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Armed Conflict and International Law: In Search of the Human Face pp 33–51Cite as

Chivalry: A Principle of the Law of Armed Conflict?

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Abstract

This contribution explores the role and relevance of chivalry in relation to warfare past and present and its relationship to the law of armed conflict and poses the question whether it still is a principle of that body of the law. It also briefly addresses the question of what its potential relevance is as a guiding principle in the interpretation of legal and extra legal obligations alongside rules contained in conventional and customary law.

Avril McDonald was a lovely person and friend and an esteemed colleague, and this piece is dedicated to her memory with affection and respect.

The author is Professor of Military Law, University of Amsterdam and The Netherlands Defence Academy.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    French 2003, pp. 1–19.

  2. 2.

    British Manual 1958, pp. 1, 2; US Army Manual 1956, p. 3; Canadian Joint Forces Manual 2001, Section 202, p. 2-1; US Navy 1997, pp. 5, 6; But see UK Manual 2004 and US Navy 2007, where no references to chivalry are made.

  3. 3.

    French 2003, p. 21; Greenwood 2008, p. 18; Green 2000, pp. 23–25.

  4. 4.

    French 2003, chapters dealing respectively with the Western, Chinese Shaolin warrior monastic code and Japanese Samurai warrior traditions, as well as with the warrior ethic of the Native Americans of the Great Plains; Greenwood 2008, pp. 16–17, referring to ancient and medieval traditions in the Near East and India as well as to warrior traditions in Africa and elsewhere.

  5. 5.

    Greenwood 2008, p. 18; Green 2000, pp. 25, 26.

  6. 6.

    Ibid.; See also Lyons and Jackson 1997, pp. 274–277, relating to the terms of surrender granted the Crusaders by Saladin centralised at Jerusalem.

  7. 7.

    Howard 1976, pp. 16–19.

  8. 8.

    Howard 1976, pp. 28–29.

  9. 9.

    Howard 1976, p. 24; Greenwood 2008, p. 19.

  10. 10.

    Howard 1976, pp. 48–49.

  11. 11.

    Howard 1976, Chapter 4, “Wars of the Professionals”, relating to eighteenth century armies and warfare.

  12. 12.

    Greenwood 2008, pp. 19, 20.

  13. 13.

    Greenwood 2008, p. 21; Green 2000, pp. 29–31.

  14. 14.

    Gill 2007, pp. 86, 87; Green 2000, pp. 33–36; Greenwood 2008, p. 24.

  15. 15.

    Howard 1976, Chapter 6, pp. 96–115, on the character of late nineteenth and early twentieth century armed forces and warfare.

  16. 16.

    Keegan 1978, p. 191.

  17. 17.

    Lachouque and Brown 1997, pp. 488, 489.

  18. 18.

    Kershaw 2009, p. 222.

  19. 19.

    Hibbert 1990, pp. 196, 197.

  20. 20.

    Figes 2010, p. 409.

  21. 21.

    Anderson and Anderson 1988, pp. 448–454.

  22. 22.

    Keegan 1987, p. 46.

  23. 23.

    Weider History Group 2012.

  24. 24.

    Van Hoof 1983, pp. 148–151.

  25. 25.

    Henckaerts and Doswald-Beck 2005.

  26. 26.

    Military manuals on the law of armed conflict such as those cited in n. 2 supra, usually begin with a treatment of the basic principles of the law of armed conflict.

  27. 27.

    Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hereinafter HR 1907), The Hague, 18 October 1907, Article 23B jo. Article 23F; Protocol (I) Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Hereinafter AP I), Geneva, 8 June 1977, United Nations Treaty Series, Volume Number 75, Articles 37–39.

  28. 28.

    AP I, Ibid., Article 38:2; Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Rome, 17 July 1998, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.183/9, Article 8, para 2(b), vii.

  29. 29.

    HR 1907, supra note 27, Article 23C.

  30. 30.

    Ackerman 2003, pp. 115–137 at 126, 127.

  31. 31.

    HR 1907, supra note 27, Article 23D; AP I, supra note 27, Article 40.

  32. 32.

    AP I, supra note 27, Article 51:7.

  33. 33.

    HR 1907, supra note 27, Article 35.

  34. 34.

    Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Hereinafter GC III), Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations Treaty Series, Volume Number 75, http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%2075/volume-75-I-972-English.pdf. Articles 27, 39, 40, 43–45.

  35. 35.

    GC III, Ibid., Articles 22:3, 82:1, 87:1.

  36. 36.

    Van Hoof 1983, pp. 144–146.

  37. 37.

    For example in ICJ, Legality of the Threat of Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, General List No. 95, 8 July 1996, I.C.J. Reports 1996, http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/95/7495.pdf, p. 226, para 78 at p. 257.

  38. 38.

    For an extensive treatment of “fairness” as both a legal and overarching ethical principle, see Franck 1995, Chapters 1 and 2.

  39. 39.

    A modern classic dealing with the ethical dimension of war is Micheal Walzer’s Just and Unjust Wars, Walzer 1977.

  40. 40.

    Van Hoof 1983, pp. 153–156.

  41. 41.

    ICRC 2008, Chapter IX; For criticism see inter alia Schmitt 2010, Watkin 2010, and Hays Parks 2010 and the reply thereto by Melzer 2010.

  42. 42.

    For a comprehensive study of how the elements of firepower, manoeuvre and mobility interacted in Western military history from ancient to modern warfare see Jones 1987.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Military Law, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Terry Gill

  2. Military Law, The Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Terry Gill

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Correspondence to Terry Gill .

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  1. De Bruynestraat 76, The Hague, 2597 RH, Netherlands

    Mariëlle Matthee

  2. , Faculty of Law,, University of Groningen, Oude Kijk in ‘t Jatstraat 26, Groningen, 9712 EK, Netherlands

    Brigit Toebes

  3. , Faculty of Law, University of Groningen, Oude Kijk in ‘t Jatstraat 26, Groningen, 9712 EK, Netherlands

    Marcel Brus

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Gill, T. (2013). Chivalry: A Principle of the Law of Armed Conflict?. In: Matthee, M., Toebes, B., Brus, M. (eds) Armed Conflict and International Law: In Search of the Human Face. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague, The Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-918-4_2

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