Conference: From Gettysburg to Guantánamo: 150 Years of the Lieber Code and the Law of Armed Conflict

On November 21, 2013, the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law will host a conference on "From Gettysburg to Guantánamo: 150 Years of the Lieber Code and the Law of Armed Conflict." The program is here. Here's the idea:

Drafted by Columbia Professor Francis Lieber and signed by President Lincoln in 1863 as General Order No. 100, the Lieber Code regulated the conduct of U.S. soldiers during wartime. While the Code was limited to Union forces, the rules were based on customary law of the time and strongly influenced subsequent international codification of the law of armed conflict. The Code grappled with issues involving the regulation of armed conflicts between states and non-state groups that remain pressing today. This conference celebrating its 150th anniversary will explore the origins and import of the Lieber Code in its Civil War context, its impact on the development of international humanitarian law, and its continued significance to modern challenges in armed conflict.