Conference: Controversy and Developments in the Law of Armed Conflict

This Friday, April 23, 2010, the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law will host a conference on "Controversy and Developments in the Law of Armed Conflict." (Thanks to Ken Anderson at Opinio Juris for highlighting this.) The program is here. Here's the idea:

This program will examine three important efforts relating to International Humanitarian Law: the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, the more recent Commentary and Manual on International Law Applicable to Air and Missile Warfare (prepared by the Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research), and the ICRC's multi-volume study on Customary International Humanitarian Law. To what extent do the manuals reflect state practice, and what role do such manuals play in the formulation and application of customary international humanitarian law? Panels of international law experts and practitioners will discuss these important issues in a format designed to encourage lively debate, and to draw conclusions based both on scholarly treatises and the actual practice of states.