This report outlines a new way of approaching war crimes, highlighting the need for the Australian Defence Force to address systemic deficiencies in command. It argues that senior commanders are accountable, responsible, liable and culpable for crimes committed by their troops, not criminally but administratively.

This paper discusses the use of humans as shields - that is, the use of innocent civilians by terrorist groups and other actors, to shield military objects from attack. Using human shields is a war crime, but it is still pervasive and used with impunity. This paper discusses the phenomenon, outlines recent efforts to combat...

This discussion paper asserts that to rebuild the trust that is at the heart of the Australian democratic enterprise, Australia needs a Royal Commission if we are to discover how and why war crimes were committed in Afghanistan, and put in place fail-safe procedures that will prevent their re-occurrence.

This inquiry was commissioned by the Department of Defence in 2016, after rumours and allegations emerged relating to possible breaches of the Law of Armed Conflict by members of the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan over the period 2005 to 2016. This version of the report has been redacted for national security, privacy and...

This report documents the failure of the South Sudanese government to investigate and prosecute suspects of war crimes since the start of the conflict in 2013. The report is based on 47 interviews conducted with legal professionals, government officials, UN personnel, and civil society representatives working in or with the justice sector, alongside a review...