A war crime is an act that constitutes a serious violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility. Examples of war crimes include intentionally killing civilians or prisoners, torturing, destroying civilian property, taking hostages, performing a perfidy, raping, using child soldiers, pillaging, declaring that no quarter will be given, and seriously violating the principles of distinction and proportionality, such as strategic bombing of civilian populations.
The law of war refers to the component of international law that regulates the conditions for war and the conduct of warring parties. Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territories, occupation, and other critical terms of international law.
International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, agreements between sovereign states intended to have binding legal effect between the parties that have agreed to them; and customary international law. Other international human rights instruments, while not legally binding, contribute to the implementation, understanding and development of international human rights law and have been recognized as a source of political obligation.
Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons [1996] ICJ 2 is a landmark international law case, where the International Court of Justice gave an advisory opinion stating that there is no source of law, customary or treaty, that explicitly prohibits the possession or even use of nuclear weapons. The only requirement being that their use must be in conformity with the law on self-defence and principles of international humanitarian law.
International humanitarian law (IHL) is the law that regulates the conduct of war. It is that branch of international law which seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by protecting persons who are not participating in hostilities, and by restricting and regulating the means and methods of warfare available to combatants.
Customary international law is an aspect of international law involving the principle of custom. Along with general principles of law and treaties, custom is considered by the International Court of Justice, jurists, the United Nations, and its member states to be among the primary sources of international law.
International law is the set of rules generally regarded and accepted in relations between nations. It serves as a framework for the practice of stable and organized international relations. International law differs from state-based legal systems in that it is primarily applicable to countries rather than to individual citizens. National law may become international law when treaties permit national jurisdiction to supranational tribunals such as the European Court of Human Rights or the International Criminal Court. Treaties such as the Geneva Conventions may require national law to conform to respective parts.
The Martens Clause was introduced into the preamble to the 1899 Hague Convention II – Laws and Customs of War on Land.
The clause took its name from a declaration read by Friedrich Martens, the Russian delegate at the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899. It reads as follows:
Until a more complete code of the laws of war is issued, the High Contracting Parties think it right to declare that in cases not included in the Regulations adopted by them, populations and belligerents remain under the protection and empire of the principles of international law, as they result from the usages established between civilized nations, from the laws of humanity and the requirements of the public conscience.
Air warfare must comply with laws and customs of war, including international humanitarian law by protecting the victims of the conflict and refraining from attacks on protected persons.
Daniel David Ntanda Nsereko is a member of the Advisory Committee on nominations of judges of the International Criminal Court and was a Judge of the International Criminal Court from Uganda.
The International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL) is an independent, non-profit humanitarian organisation founded in 1970. Its headquarters are situated in Villa Ormond, Sanremo, Italy. A liaison office of the Institute is established in Geneva, Switzerland. The main purpose of the Institute is to promote the development of international humanitarian law, human rights, refugee law, immigration law and related issues.
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term Geneva Convention usually denotes the agreements of 1949, negotiated in the aftermath of the Second World War (1939–45), which updated the terms of the two 1929 treaties, and added two new conventions. The Geneva Conventions extensively defined the basic rights of wartime prisoners, established protections for the wounded and sick, and established protections for the civilians in and around a war-zone. The treaties of 1949 were ratified, in whole or with reservations, by 196 countries. Moreover, the Geneva Convention also defines the rights and protections afforded to non-combatants, yet, because the Geneva Conventions are about people in war, the articles do not address warfare proper—the use of weapons of war—which is the subject of the Hague Conventions, and the bio-chemical warfare Geneva Protocol.
The University of Utrecht School of Law Clinical Programme on Conflict, Human Rights and International Justice was launched in September 2009. The Clinical Programme provides pro bono legal services to Hague-based judicial institutions, as well as to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, while preparing students for careers in international law by providing them with the skills training and development to succeed.
After consulting with scholars and governmental experts, the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University (HPCR) created in 2003 a multi-annual Project intended to restate the existing international laws applicable to air and missile warfare. This Project helped to formulate the HPCR Manual on International Law Applicable to Air and Missile Warfare. In 1923, the Rules of Air Warfare were drafted at the Hague by a Commission of Jurists. Since then, air power has become a crucial element of military arsenal and modern warfare. The developments in air and missile technology in the last few decades have completely altered military strategy and created distinct challenges to the protection of civilians in time of armed conflict. Although a number of international treaties have been adopted in response to modern warfare, including the four 1949 Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims, the two Additional Protocols of 1977, and various conventions regarding cultural property, biological weapons, and chemical weapons, many important aspects of air and missile operations are not included. Also, some of these instruments, especially AP/I, are not binding on all states, including the United States. Because of this, the Commentary on the HPCR Manual identifies US practices and positions which are consistent with the rules of AP/I.
Customary international humanitarian law is a body of unwritten rules of public international law, which govern conduct during armed conflict.
The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) is an independent think and do tank providing multidisciplinary policy advice and practical, solution-oriented implementation support on prevention and the rule of law, two vital pillars of effective counter-terrorism. ICCT’s work focuses on themes at the intersection of countering violent extremism and criminal justice sector responses, as well as human rights related aspects of counter-terrorism. The major project areas concern countering violent extremism, rule of law, foreign fighters, country and regional analysis, rehabilitation, civil society engagement and victims’ voices.
The Geneva Academy of international Humanitarian Law and Human Rights is a postgraduate joint center located in Geneva, Switzerland. The faculty includes professors from both founding institutions and guest professors from major universities.
Human shields may be civilians used against their will to deter attacks on military targets during an international armed conflict or they may be civilians who voluntarily protect either military or civilian targets from attack. The use of human shields is forbidden by Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions. It is also a specific intent war crime as codified in the Rome Statute, which was adopted in 1998. The language of the Rome Statute prohibits "utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas, or military forces immune from military operations."
