Jus post bellum

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Jus post bellum (/juːs/ YOOS; Latin for "Justice after war") is a concept that deals with the morality of the termination phase of war, including the responsibility to rebuild. The idea has some historical pedigree as a concept in just war theory.^[1] In modern times, it has been developed by a number of just war theorists and international lawyers.^[2] However, the concept means different things to the contributors in each field. For lawyers, the concept is much less clearly defined, and many have rejected the usefulness of the concept altogether.^[3] The concept continues to attract scholarly interest in the field of international humanitarian law.^[4]

Background

Brian Orend cites Immanuel Kant as the first to consider a three-pronged approach to the morality of armed conflict^[5] and concluded that a third branch of just war theory, the morality of the termination phase of war, had been overlooked.^[6] A related concept to the jus post bellum is the lex pacificatoria, the law of peacemaking by treaty^[7] to introduce the jus post bellum phase.^[8]

Purpose

The purpose of the concept and its usefulness depends on whether it is considered as a moral or a legal concept. Its usefulness as a matter of law is very unclear. As a concept in just war theory, the jus post bellum debate considers a number of issues:^[9]

• Provide terms for the end of war; once the rights of a political community have been vindicated, further continuation of war becomes an act of aggression.
• Provide guidelines for the construction of peace treaties.
• Provide guidelines for the political reconstruction of defeated states.
• Prevent draconian and vengeful peace terms; the rights a just state fights for in a war provide the constraints on what can be demanded from the defeated belligerent.

Thus, the areas within which jus post bellum applies can include restraining conquest; political reconstruction, especially in the case of genocide and war crimes; and economic reconstruction, including restoration and reparations.^[10]

See also

• Jus ad bellum
• Jus in bello
• Just War Theory
• Lex pacificatoria
• Peace treaty

References

• Allman, Mark J. and Winright, Tobias L. "Jus Post Bellum: Extending the Just War Theory" in Faith in Public Life, College Theology Society Annual Volume 53, 2007 (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2008), 241–264
• Allman, Mark J. and Winright, Tobias L. After the Smoke Clears: The Just War Tradition and Post War Justice (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010)
• DiMeglio, Richard P. "The Evolution of the Just War Tradition: Defining Jus Post Bellum" Military Law Review (2006), Vol. 186, pp. 116–163.
• Orend, Brian. War in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2000/2005.
• Österdahl, Inger (2012). "Just War, Just Peace and the Jus post Bellum". Nordic Journal of International Law. 81 (3): 271–294.
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