Juridification of warfare and limits of accountability : an ethnomethodological investigation into the production and assessment of legal targeting

The book makes conceptual, methodological and theoretical contributions to ethnomethodological thinking and the ethnomethodological study of military practice and law- in- action. Conceptually, the book introduces a novel research design for opening up the practical relation of law and war: It examines legal development in the interrelated work practices of the military and the judiciary – with the latter taking up the former as its object of inquiry.Using data from the military operation as well as data from the civil lawsuit that followed, the study looks at law as an inherent but differently relevant and accountable part of these two very distinct professional fields of practice.Exploring the legality of the airstrike as a methodic achievement, an achievement resulting from the analysis conducted by the parties involved in military and legal work settings, the book seeks to readdress the practical relevance of the prescribed distinction between civilians and combatants – both during and after the military operation. "The book provides an empirical account of the laws that regulate today's scenes of armed conflict by looking into the details of one particular military incident and its ex-post legal accounting. Empirically, the book focuses on a highly controversial airstrike in Afghanistan (2009), in which large numbers of civilians were identified as combatants and killed as such. The incident lends itself to reflect upon the relation between the violation of procedural rules and the violation of the international laws of armed conflict. The ethnomethodological Law-in-Action research investigates the practical details of legal accountability and explores how the event shaped and specified the legally required protection of civilians in armed conflict. Exploring the collaborative and systematic work that goes into the 'application of law' at the military and the judiciary site, the study develops an empirical respecification of the concept of 'juridification of warfare'"-- Provided by the publisher Dedication Contents Acknowledgements Abbreviations List of Figures and Tables 1 Introduction 2 Civilian Deaths and Legal Responsibility 3 Legal Assessments and the Study of Organised Action 4 Judging Military Action 5 Collaborative Accountability of Legal Targeting 6 Conclusions: Organised Action and the Assessment of Legality Appendix 1: Map Kunduz Area with German Camp and Place of Bombing Appendix 2: Redacted Transcript of Cockpit Communication Recorded in One of the F-15 Fighters References Index The book provides a detailed praxeological analysis of a single NATO-airstrike in Afghanistan as a vivid example of how an event and its ex-post accountings shape and specify the legally required protection of civilians in armed conflict.