International Humanitarian Law, also known as the Laws of War or Law of Armed Conflict is the part of public international law that regulates international and non-international armed conflict. International Humanitarian Law consists of the rules applicable during the conflict. These rules also apply to a situation of occupation arising from armed conflict. The International Humanitarian Law rules can be found in both treaties and international customary law. The main objective of these rules is to provide protection to the civilian population and civilian objects as well as to those persons who are no longer taking part in the hostilities. In addition, International Humanitarian Law rules aim to restrict the methods and means of warfare used during the hostilities by the parties involved. The International Committee of the Red Cross, a non-governmental humanitarian organization with its headquarter in Geneva, is the primary institution for International Humanitarian Law. Established in 1863, the initiatives of the ICRC have greatly contributed to the development of international humanitarian law. The ICRC also monitors the implementation of International Humanitarian Law rules and norms.
This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research on International Humanitarian Law. It provides the basic legal materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library’s classification index code 211. International Humanitarian Law; General Works and subject heading (keyword) International Humanitarian Law are instrumental for searching through the Catalogue. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.
The International Humanitarian Law Research Guide of the Peace Palace Library is updated regularly in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Library in Geneva.
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A growing number of states use private military and security companies (PMSCs) for a variety of tasks, which were traditionally fulfilled by soldiers. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the law that applies to PMSCs active in situations of armed conflict, focusing on international humanitarian law. It examines the limits in international law on how states may use private actors, taking the debate beyond the question of whether PMSCs are mercenaries. The authors delve into issues such as how PMSCs are bound by humanitarian law, whether their staff are civilians or combatants, and how the use of force in self-defence relates to direct participation in hostilities, a key issue for an industry that operates by exploiting the right to use force in self-defence. Throughout, the authors identify how existing legal obligations, including under state and individual criminal responsibility should play a role in the regulation of the industry.
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This book comprises contributions by leading experts in the field of international humanitarian law on the subject of the categorisation or classification of armed conflict. It is divided into two sections: the first aims to provide the reader with a sound understanding of the legal questions surrounding the classification of hostilities and its consequences; the second includes ten case studies that examine practice in respect of classification.Understanding how classification operates in theory and practice is a precursor to identifying the relevant rules that govern parties to hostilities. With changing forms of armed conflict which may involve multi-national operations, transnational armed groups and organized criminal gangs, the need for clarity of the law is all-important. The case studies selected for analysis are Northern Ireland, DRC, Colombia, Afghanistan (from 2001), Gaza, South Ossetia, Iraq (from 2003), Lebanon (2006), theso-called war against Al-Qaeda, and future trends. The studies explore the legal consequences of classification particularly in respect of the use of force, detention in armed conflict, and the relationship between human rights law and international humanitarian law. The practice identified in thecase studies allows the final chapter to draw conclusions as to the state of the law on classification.
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The legal norms of International Humanitarian Law are the product of a compromise between humanitarian considerations and the demands of military necessity. In Searching for a ‘Principle of Humanity’ in International Humanitarian Law, international legal scholars consider whether humanitarian considerations have an independent legal impact on IHL beyond the formation of these norms. They ask whether a ‘principle of humanity’ can be said to have legal force in its own right. Moreover, the book investigates whether regional or national differences are emerging regarding the import and emphasis placed on humanitarian considerations. For instance, do states which are not directly affected by armed conflict attach a greater weight to humanitarian considerations when interpreting and applying IHL than those states which are more directly involved in armed conflicts? Specifically, this book examines whether a particular ‘Nordic perspective’ can be identified, owing to those states’ involvement in armed conflicts outside their own territories in the post- Second World War era.
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At various times in modern history, the international community has turned to international litigation as a hoped-for means of avoiding, ending, or dealing with the consequences of armed conflict; but until the past three decades, such litigation rarely had a significant impact. However, since the 1980s, international civil tribunals have become increasingly involved in armed conflicts, sometimes with important results. This book explores the recent cases in which the International Court of Justice and other tribunals have dealt with such situations. It assesses the manner in which these cases have been decided, the degree to which they have affected the resolution of the conflicts in question, and their contribution to the development of the applicable substantive law.
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Targeting is the primary method for securing strategic objectives in an armed conflict. Failure to comply with the law of targeting jeopardizes the achievement of those aims. It is therefore essential that all those involved in or studying issues surrounding targeting have an accurate and complete understanding of this area of law. This book offers the definitive and comprehensive statement of all aspects of the law of targeting. It is a ‘one-stop shop’ that answers all relevant questions in depth. It has been written in an open, accessible yet comprehensive style, and addresses both matters of established law and issues of topical controversy. The text explains the meanings of such terms as ‘civilian’, ‘combatant’, and ‘military objective’. Chapters are devoted to the core targeting principles of distinction, discrimination, and proportionality, as well as to the relationship between targeting and the protection of the environment and of objects and persons entitled to special protection. New technologies are also covered, with chapters looking at attacks using unmanned platforms and a discussion of the issues arising from cyber warfare. The book also examines recent controversies and perceived ambiguities in the rules governing targeting, including the use of human shields, the level of care required in a bombing campaign, and the difficulties involved in determining whether someone is directly participating in hostilities.
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With ‘displacement’ as the guiding thread, the purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, it derives from the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law a legal framework for the protection of displaced persons in armed conflict, both from and during displacement. It contains a case study on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the recent Advisory Opinion on the Separation Wall, and addresses such issues as humanitarian assistance for displaced persons, the treatment of refugees in the hands of a party to a conflict and the militarisation of refugee camps. Secondly, it examines the issue of displacement within the broader context of civilian war victims and identifies and addresses the normative gaps of international humanitarian law, including the inadequacy of concepts such as ‘protected persons’ and the persistence of the dichotomy between international and non-international armed conflicts, which is at odds with the realities of contemporary armed conflicts.
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The controversy surrounding targeted killings represents a crisis of conscience for policymakers, lawyers and philosophers grappling with the moral and legal limits of the war on terror. The book examines the legal and philosophical issues raised by government efforts to target suspected terrorists without giving them the safeguards of a fair trial. Some of the questions the essays in this volume address are as follows: What is targeted killing in a military context and what is the theory under which such killings may be permissible? If targeted killing is justified as a military necessity, are there any deontological constraints on the range of permissive topics? Should targets be restricted to traditional belligerents only? Or do civilians transform themselves into legitimate targets by threatening the interests or security of the United States? How does this transformation occur? Does the law of war confine lawful attacks to conventional battlefields or has the specter of terrorism transformed the entire world into a global battlefield?
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Codified in the 1899 and 1907 Hague Peace Conferences and later modified by the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, the traditional international law of occupation has been challenged by advocates of human rights and self- determination and tested by the numerous occupations of the last two decades–among them Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus, the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, U.S. operations in Grenada and Panama, and occupations during the Persian Gulf crisis. To address the new issues that have emerged, Eyal Benvenisti formulates a contemporary theory of the law of occupation and establishes guidelines for the lawful management of occupation. In his new preface the author addresses issues arising from the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Benvenisti delineates the international responsibilities and obligations of governments that gain control over foreign territories through the use of force and examines the conduct of various occupying powers of the twentieth century, beginning with the German occupation of Belgium during World War I. He analyzes the actions of these occupants by contrasting them with the reactions of ousted governments, of peoples under occupation, and of other states and of supranational organizations. Additionally, he evaluates the legality of various measures taken by occupants, with the result that the nature of occupation can now for the first time be systematically assessed.
View this title in our link resolver PlinkletIn an earlier Peace Palace Library blog (Cultucide in Timbuktu: Shari’a and war crimes) Ingrid Kost wrote that the Islamist Group Ansar (Ed)dine (“Defenders of the Faith”) destroyed some of the age-old mausolea of Sufi Saints in Timbuktu, Mali. One of the major causes of destruction of cultural property (the illicit trading, stealing and looting of cultural property is not covered in this blog) over the ages has been armed conflict. Crimes against cultural property should therefore be addressed properly.
Read moreColumbia’s fourth attempt at peace with the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) started formally last month in Oslo and will continue the 15th of November in Havana, Cuba. The earlier attempts- starting in 1984, 1990 and 1998- to end one of Latin America’s longest and bloodiest armed conflict all failed. Why would the outcome of the peace talks this time be different?
Read moreAccording to a recent report by Stanford and New York Universities’ law schools (Living Under Drones), the current US drone strike policy is counterproductive, has injured and killed civilians and undermines respect for international law. This blog explores briefly both the ius ad bellum and ius in bello implications of drone attacks.
Read moreThroughout the post Cold War period there has been a widespread view that war and armed conflict have changed radically since the First World War to the point where some 80-90% of war victims are now civilians. Many modern wars have been accompanied by significant depopulations, along with destruction of infrastructure and resources.
Read moreOn Wednesday 14 March, Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) delivered it’s first verdict. In a unanimous decision three judges convicted Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of the war crimes of conscripting, enlisting, and using children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities. With this judgment the ICC firmly establishes the use of children in armed conflict as an international crime and also focuses renewed attention on the many thousands of children still used in various other conflicts in the world.
Read moreOsama Bin Laden (OBL) is dead. He was killed by a special ops team from the United States of America (USA), “after a firefight.” After OBL had been assassinated, the special team of SEALS took the deceased body of the dangerous mastermind terrorist and several hard drives from the compound in Abbottabad. Bin laden had been hiding there with his family for several years without being noticed. When the Pentagon researched the hard drives, it appeared that OBL had been planning new attacks, at least on several US cities and also on European locations. Upon hearing this news so many have sighed with relief that the secret services of the USA found out about these planned attacks before they could actually take place. Obama, President of the USA stated that “justice had been done” by executing OBL. But “what kind of justice” The assassination also led to a lot of questions and criticism: Was the raid justified?
Read moreSince 1945, the bombing of Dresden is considered by many as a violation of international law and as a crime against humanity, even though positive rules of international humanitarian law were absent at the time. The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, were among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of international law. However these conventions, adressing the codes of wartime conduct on land and at sea, were adopted before the rise of air power. Despite repeated diplomatic attempts (→ The Hague Rules of Air Warefare 1922/1923) to update international humanitarian law to include aerial warfare, it was not done before the outbreak of World War II. The absence of positive international humanitarian law does not mean that the laws of war did not cover aerial warfare, but there was no general agreement of how to interpret those laws.
The aerial bombardment of Dresden does not only raise the question as to whether or not it was an Allied war crime, but it also makes a moral appeal to prevent total war against civilian populations. It’s memory is kept alive.
A legal historical study of the development of international humanitarian law in the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century in the Netherlands.Recently the Peace Palace Library received a gift from the children of D.J.H.N. den Beer Poortugael (Herman den Beer Poortugael). The gift, a book titled: “De bijdrage van Nederland aan de [...]
Read moreCluster Bomb Tour Bus takes on Eastern Europe
On Wednesday, 1st October an eight-week campaign trail through Europe was launched to convince all governments to sign a groundbreaking treaty banning cluster bombs, in Oslo on December 3, 2008. Beginning in Belgrade, Serbia and ending at the signing ceremony in Norway, the Ban Bus will rally [...]
Read moreOn Thursday, 17 July, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) rendered its judgement [PDF document] on the appeals of both the Prosecution and the Defense against the conviction and sentence of the former Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) General Pavle Strugar (Case No. IT-01-42-A).
Read moreHashtag for this research guide: #rgihl
Benvenisti, E., The International Law of Occupation, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012.
Matheson, M.J., International Civil Tribunals and Armed Conflict, Leiden, Nijhoff, 2012.
Boothby, W.H., The Law of Targeting, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012.
Wilmshurst, E. (ed.), International Law and the Classification of Conflicts, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012.
Jacques, M., Armed Conflict and Displacement: the Protection of Refugees and Displaced Persons under International Humanitarian Law, Cambridge (etc.), Cambridge University Press, 2012.
C. Finkelstein (et al.) (eds.), Targeted Killings: Law and Morality in an Asymmetrical World, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012.
