When: 28 November 2024, 9:30-11:00
Where: Presseclub Concordia, Bankgasse 8, 1010 Vienna. In-person only.
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Speaker
Brigadier General Karl Edlinger is a retired military officer with forty-seven years' service in the Infantry Corps and the Armed Forces Legal Service. After completing a law degree at the University of Vienna, he was posted to the Austrian Ministry of Defence, responsible for administrative and military law. From 1998 to 2002 he was responsible for the legal training of senior officers at the National Defence Academy in Vienna. Starting 2008, he served as a legal adviser to commanders on different levels and as a legal expert for project teams or inquiry boards.
BrigGen Edlinger developed and conducted courses on Law of Armed Conflict at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in Sanremo. Since 2021, he has been a guest lecturer at military academies in Rwanda, Portugal, Italy, and Greece, as well as at different institutions in North Macedonia, Serbia Türkiye, Switzerland, Ukraine, Iraq and Austria.
Background
The wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East have generated numerous condemnations based on legal arguments, evoking war crimes, deliberate targeting of civilian population, etc. Publicly used legal arguments do not always correspond to the laws currently regulating armed conflicts. Are there clear legal definitions? Or it is a question of interpretation?
For example, who are the war parties in Ukraine and how to define them? At what point should one consider the NATO a war party in Russia? What is an invasion and what is an incursion? When does an armed conflict become a war? Is there a legal definition or it is a question of interpretation? Which targets are legitimate in Ukraine (and beyond) and which in the Middle East? Which law defines the role of the North Korean soldiers in Russia? When are civilian victims justified, from the military perspective?
Who is bound by these laws and agreements?
Legal aspects and definition matter during peace negotiations. International courts can use them to prosecute war crimes, when possible, and /or order reparations.
Brigadier General Edlinger will reply to these and any other questions the participants may have.
Format, Concept and Moderation
Intorudction, short conversation with Mirjana Tomic, fjum, followed by a Q&A session.
Participants can ask question even before the assigned Q&A time.
Target audience
Professional journalists and academic researchers.
Maximum: 30 participants