Anti-Personnel Mines Under Humanitarian Law

In the 1990s, as the world was alerted to the scale of the threat to civilians from anti-personnel mines, calls for international humanitarian law to outlaw their use intensified. These culminated in the adoption, signature and entry into force of the (Ottawa) Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines. Yet some of the biggest producers and users of the weapons remain outside the Convention, arguing that anti-personnel mines are needed until suitable, more humane alternatives can be developed. Others assert that a weapon in widespread circulation will always be used in the heat of battle, international law notwithstanding. Anti-Personnel Mines under Humanitarian Law, A View from the Vanishing Point considers in depth the various customary and conventional legal regimes applicable to the use of anti-personnel mines. It assesses how successfully humanitarian law - the ""vanishing point"" of international law - has managed to reduce the threat to civilians from anti-personnel mines, and identifies lessons for the future regulation of other conventional weaponry.