Environment and international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law aims to protect the civilian population during armed conflict and to ensure its survival. As a result, it also seeks to protect the natural environment without which …
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Protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict
The protection of cultural property during armed conflict is based on the principle that damage to the cultural property of any people means, in the words of the 1954 Hague Convention, "damage to the …
Civil defence
Civil defence aims to mitigate the loss, damage and suffering inflicted on civilians as a result of the dramatic development of the means and methods of warfare. It is an essential component of the …
Air and naval warfare
All armed conflicts are covered by the basic rules and principles of international humanitarian law, wherever the theatre of operations might be, land, sea or air. Nevertheless, some treaty and …
International law on the conduct of hostilities: overview
International law on the conduct of hostilities regulates and limits the methods and means of warfare used by parties to an armed conflict. It aims to strike a balance between legitimate military …
International law on the conduct of hostilities: overview
International law on the conduct of hostilities regulates and limits the methods and means of warfare used by parties to an armed conflict. It aims to strike a balance between legitimate military …
Ad hoc tribunals
International tribunals have existed since the beginning of the modern international system, with the purpose of settling disputes in-between States and sometimes other international actors. It is …
International Criminal Court
The Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted in Rome in July 1998, an event welcomed by the ICRC as an important step towards ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and …
jus ad bellum and jus in bello
International humanitarian law, or jus in bello, is the law that governs the way in which warfare is conducted. IHL is purely humanitarian, seeking to limit the suffering caused. It is independent …
IHL and human rights law
International humanitarian law and international human rights law are two distinct but complementary bodies of law. They are both concerned with the protection of the life, health and dignity of …
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ICRC library
Created in 1863, the ICRC library, alongside the ICRC archives, provides an indispensable documentary reference on the organization itself and international humanitarian law.
IHL treaties
International humanitarian law is based on a number of treaties, in particular the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, and a series of other instruments.
Customary IHL
Customary international humanitarian law consists of rules that come from "a general practice accepted as law" and that exist independent of treaty law.