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    Eye in The Sky: Public International Law

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    Jeiel Jill Tajanlangit
    The document discusses the principles of international humanitarian law (IHL) and their application in the film Eye in the Sky. It summarizes that IHL aims to limit suffering in war and is independent of questions about the justification for war. The principles discussed are: (1) jus ad bellum, which was not violated as the strike had valid consent from Kenya; (2) distinction, which was arguably violated by the civilian casualty; and (3) proportionality, which the officials determined was met by sacrificing one civilian to save many others from terrorists. Military necessity was also met to eliminate the imminent threat posed by the terrorists.

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    Eye in The Sky: Public International Law

    Uploaded by

    Jeiel Jill Tajanlangit
    1K views1 page
    The document discusses the principles of international humanitarian law (IHL) and their application in the film Eye in the Sky. It summarizes that IHL aims to limit suffering in war and is independent of questions about the justification for war. The principles discussed are: (1) jus ad bellum, which was not violated as the strike had valid consent from Kenya; (2) distinction, which was arguably violated by the civilian casualty; and (3) proportionality, which the officials determined was met by sacrificing one civilian to save many others from terrorists. Military necessity was also met to eliminate the imminent threat posed by the terrorists.

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    Eye in the Sky- PIL

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    Eye in the Sky: Public International Law

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    The document discusses the principles of international humanitarian law (IHL) and their application in the film Eye in the Sky. It summarizes that IHL aims to limit suffering in war and is independent of questions about the justification for war. The principles discussed are: (1) jus ad bellum, which was not violated as the strike had valid consent from Kenya; (2) distinction, which was arguably violated by the civilian casualty; and (3) proportionality, which the officials determined was met by sacrificing one civilian to save many others from terrorists. Military necessity was also met to eliminate the imminent threat posed by the terrorists.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    1K views1 page

    Eye in The Sky: Public International Law

    Uploaded by

    Jeiel Jill Tajanlangit
    The document discusses the principles of international humanitarian law (IHL) and their application in the film Eye in the Sky. It summarizes that IHL aims to limit suffering in war and is independent of questions about the justification for war. The principles discussed are: (1) jus ad bellum, which was not violated as the strike had valid consent from Kenya; (2) distinction, which was arguably violated by the civilian casualty; and (3) proportionality, which the officials determined was met by sacrificing one civilian to save many others from terrorists. Military necessity was also met to eliminate the imminent threat posed by the terrorists.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    “The law is not here to get in your way,

    it is here to protect you, and to protect your target.” (Eye in The Sky, 2015)

    Tajanlangit, Jeiel J. JD 211- Public International Law

    International Committee on Red Cross defined International Humanitarian Law or


    jus in bello as “the law that governs the way in which warfare is conducted. IHL is purely
    humanitarian, seeking to limit the suffering caused. It is independent from questions
    about the justification or reasons for war, or its prevention, covered by jus ad bellum.”1.
    The movie Eye in the Sky is a good depiction on when and how the fundamental
    principles of IHL apply. The applicable principles are as follows:
    First is jus ad bellum, or the law governing when force can be used outside the
    territorial limits of jurisdiction. UN Charter 2 (4) provides that states cannot use force
    extraterritorially except on the special case of self-defense. On the movie, it was
    preliminarily discussed by the supervising officials that an air strike in Kenya would be a
    problematic action as it would be in violation of the abovementioned mandate. UK is not
    in a raging war with Kenya, thus, self defense is not a valid justification of the action to
    strike. But we should take note that the mission is a joint activity of US, UK and the
    country where the attack was about to happened, Kenya. Ergo, a valid consent to
    conduct military activity was present. No violation of the principle of jus ad bellum in this
    case then, legal.
    Second, Principle of Distinction which states that “an armed conflict must at
    all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and
    between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their
    operations only against military objectives”2 It is apparent that the strike’s target is the
    militants gathering on a house in Nairobi, which is clearly the military objective and we
    also knew what happened on the movie when Hellfire hit the house twice; a perfect
    civilian figure on the mortality of the young girl who sells bread was lost indicating that
    this principle is violated (although later justified legal and necessary by the military and
    political officials).
    Third, Principle of Proportionality which “prohibits attacks against military
    objectives which are expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians,
    damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in
    relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.”3 One of the most
    memorable quote in the film is when the Foreign Secretary asked the African
    Undersecretary, “And you would save [her] and risk killing 80 others?” who replied
    saying “Yes, I would save her and take that risk.” On this scene, majority of the political
    officials had a meeting of minds on the implication that rather than dealing with the
    casualty which the two suicide bombers would inevitably cause, it’s best to sacrifice the
    life of an innocent civilian thus connotes to the proportionate life of a single innocent girl
    in exchange to the safety of thousands of people and its property which is I believe, a
    question of human morality.
    Lastly, the Principle of Military Necessity which “is a circumstance precluding
    the wrongfulness of an otherwise internationally wrongful act. The state of necessity can
    be invoked under precise conditions, laid down in Article 25 of the International Law
    Commission’s Articles on State Responsibility”4 to wit: (a) is the only way for the State to
    safeguard an essential interest against a grave and imminent peril; and (b) does not
    seriously impair an essential interest of the State or States towards which the obligation
    exists, or of the international community as a whole. On the movie, the arming of suicide
    vests is a good indication that there’s a ticking time bomb about to explode any minute
    once they leave the house. The military officials have no other option but to strike the
    house given that the Kenyan military is of disadvantage if they were to attack. Thus,
    requisite A is present. As to B, both the military and political officials made sure that
    they are in cognizance with the law through constant legal consultation and exercising
    chain of command. Nonetheless, the mission aroused from the prerogative that there is
    an essential obligation of eliminating the presence of the militant terrorist towards the
    peace and order of the country and its people.

    1 https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/war-and-law/ihl-other-legal-regmies/jus-in-bello-jus-ad-bellum/overview-jus-ad-bellum-jus-in-bello.htm
    2 https://casebook.icrc.org/glossary/distinction
    3 https://casebook.icrc.org/glossary/proportionality
    4
    https://casebook.icrc.org/glossary/necessity-defence

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