The article aims to examine, in light of the codification work of the International Law Commission and of the most recent practice, some issues concerning the allocation of responsibility between an organisation and its troop-contributing states for the conduct taken in the course of a multinational operation (with a specific focus on UN operations). After explaining the general rule of attribution of conduct based on the status of the multinational force as an organ or an agent of the organisation, this article will examine the validity of special rules of attribution of conduct based on the notions of ‘effective control’ or ‘ultimate control’ over the acts of the multinational force. Finally, I will discuss the possibility of dual responsibility of both the organisation and the troop-contributing state concerned.

Article 36 of Additional Protocol I of 1977 states that:

“In the study, development, acquisition or adoption of a new weapon, means or method of warfare, a High Contracting Party is under an obligation to determine whether its employment would, in some or all circumstances, be prohibited by this Protocol or by any other rule of international law applicable to the High Contracting Party”.

The provision is not new law, but codifies the customary law duty of implementing a treaty or customary rule in good faith. Article 36 does, however, draw attention to the fact that new developments in weapons are quietly going on, and that care must be taken, before their deployment, that their use in some or all circumstances does not violate international humanitarian law. Although the duty to determine in advance the legality of the use of new weapons lies with the State developing them, other States have a legal interest in ensuring that this is done.

Lors de la XXVe Conférence internationale de la Croix-Rouge (Genève 23–31 octobre 1986), le CICR a présenté un rapport sur l'identification des moyens de transports sanitaires, y compris les suites données à la résolution VIII de la XXIVe Conférence internationale (Manille, 1981). Il a souligné que dans un conflit naval, la protection des transports sanitaires maritimes dépendait dans une large mesure des moyens techniques disponibles dans le domaine de l'identification.

En adoptant la résolution III, «Identification des moyens de transports sanitaires», la XXVe Conférence internationale a reconnu la nécessité d'efforts continus pour adapter au développement technique les moyens d'identification et de signalisation du personnel, des unités et des moyens de transports sanitaires.

La segunda Conferencia Mundial de Derechos Humanos, que señala el 45º aniversario de la aprobación de la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos, fue inaugurada el 14 de junio de 1993 por el secretario general de las Naciones Unidas, señor Butros Ghali.

Participaron en esta Conferencia, que terminó sus trabajos el 25 de junio, unas 5.000 personas, repartidas en diversas categorías: Estados, Estados miembros de las Naciones Unidas, observadores y organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG).

During the 1948–1949 conflict in Palestine, the ICRC conducted a major operation for the wounded and the sick, the prisoners of war and civilian victims of the conflict. It was also one of the first international organizations to provide Palestinian refugees with concrete help: to begin with, starting in July 1948, through the delegation it had opened several months earlier in Palestine to carry out its traditional protection and assistance work there; later, by setting up the ICRC Commissariat for Relief to Palestine Refugees, which, alongside other organizations, acted as a distribution agency within the framework of the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees. In 1950, this activity was taken over by UNWRA.

Les études et analyses politiques contemporaines relatives à l'Islam portent souvent l'empreinte des jugements et valeurs éthiques propres au milieu culturel des chercheurs.

This article tries to imagine how the development of international humanitarian law (IHL) could continue despite current difficulties, increasing the ownership and contribution of States and armed groups in this process. After suggesting that some traditional assumptions about IHL may need to be abandoned, it tries to suggest a new way in which IHL rules could be developed, through States adopting together core obligations and principles and each State and armed group then specifying the details internally, but publicly. Finally, it stresses the importance and difficulties of involving non-State armed groups in this process.

Parce qu'il aura été le premier républicain convaincu et s'avouant tel, d'aucuns ont accusé Francisco Suárez, le «prince des juristes modernes», d'être un grand antimonarchiste, voire le premier régicide.

In its Judgment of 27 June 1986 in the case concerning “Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua”, the International Court of Justice dealt at length with some of the most vexed questions in humanitarian law. Although the Court had previously touched upon certain problems in this legal field, for example in the Corfu Channel case and that of the Pakistani Prisoners, this was the first time it expressed itself in detail on more general issues, notably on the customary nature of the “general principles” of humanitarian law.

This article addresses the situation of Mexican cartels in relation to the applicability of international humanitarian law (IHL). The analysis starts with a theoretical examination of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia criteria on intensity of violence and level of organization established for assessing the existence of an organized armed group in the context of a non-international armed conflict. The article further examines legal and non-legal literature with the purpose of providing elements to consider the rightness of applying IHL to criminal organizations, also considering similar scenarios in Latin America. The aim of this assessment is to provide additional elements for the consideration of whether IHL is suitable when addressing confrontations between certain criminal gangs and States. Additionally, the article assesses how the commercial purposes of these groups affect their organization and the nature of the violence in which they engage.

Persons with disabilities are at higher risk of injury or death during an armed conflict, either as specific targets or through inability to protect themselves. Humanitarian responses concentrate on meeting the immediate basic needs of an average population. Yet historically, the situation of persons with disabilities during armed conflict, as well as peacebuilding processes, has been largely absent in the discussion at the Security Council. On 20 June 2019, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2475. This groundbreaking text marks the first time the Council has dedicated an entire resolution to the situation of persons with disabilities in situations of armed conflict. The resolution has significantly raised the attention and understanding of the situation of persons with disabilities in the context of the armed conflict in the Security Council and beyond. This article details the process that led to Resolution 2475, as well as what has happened since.

The ICRC Study on Operational and Commercial and Other Non-operational Issues Involving the Use of the Emblems (‘the Emblem Study’) is an efficient and user-friendly tool to tackle issues regarding the use of the emblems of the red cross, red crescent, and red crystal. This article presents the Emblem Study's origin and objectives, and explains the structure and the methodology followed in its preparation. Recurrent questions regarding joint use of emblems and other signs are also examined, in order to demonstrate the Emblem Study's potential as an analytical and practical tool. Particular emphasis is placed on the need to avoid diluting the protective value of the emblems by maintaining a distinction between those entitled to use the emblems, their partners, and other players in the humanitarian field.

The use of chemical weapons in the armed conflict in Syria has attracted universal and widespread condemnation and has led to unified responses by various international bodies. This article examines the international community's responses to chemical weapons use in Syria from the perspective of international law. It also analyzes the potential options for accountability that are available for chemical weapons-related crimes. The intention is ultimately to make the case that the special status the international community has ascribed to chemical weapons crimes could be harnessed to create an accountability mechanism, such as an ad hoc tribunal, that could help pave the complex road towards a negotiated peace.

Progressive democratization, the presence of a military superpower and the dream of an international order maintained by an international authority do not enhance the appearance of conventional armed conflicts. However, the discovery of new frailties that can be exploited by aggressors, the proliferation of motives – including ideological motives – for waging war, and the spread of technologies that can be used in new forms of warfare have led to war and armed conflicts breaking out of their classic mould, becoming hybrid and going beyond their previous boundaries. The author argues for an updated polemology which endeavours to explain the mechanisms of these new types of warfare.

It is known that the XXIst International Conference of the Red Cross voted a resolution (No. XVII) relative to the protection of the victims of non-international armed conflicts and by which it “asks the ICRC to devote special attention to this problem within the framework of the more general studies it has started to develop humanitarian law”. However, before the meeting at Istanbul, the author of the following article had already written a study on the subject entitled “Der Bürgerkrieg”, which is of topical interest and of which we now give extracts at some length in our own translation (Ed.).

In many respects, observer status for the ICRC will place the practical co-operation that already existed between the institution and the United Nations on a stronger legal basis. It will also spare the ICRC the considerable drain on its resources that was necessary, when it had only consultative status, to bring its pragmatic inter arma caritas proposals before the United Nations.

One of the main objectives of International Conferences of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which bring together Red Cross and Red Crescent institutions and the States party to the Geneva Conventions, is to promote respect for international humanitarian law during armed conflicts.

Around 50 million people across the world are affected by urban warfare. When conflict occurs in cities, the natural environment has historically been relegated to an afterthought, but both the immediate and long-term environmental consequences of urban warfare are serious. This article looks at actions that can be taken to protect the natural environment – and through this, the population – against the effects of urban warfare when fighting in urban areas. It is intended to be a part of the conversation about what parties to armed conflict can and should do to give effect to their legal obligations under international humanitarian law and international law more broadly, with a specific focus on the natural environment when fighting in urban areas.