Editorial

This issue sees the continuation of the Responsibility to Protect debate with Rebecca Barber addressing the pressing question of whether the concept applies to allow (or require) military intervention to alleviate the consequence of natural disasters. The protection of civilians is very much the theme of the set of three articles arising out of a symposium on International Legal Developments in Darfur, held on 17 December 2008 at Oxford Brookes University. Dawn Sedman introduces the articles more fully, though it is worth noting here that Zeray Yihdego considers the application of international humanitarian law to the conflict, an area of applicable law often overshadowed in discussions of Darfur by international criminal law, particularly the indictment of President Al-Bashir. In this regard Sarah Williams and Lena Sherif explore the arrest warrant issued for the President from the perspective of the traditional immunities of heads of state. Robert Barnidge considers the UN's responses, both military (in the shape of a peace operation) and non-forcible (especially the problems of an arms embargo against the background of genocide/crimes against humanity). One of the questions addressed in the article is if the UN is not going to defend civilians, ought they be given, or least be able to acquire, the means to do it themselves?