Ville Kari
On the publication of The Classical Doctrine of Civil War in International Law (Cambridge University Press 2026), Doctors’ Commons International is proud to release its related unofficial companion, A Digest of the Classical Law of Civil War. You may download the PDF via this link:
The Digest started off as a notebook of normative citations, rules, cases and principles from various sources from across the centuries. As my work progressed, I began to separate my historical-legal narrative from the rules-specific findings of my research, until I finally compiled my legal notes in the shape of a separate Digest.
The Digest is an inconsistent collage of rules and arguments, but a very useful one at that. It assembles a mass of raw citations, organised in a somewhat coherent pattern, into a collection of contradictory, often diametrically opposite views from authors from radically different time periods. Its purpose is illustrative and instructive in an academic and legal sense; it is a box of raw material for legal arguments and a collection of references and links for scholars interested in looking where the research took me. It is the distillation of a lot of work, and I am proud and pleased to share it with anyone who wishes to have a look.
The Digest was produced many years ago, in the middle of a long research process. The reader will therefore find many more references and perspectives in the forthcoming book.
