Universiteit van Amsterdam
International Humanitarian Law
Publiekrecht: strafrecht – 2023/2024 (elective)
Literature and lecture notes
Table of content
Week 1 – History and place of IHL in the international legal system...................................3
The place of IHL within international law.................................................................3
Distinction ius ad bellum and ius in bello..................................................................3
History and development...........................................................................................5
Timeline.........................................................................................................7
Sources of IHL...........................................................................................................8
Main source #1: treaties.................................................................................8
Main source #2: customary international law................................................8
Basic principles of IHL............................................................................................10
Contemporary relevance..........................................................................................10
Week 2A – Applicability of IHL: thresholds, temporal & geographical scope of application
.......................................................................................................................................11
War – what is it?.......................................................................................................11
War v. armed conflicts.............................................................................................11
Intensity and organisation........................................................................................12
Internal Armed Conflicts v. Internal Disturbances..................................................12
Consent and Conflict Classification.........................................................................12
IHL and terrorism.........................................................................................13
End of application of GCs and AP1.........................................................................13
Where does IHL apply?............................................................................................14
Geographical application of IHL for IACs..................................................14
Geographical application of IHL for NIACs................................................14
Who is protected under IHL?...................................................................................14
People...........................................................................................................14
Objects..........................................................................................................14
Who is bound?..........................................................................................................15
Summary..................................................................................................................15
Week 2B – Workgroup 1.....................................................................................................16
Problem 1: RVC and FRL........................................................................................16
Problem 2: sufficing aid for Ukraine........................................................................17
Week 3 – Status and protection of persons..........................................................................18
Applicability on persons...........................................................................................18
Distinction – basic rule.................................................................................18
Protected persons......................................................................................................20
Hors de combat............................................................................................20
Wounded and sick........................................................................................21
POW.............................................................................................................21
Treatment of detainees.................................................................................22
Medical personnel........................................................................................23
ICRC.............................................................................................................23
Occupation...............................................................................................................23
Week 4A – IHL and Targeting in Practice...........................................................................24
, Week 1 – History and place of IHL in the international legal system
Context: war.............................................................................................................24
Targeting..................................................................................................................24
Target cycle..................................................................................................24
Targeting and LOAC: how?.....................................................................................25
Between phase two and three: military objective.........................................25
Between phase four and five: collateral damage..........................................25
Between phase four and five: precautionary measures................................26
Phase 5: execution........................................................................................26
Conclusions..............................................................................................................28
Week 4B – Workgroup 2.....................................................................................................29
Week 5 – Means and methods of combat............................................................................32
Means of warfare......................................................................................................32
Main rules on means of warfare...................................................................32
Prohibited or restricted weapons..................................................................33
Cluster munitions.........................................................................................35
Nuclear weapons..........................................................................................35
Methods of warfare..................................................................................................35
Protection of the environment......................................................................35
Denial of quarter...........................................................................................36
Destruction and seizure of property.............................................................36
Starvation and Access to Humanitarian Relief............................................36
Week 6B – Workgroup 3.....................................................................................................37
Problem 1.................................................................................................................37
Problem 2.................................................................................................................37
Problem 3.................................................................................................................38
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, Week 1 – History and place of IHL in the international legal system
Week 1 – History and place of IHL in the international legal system
The place of IHL within international law
International humanitarian law (IHL) is the breach of international law specifically intended to
preserve humanitarian values during armed conflicts by:
1. To regulate: regulating the conduct of hostilities and limiting the means and methods of
warfare to what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the parties to the conflict:
a. Means: such as the use of weapons;
b. Methods: rules relating and regulating, for example, siege.
2. To protect: providing protection and humane treatment to persons not or no longer
participating in hostiles and protect certain objects of special importance.
IHL applied only what was technically considered war. Nowadays, many lawyers use the term IHL
because it reflects at least one of the purposes of the law, which is to protect civilians and other
persons that do not take (active) part in the fighting.
At the end of the day, IHL is part of the international law system. The branches of international law,
of which IHL is part of, are all connected to each other. The fact that IHL is part of international law
more generally has some important consequences:
1. The sources of IHL are the sources of international law: key is art. 38 Statute ICJ. It is
regarded as setting out the main sources of international law. Another example is art. 1 and 2
of the Geneva convention, which sets out how to interpret particular Geneva Conention’s
articles;
2. IHL is governed through generally accepted rules of interpretation and methodology which
are part of International Law and attribute of law in general;
3. IHL is based additionally on separation of IHL and ius ad (contra) bellum: the rules in the
charter of the united nations, for example, has to do with what states can do against each
other regarding the use of force:
a. Ius in bello: the rules not considered with when to use force, but how they may do
so:
Distinction ius ad bellum and ius in bello
The starting part of IHL and its application is the distinction between the two, and that in principle ius
ad bellum does not affect the applicability of ius in bello.
Jus ad bellum: answers the question on whether or not a state may enter into war of use
force in general. Jus in bello: not about the question when to use force, but how they may
do so.
Both have been developed in relation to the level of state parties to an armed conflict and also at
the level of individual soldiers. When it comes to the level of states, the idea is that IHL is applied
when there is an armed conflict based on the facts of the case. We look at the facts, and not on
declarations of states. In the past, we would speak of a war when there was a declaration of war.
That changed with the 1949 Geneva Conventions that used the term ‘armed conflicts’ instead of
‘war’. This is the case, when particular objective elements are met based on the facts of the case.
The lawfulness of the use of force (ius ad bellum) is independent of the application of IHL (ius in
bello). The applicability of IHL does not depend upon the cause of lawfulness of the conflict (Protocol
Geneva Convention 1). That is not to say that ius ad bellum is entirely irrelevant to IHL, because it
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, Week 1 – History and place of IHL in the international legal system
may impose further limits.
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