In his talk this evening, Professor Ohlin from the Cornell Law School discussed how military actions are classified as war crimes and how these war crimes can be prosecuted internationally. After listening to his lecture, I realized how little I had previously known about the process of international criminal cases and the complications which they involve.

Focusing on the example of the recent U.S. bombing of a hospital in Afghanistan, Professor Ohlin began by explaining that there is no easy answer to the question of what constitutes a war crime, as the killing of civilians is a frequent occurrence in war. He said that the only legal way to determine if a military action is acceptable is to look at its proportionality, in other words, the ratio of civilian lives lost against the military benefits gained. However, there is no clear objective rule for a court to use in determining how this ratio should be calculated and evaluated.

Professor Ohlin also noted that even in cases where it is clear that a country has committed a war crime it can be difficult to prosecute them. He illustrated this by mentioning that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan, al-Bashir. But since they have no way of enforcing this warrant, al-Bashir has been able to travel around Africa without repercussions.

These insights into international law gave me a better understanding of the many complexities which surround the issue of war crimes in today’s society.