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In this episode, Dr Simon McKenzie talks with Dr Lauren Sanders about the practical application of one of the most interesting legal obligations of international humanitarian law: the obligation to take precautions in attack. This obligation requires attackers to take “all feasible precautions” to minimise incidental loss and harm to civilian life – but what it means in practice can be hard to understand. When is a precaution feasible? How does this obligation sit alongside the permissive character of military necessity?

Dr Lauren Sanders is a Senior Research Fellow at the UQ School of Law, and she researches the legal constraints on the arms trade in military technology, as well as international criminal law, IHL, and counter-terrorism law. Before returning to UQ, Lauren spent twenty years as an Australian Army signals officer and legal officer, and has served in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor and on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, and has been a legal advisor to ADF domestic counter-terrorism operations. 

She is appearing on the show in her personal capacity, and the views she expresses do not reflect the official positions of the Australian Defence Force or Department of Defence. 

Further reading:

• Laurent Gisel, Ken Hume, Pilar Gimeno Sarciada and Abby Zeith, 'Urban warfare: an age-old problem in need to new solutions', Humanitarian Law & Policy  (27 April 2021).
• The Modern War Institute at West Point
• Michael Schmitt, 'Targeting Dual-Use Structures: An Alternative Interpretation', Articles of War (28 June 2021)
• Joshua Andresen, 'The Paradox of Precision and the Weapons Review Regime' (10 March 2019)
• Airwars