Jus Post Bellum

Abstract

This chapter offers the conceptual basis for understanding jus post bellum as the normative framework for transition from armed conflict to peace. As presented in the Introduction, the origin and development of jus post bellum have taken place under a moral and a legal perspective.1 While within the just war theory the concept is built from the moral perspective of the justness of the cause and the termination of the conflict, under international law its purpose is to address legal obligations aimed at protecting people's rights in transition to peace.2This chapter-and the study in general-focuses its analysis on the legal dimension of jus post bellum. Though the concept is being discussed in legal scholarship for around 15 years,3 there is no agreement on its content and scope as a legal concept.4 The discussion has moved from maximalist to minimalist approaches,5 including authors for whom it seems still premature to consider jus post bellum into law.6 In this context, Easterday, Iverson, and Stahn highlight that "there are almost as many conceptions of jus post bellum as scholars, within and across disciplines."7