The Historical Development of the Application of Humanitarian Law in Non-International Armed Conflicts to 1949

1998 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Moir
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
International Law ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Similar Magnitude ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
International Regulation ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

That humanitarian rules were applicable in armed conflicts was accepted long before the nineteenth century, but the fact that non-international armed conflicts were regarded as beyond the ambit of international regulation meant that the application of such norms to internal armed conflicts was certainly not a matter of course. Towards the end of the eighteenth century there had been a move towards the application of the laws of warfare to non-international armed conflicts as well as international conflicts, but this was based on the character of the conflicts and the fact that both were often of a similar magnitude, rather than any humanitarian concern to treat the victims of both equally. Not until the nineteenth century did the application of the laws of war to non-international armed conflicts become a widespread issue in international law.

Protection of the Environment in Times of Non-international Armed Conflicts – a Gap to be Filled in

2019 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 184-198
Author(s):  
Maria Magdalena Kenig-Witkowska
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Legal Regulations ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict

Environmental protection in times of non-international armed conflicts is not subject to the sectoral or particular protection categories of environmental law and to date it has not been comprehensively regulated by international law. Except for generalities, it was also ignored in the 1992 Rio Declaration Principle 24 of which is not unambiguous in its expression. In fact, only the international humanitarian law of armed conflict contains norms which address the natural environment in times of armed conflicts. On the basis of a review of legal acts addressing the issues of environmental protection in times of non-international conflicts, negative conclusions de lege lata can be drawn as part of an attempt to answer the question whether international law ensures sufficient environmental protection in such circumstances. In the Author’s opinion, in international law there is a gap relating to the protection of the environment in times of non-international armed conflicts; the existing legal regulations which could be applied in these matters have a rudimentary characters.

scholarly journals Self-Referring to the International Criminal Court: A Continuation of War by Other Means

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 260-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parvathi Menon
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

Weak sub-Saharan African states use international law and its institutions to legitimate their actions and delegitimate their internal enemies. In this essay, I argue that during internal armed conflicts, African states use international criminal law to redefine the conflict as international and thereby rebrand domestic political opponents as international criminals/enemies who are a threat to the entire community. This in turn sets the stage for invoking belligerent privileges under international humanitarian law (IHL).

Complex Battlespaces

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Modern Warfare ◽  
Aerial Systems

The conduct of warfare is constantly shaped by forces beyond the battlefield. These forces create complexities in the battlespace for military operations. The ever-changing nature of how and where wars are fought creates challenges for the application of the unchanging body of international law that regulates armed conflicts. The term “complex” is often used to describe modern warfare, but what makes modern warfare complex? Is it the increasingly urbanized battlefield where wars are fought, which is cluttered with civilians and civilian objects? Is it the rise of State-like organized armed groups that leverage the governance vacuum created by failed or failing States? Is it the introduction of new technologies to military operations like autonomous weapons, cyber capabilities, and unmanned aerial systems? Or is it the application of multiple legal regimes to a single conflict? Collectively, these questions formed the basis for the Complex Battlespaces Workshop in which legal scholars and experts from the field of practice came together to discuss these complexities. During the workshop, there was a general consensus that the existing law was sufficient to regulate modern warfare. The challenge, however, arises in application of the law to new technologies, military operations in urban environments, and other issues related to applying international human rights law and international humanitarian law to non-international armed conflicts. This inaugural volume of the Lieber Book Series seeks to address many of the complexities that arise during the application of international law to modern warfare.

Historical Development

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kubo Mačák
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
General Trend ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Fundamental Transformation ◽  
State Actors ◽  
The Law ◽  
State Relations ◽  
Inter State ◽  
State Territory

This chapter traces the development of the law of belligerent occupation in order to identify trends relevant to the regulation of internationalized armed conflicts. It observes that despite the general grounding of this body of law in a state-centric paradigm, several isolated developments have contemplated the possibility of non-state actors becoming belligerent occupants of a portion of state territory. Moreover, the chapter highlights that the law of belligerent occupation has undergone a fundamental transformation as part of a general trend of individualization and humanization of international law. Therefore, it is no longer simply a brake on inter-state relations and a protector of states’ interests and institutions. Instead, the law has gradually brought individuals’ interests to the fore, putting persons before institutions and individuals before states. Overall, the chapter uncovers the historical reasons that support an extensive view of the applicability of the law of occupation to modern internationalized armed conflicts.

Do International Organizations Enjoy Immunity Under Customary International Law?

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Wood
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
General Practice ◽  
International Law ◽  
Present Article ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Domestic Courts

The present article considers whether there is “a general practice accepted as law” establishing rules of customary international law on the immunity of international organizations from the jurisdiction of domestic courts. Apart from treaties, there does not appear to be a great deal of practice or opinio juris on the immunity of international organizations. And while there are many treaties dealing with the matter, their significance for the generation of a rule of customary international law seems questionable. This article sketches the historical development of the immunity of international organizations since the nineteenth century, describes various approaches that have been suggested to this question, and sets out such practice as there is and academic consideration of that practice. It then considers whether practice has to date generated any rules of customary international law regarding immunities, and finally suggests some conclusions.

The Geneva Humanitarian Law Conference 1975

1976 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 295-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. C. Green
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Conventional Weapons

The second session of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable to Armed Conflicts met in Geneva from February 3 until April 18, 1975. The purpose of this session of the Conference was the adoption — or perhaps more correctly the successful drafting — of two Protocols to be added to the Geneva Red Cross Conventions of 1949, in order to protect further the victims of international and non-international conflicts respectively; it was also to consider proposals directed to the humanization of methods of warfare, including the prohibition or restriction of conventional weapons considered to be purely indiscriminate or likely to cause an amount of suffering disproportionate to the purpose of the armed conflict.

The role of the international committee of the red cross in resolving international conflicts

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 154-161
Author(s):  
Adel Hamzah Othman
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
History Of

The relevance of the problem under study lies in the presence of armed conflicts in the international arena and the presence of a diverse abundance of ways to regulate them. The main purpose of this study is to identify the main provisions of international law applicable in international conflicts through the lens of the role of the Committee of the Red Cross in its development. This study covers and thoroughly analyses the history and the main purpose of the origin of the organisation. Furthermore, the study engages in an in-depth examination of the basic tasks and principles of the Committee's activities. As a result of the study, the existing theories of the participation and influence of the Committee in international legal relations will be clearly identified, as well as those theories that have emerged due to innovations in legal thinking and are capable of covering the specific features of the practice and effectiveness of this non-governmental organisation. In addition, the designation of the actual problems of the existence of this organisation, its relevance in the modern world, and the strength of the support of the world society. Among the successes of the scientific analysis of the role of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the development of international humanitarian law applicable in international conflicts is the reasoned hypotheses and confirmed statements of the importance of the Committee, which are described by the features of modernity, relevance, and compliance with the information and technological development of social relations of participants in healthy international relations, their supporters and opponents. This also includes the systematisation of scientific research, their analysis and reasonable refutation. A journey into the history of the emergence of international conflicts, their modification according to the development of social relations, as well as the processes of globalisation, will be the subject of comparative analysis aimed at identifying new methods and ways to avoid them

Intervention by Invitation

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory H. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Government ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

This chapter examines the debate concerning a state’s intervention in internal armed conflicts based on invitation, either from the government or from a rebel group fighting against the government. It looks at the issues that arise from intervention by invitation, particularly those relating to the territorial integrity of the state, the status of the actors involved, the nature of the consent, and implications for international law in general and for politics and human rights in particular. The chapter first considers the traditional view of intervention by invitation and the recent challenges to that view. It then discusses the negative equality principle as it applies to intervention in civil wars, as well as the link between intervention by invitation and democratic legitimacy. It also analyses the position of the UN Security Council on intervention by invitation.

The Theory of Recognition in Fieri (1958)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. H. Alexandrowicz
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
International Law ◽  
Direct Influence ◽  
Historical Survey ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Formative Stage ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
New States ◽  
The Law

The historian of international law attempting an inquiry into the law of recognition of States and governments during its formative stage, particularly into eighteenth-century sources, is bound to consult the first historical survey of the literature of the law of nations by D. H. L. Ompteda, published in 1785. Ompteda referred to problems of recognition under the general heading of the fundamental right of nations to freedom and independence. All the essays he mentioned as being directly or indirectly relevant to problems of recognition of new States or rulers were written by comparatively unknown authors. Among them, Justi and Steck were perhaps the most active participants in the first attempts to formulate a theory of recognition. This chapter considers these early attempts, in particular the direct influence of Justi and Steck on Martens and Klueber, and through them on Henry Wheaton and some of the early nineteenth-century writers.

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