The IALS Archives holds a varied selection of material relating to war, including records on both world wars, terrorism, war crimes and the laws of war.
The bulk of relevant records are contained in the International Law Association (ILA) Archives 1866-2019. The ILA’s records include material on both world wars, war crimes, prisoners of war, refugees, the laws of war and terrorism. Most records will be found in the ILA’s conference papers from 1874-2014 (ref: IAL/2/3-ILA2/49) and its committee files from 1875-2014 (ref: ILA/3/2-ILA/3/76. The papers of the Grotius Society, 1915-1956 (ref: ILA/5) are also held. The Grotius Society was a British society founded in 1915 to carry on the work of the ILA, whose operations had been suspended during the First World War. It was originally called the Laws of War Committee but changed its name in July 1915. Its objects were declared as being " to afford facilities for discussion of the Laws of War and Peace, and for interchange of opinions regarding their operation, and to make suggestions for their reform, and generally to advance the study of international law."
Our collection of Law Society: Examination Records, 1836-1989, contains lists of prisoner of war candidates for examinations in the 1940s (ref: LSOC/10/64-66).
Our Archives of the Bar Council, 1883-1999, the professional association for barristers in England and Wales, contains records of the War Service Committee, 1946-1947 (ref: BCO/13) lists of barristers who served in World War I (refs: BCO/31 and BCO/32).
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Institutional Archives contains a Society for Advanced Legal Studies 2002 paper: The Interdiction of Terrorist Property Working Group: The Funding of Terror – the Legal Implications of the Financial War on Terror (ref: IALS/22/2/8).
Related Material
For records in the IALS Archives relating to war refugees see our subject guide Refugees and the Law.
About the IALS Archives
The IALS Archives was established in the 1990s as an outcome of a project to investigate the location and availability for research of records of legal education. During the project IALS accepted a number of collections from individuals and organisations which were at risk of loss. Since the end of the project IALS has continued to accept deposits of archive material relating to legal education. In 2022 the IALS Archives achieved accreditation from The National Archives.
