International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Introduction Lecture

Overview

• Purpose: Introduce basics of International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
• Key Question: What is IHL?
• Focus Areas: Definitions, scope, key principles

Definition of IHL

• Abbreviation: IHL (International Humanitarian Law)
• Main Definition: Rules regulating conduct during warfare
• Alternative Terms:
  • Jus in bello: Conduct during an armed conflict
  • Law of armed conflict
• Relevant Textbook: Maros Sui's textbook on IHL

Historical Context

• Fast-Growing Field: Due to changes in warfare and legal regulation
• Historical Development: Rooted in humanitarian efforts post-Battle of Solferino (1859)
  • Founder: Jean Henri Dunant
  • Outcome: First Geneva Conventions, International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC)

Legal Framework

• Two Key Concepts:
  • Jus ad bellum: Criteria before engaging in war
  • Jus in bello: Regulation of conduct during war
• Marriage of Two Bodies of Law: Hague Law & Geneva Law
  • Hague Law: Focus on combatants and means/methods of warfare
  • Geneva Law: Protection of those unable or unwilling to fight

Main Instruments in IHL

• Geneva Conventions:

  1. Amelioration of wounded and sick in the armed forces in the field
  2. Amelioration of wounded, sick, and shipwrecked at sea
  3. Treatment of prisoners of war
  4. Protection of civilians

• Additional Protocols:

  1. Protection of victims in international armed conflicts (1977)
  2. Protection of victims in non-international armed conflicts (1977)
  3. Additional emblem (2005)

Fundamental Principles of IHL

• Primary Goals:

  • Protect non-combatants and those who cannot fight
  • Reduce unnecessary suffering

• Key Principles:

  1. Distinction: Differentiating between combatants and civilians
  2. Prohibition against Attacking non-combatants
  3. Reducing unnecessary suffering:
  • Principle of Necessity
  • Principle of Proportionality
  • Principle of Precaution

• Prohibited Weapons:

  • Chemical Weapons
  • Cluster Bombs
  • Specific prohibitions: e.g., landmines

Customary International Humanitarian Law (IHL)

• Importance of Customary Law:
  • Fills gaps where treaties do not apply
  • Applies even to non-parties of treaties
  • Especially relevant for non-international armed conflicts
  • Major study by ICRC on customary IHL (161 rules identified)

Modern Challenges in IHL

• New Technologies: Cyber warfare, drone strikes
• Emergence of Non-state Armed Groups: Accountability and regulation issues
• Terrorism and Armed Conflict: Intersection and legal treatment
• Application of IHL in Changing Warfare Landscapes

Belligerent Occupation

• Definition: When one state occupies another’s territory without consent during an armed conflict
• Implications:
  • Protections under IHL continue even in long-term occupations
  • Example: Israel-Palestine conflict

Relationship between IHL and Human Rights Law

• Interesting Interplay:
  • IHL applies in armed conflicts
  • Human Rights Law continues to apply in peacetime and also intersects in conflict situations

Conclusion and Course Structure

• Next Lessons:
  • Basic principles and motivations for IHL
  • History and sources of IHL (Geneva conventions, customary law)
  • Detailed analysis of substantive principles and modern challenges in IHL