History of Laws of

Armed Conflicts
Introduction
Armed Conflict is a contested
incompatibility which concerns the
government and/or territory where the use of
armed force between two parties, of which a
least one is the government of a state, and
that it results in at least 25 battle-related
deaths.
3 Types of Armed Conflicts that are recognized
by the International Humanitarian Law

1. International Armed Conflict

2. Internationalized Armed Conflict
3. Non-international Armed Conflict
First rules in armed conflict date
back 4,000 years ago

Law of Manu on Just War (Ancient India)

Just War in the Quran (Islam verses regarding

warfare)
Doctrine of Just War
- it is a doctrine, referred to as a tradition, of
military ethics studied by theologians, policy
makers, and military leaders.

- its purpose is to ensure that war is morally

justifiable through a series of criteria.
Ethics of War
Just War Theory There are 2 principles of
ethics in war:

1. Jus ad bellum (right to war)

2. Jus in bello (right in war)

Jus ad bellum (right to war)
6 criteria to make just war

a. declared by lawful authority

b. just and righteous cause
c. the one declaring must have rightful
intentions
d. probability of success
e. war must be last resort
f. ends being sought must be proportional to
means being used
Jus in bello (right in war)
2 principles

a. principle of proportionality

b. principle of discrimination
Origins of Just War Doctrine
Pre-Christian

- Indian Epic the Mahabharata, offers one og

the first written discussions of just war

- A war is just when there is just cause

- And there is just cause when there are last

minute efforts to reconcile differences to

avoid war.
Rome
- just cause also includes the right or the
necessity of repelling an invasion or
retaliation for breach of treaty
St. Augustine of Hippo
- did not approve of war

- but God has given the sword to the

government for good reason
Thomas Aquinas
- also laid down the conditions for just war

- 3 conditions
a. waged by proper authority

b. occur for a good and just purpose rather

than self-gain

c. peace is central motive even in the midst of

violence
School of Salamanca
- composed if Spanish and Portugese
theologians

- includes the scholars of natural law and of

morality

-expanded the Thomistic view on Just War

- gave grounds when a war is just and when

it is not
INSTITUTION OF GENEVA
CONVENTION 1864
 It has been the patter for all Nations and
individual States during the past centuries, to
wage war in order to gain sovereign over regions
that they wish to conquer, without taking into
considerations the casualties and victims of their
WAR.
 BATTLE OF SOLFERINO 1859
( French Piedmontese against Austrian army.

1863 INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE of

RED CROSS was founded
 1864 FIRST GENEVA CONVENTION

On August 22, 1864, several European states

congregated in Geneva, Switzerland and signed
the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of
the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed
Forces in the Field.
 The signing of the first-ever Geneva Convention
by some of the major European powers in 1864:
1. Grand Duchy of Baden
2. Kingdom of Belgium
3. Kingdom of Denmark
4. French Empire
5. Grand Duchy of Hesse
6. Kingdom of Italy
7. Kingdom of the Netherlands
8. Kingdom of Portugal
9. Kingdom of Prussia
10. Kingdom of Spain
11. Swiss Confederation
12. Kingdom of Wurttemberg
The first effort provided only for:
1. The immunity from capture and destruction of
all establishments for the treatment of
wounded and sick soldiers
2. The impartial reception and treatment of all
combatants
3. Th protection of civilians providing aid to the
wounded
4. The recognition of the Red Cross symbol as a
means of identifying persons and equipment
covered by the agreement
1907 SECOND GENEVA CONVENTION

The second Geneva Convention protects,

sick and shipwrecked military personnel at sea
during war
The Geneva Conventions, which
were adopted before 1949.
were concerned with
combatants only, not with
civilians.
 In 1977, the two
Protocols were adopted
The Geneva Conventions and
their Additional Protocols are international
treaties that contain the most important rules
limiting the barbarity of war. They protect
people who do not take part in the fighting
(civilians, medics, aid workers) and those who
can no longer fight.
In the two decades that followed the
adoption of the Geneva Conventions,
the world witnessed an increase in the
number of non-international armed
conflicts and wars of national
liberation.
In response, two Protocols Additional
to the four 1949 Geneva Conventions
were adopted in 1977. They
strengthen the protection of victims
of international (Protocol I) and non-
international (Protocol II) armed
conflicts and place limits on the way
wars are fought.
 Protocol 1
The present Protocol brings mainly the
following innovations:

Article 1(4) provides that armed conflicts in

which peoples are fighting against colonial
domination, alien occupation or racist regimes
are to be considered international
conflicts.
 Part II (Articles 8-34) develops the rules of
the First and the Second Geneva Conventions
on wounded, sick and shipwrecked. It
extends the protection of the Conventions to
civilian medical personnel, equipment and
supplies and to civilian units and transports
and contains detailed provisions on medical
transportation
 Part III and several chapters of Part IV (Articles
35-60) deal with the conduct of hostilities,
i.e.

Part V (Articles 80-91) brings some new

elements to the problem of the execution of
the Conventions and the Protocol.
 Article 43 and 44 give a new definition of
armed forces and combatants .Among the
most important Articles are those on the
protection of the civilian population against
the effects of hostilities. They contain a
definition of military objectives and
prohibitions of attack on civilian persons and
objects.
 PROTOCOL 2

The only provision applicable to non-

international armed conflicts before the
adoption of the present Protocol was Article 3
common to all four Geneva Conventions of
1949. This Article proved to be inadequate in
view of the fact that about 80% of the victims
of armed conflicts since 1945 have been
victims of non-international conflicts and that
non-international conflicts are often fought
with more cruelty than international conflicts.
The aim of the present
 Protocol III

In 2005, a third Additional Protocol was

adopted creating an additional emblem, the
Red Crystal, which has the same international
status as the Red Cross and Red Crescent
emblems.
Red Crystal Emblem
In 2006 the ICRC produced a study
of 161 rules ,most of which apply in all conflicts
I. The Principle of Distinction

1.Distinction between Civilians and

Combatants
2.Distinction between Civilian
Objects and Military Objectives
3.Indiscriminate Attacks
4.Proportionality in Attack
5.Precautions in Attack
6.Precautions against the Effects of
Attacks
II. Specifically Protected Persons
and Objects
7.Medical and Religious Personnel
and Objects
8.Humanitarian Relief Personnel
and Objects
9.Personnel and Objects Involved
in a Peacekeeping Mission
10.Journalists
11.Protected Zones
12.Cultural Property
13.Works and Installations
Containing Dangerous Forces
14.The Natural Environment
II. Specifically Protected Persons
and Objects7.Medical and
Religious Personnel and Objects
8.Humanitarian Relief Personnel
and Objects
9.Personnel and Objects Involved
in a Peacekeeping Mission
10.Journalists
11.Protected Zones
12.Cultural Property
13.Works and Installations
Containing Dangerous Forces
14.The Natural Environment
 III. Specific Methods of Warfare15.Denial of
Quarter
16.Destruction and Seizure of Property
17.Starvation and Access to Humanitarian

Relief
18.Deception
19.Communication with the Adversary
 IV. Weapons20.General Principles on the Use of
Weapons
21.Poison and Poisoned Weapons
22.Nuclear Weapons
23.Biological Weapons
24.Chemical Weapons
25.Expanding Bullets
26.Exploding Bullets
27.Weapons Primarily Injuring by Non-Detectable
Fragments
28.Booby-Traps
29.Landmines
30.Incendiary Weapons
31.Blinding Laser Weapons
 V. Treatment of Civilians and Persons Hors de
Combat32.Fundamental Guarantees
33.Combatants and Prisoner-of-War Status
34.The Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked
35.The Dead
36.Missing Persons
37.Persons Deprived of Their Liberty
38.Displacement and Displaced Persons
39.Other Persons Afforded Specific Protection
 VI. Implementation40.Compliance with
International Humanitarian Law
41.Enforcement of International Humanitarian Law
42.Responsibility and Reparation
43.Individual Responsibility
44.War Crimes
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