and the evolving
intervention in terms of legal alternatives to the underdeveloped “responsibility to protect”
framework . In legal terms, Prof. Kanwar will argue, a proper point of entry is provided by Common
Article 1 ("CA1") of the Geneva Conventions, which calls on all parties to "respect and ensure
respect" for international humanitarian law "in all circumstances."

Vivek (Vik) Kanwar is Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School (JGLS). O.P. Jindal Global
University, Sonipat, National Capital Region of Delhi, India. Assistant Director, Centre on Public
Law and Jurisprudence (CPLJ). He is a Member of the New York Bar and a graduate of New York
University School of Law. Professor Kanwar's research focuses on the history and theory of
international law. In the field of International Humanitarian Law, he has served as an expert-
consultant to the Control Arms campaign for the regulation of small arms and to the Program on
Humanitarian Law and Policy Research (HPCR) at Harvard University’s School of Public Health
and the Swiss Foreign Ministry. He has received training in IHL from the North American division
of the ICRC and the Emory Clinic in International Humanitarian Law. His publications include "Re-
Tooling the Rule of Law: Instrumentalism in the Implementation of International Humanitarian
Law" and "Post-Human Humanitarian Law: The Law of War in the Age of Robotic Warfare". He is
currently writing and presenting on critical traditions in the history and theory of international law.