Jus post bellum deals with the termination phase of war. The idea was written about by Brian Orend

Brian Orend

Brian Orend is the Director of International Studies and a professor of Philosophy at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. He specializes in Ethics.Orend's works focus on just war theory and human rights...

 to reflect the need for rules to end wars completely and fairly.

Purpose

• Provide assurances to combatants about the terms necessary to end a conflict
• Provide terms for the end of war; once the rights of a political community have been vindicated, further continuation of war becomes an act of aggression
• Provide guidelines for the construction of peace treaties
• Prevent continuous fighting throughout peace negotiations by belligerents to gain more favorable terms.
• Prevent draconian and vengeful peace terms; the rights a just state fights for in a war provide the constraints on what can be demanded from the defeated belligerent

Just Settlement of a Just War

The following is a list of items that would be permissible for a just settlement for a just war:

• Unjust gains from aggression must be eliminated
• Punishment against the aggressor in two forms:
  • Compensation to the victim for losses incurred
  • War crime trials for the aggressor
• Security for the victim against future attack in the form of demilitarization or political rehabilitation
• Terms for settlement should be measured and reasonable ruling out unconditional surrenders
• Terms for settlement should be made public
• Leaders, soldiers, and civilians must be distinguished
  • Leaders of the aggressor must face fair and public war crime trials, if necessary
  • Soldiers from all sides of the conflict must be held accountable for war crimes
  • Civilians must be reasonably immune from punitive measures ruling out sweeping socio-economic sanctions

External links

• Justice after War by Brian Orend in Ethics & International Affairs
  Ethics & International Affairs (journal)
  Ethics & International Affairs is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering international relations that is published by the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. It was established in 1987. Topics covered in the journal range from global justice, democratization, international law,...
  
  , Volume 16.1 (Spring 2002)

See also "Jus Post Bellum: Extending the Just War Theory," by Mark J. Allman and Tobias L. Winright, in Faith in Public Life, College Theology Society Annual Volume 53, 2007 (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2008), 241-264; After the Smoke Clears: The Just War Tradition and Post War Justice, by Mark J. Allman and Tobias L. Winright (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010); and The Evolution of the Just War Tradition: Defining Jus Post Bellum by Richard P. DiMeglio, Military Law Review (2006), Vol. 186, pp. 116-163.