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Humanity

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International Conflict and Security Law

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Abstract

The discussion of values protected by international law will not diminish in significance. Those are quite diverse and heterogeneous as is the extent to which they have been established or clarified in law. If some of them have already been legally well defined, this is not so for others. The concept of humanity belongs to such yet undefined concepts. While it is hard to imagine a more compelling and global idea for appeal in the modern public discourse worldwide than the idea of humanity it is also difficult to find a more ambiguous category. No explicit definition of ʻhumanityʼ currently exists in international legal documents or in relevant case-law. The chapter argues that without understanding this basic underlying value many important questions will continue arising on the precise nature of key relevant legal categories in different branches of international law. It then offers several observations on the role of humanity in international law: first, there has been no comprehensive formulation for the concept of humanity, in international law or beyond; second, the notion of humanity found itself constantly reinstated in different civilizations and societies, always carrying with it the same fundamental and basic values, or humanitarian sentiments; third, the concept of humanity does not represent an autonomous source of international law. Subsequently, the chapter discusses the concept (value) of humanity in light of several legal branches constituting an integral part of ICSL: international criminal law, international humanitarian law and international human rights law, with a view to demonstrating the role of humanity for the pertaining legal categories and its relationship with those (e.g., humanity as a central protected interest of crimes against humanity at both domestic and universal levels). A comprehensive view of humanity as ʻhumannessʼ, or status of being human, is offered as instrumental in the understanding of the protective scope of the examined branches of law. In conclusion, a recommendation is made to secure a holistic definition of humanity at the international treaty level.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See the subsequent chapters for the discussion of those values in international conflict and security law (ICSL).

  2. 2.

    Laverty 2018.

  3. 3.

    For a deserving analysis of how the global legal values are protected in different legal systems see generally Santarelli 2013.

  4. 4.

    Feldman and Ticktin 2010, at 1–2.

  5. 5.

    See, e.g., Luban 2004; Bassiouni 2011; May 2005; Werle and Jessberger 2014.

  6. 6.

    As explained in Beauvallet 2017, at 524–527.

  7. 7.

    Manske 2003, at 220–221.

  8. 8.

    While international peace and security undoubtedly constitute a central protected value of ICL (see also Chap. 6 by Onder Bakircioglu), humanity belongs to the list of legal interests to be ensured by ICL, too.

  9. 9.

    For the discussion of crimes against humanity, see Chap. 47 by Rustam Atadjanov.

  10. 10.

    Coupland 2001, at 989.

  11. 11.

    Coupland 2001, at 969–970.

  12. 12.

    Cooper et al. 2013, at 73.

  13. 13.

    The Martens Clause reads as follows: “Until a more complete code of the laws of war is issued, the High Contracting Parties think it right to declare that in cases not included in the Regulations adopted by them, populations and belligerents remain under the protection and empire of the principles of international law, as they result from the usages established between civilized nations, from the laws of humanity, and the requirements of the public conscience” [emphasis added]. Convention (II) with Respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague II), 29 July 1899; Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV), 18 October 1907 as reprinted in Schindler and Toman 1996.

  14. 14.

    The pertaining legal concepts which were affected by or themselves affected the idea of humanity include Roman Law, ius gentium, natural law, criminal law and others.

  15. 15.

    Corfu Channel Case (UK vs. Albania), Merits, ICJ Reports 4 (1949), para 22; see also Brownlie 2008, at 27.

  16. 16.

    Proposed International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, August 2010, Preamble, published in Sadat 2011, at 360.

  17. 17.

    For a description of ICL, see Chap. 22 by Sergey Sayapin.

  18. 18.

    United States v. Otto Ohlendrof, reprinted in VI Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Law No. 10 (IV) 411 (1950).

  19. 19.

    Prosecutor v. Dražen Erdemović (IT-96-22-T), Sentencing Judgement, 29 November 1996, paras 27–28.

  20. 20.

    Renzo 2012, at 448.

  21. 21.

    Ibid.

  22. 22.

    Ibid.

  23. 23.

    Translated from German by the author and taken from Gierhake 2005, at 273.

  24. 24.

    Renzo 2012, at 450.

  25. 25.

    Bauman 2003, at 2.

  26. 26.

    Pictet 1979, at 143.

  27. 27.

    Dubber 2005, at 683.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., at 684.

  29. 29.

    Roxin 2006, at 16.

  30. 30.

    See in general Braarvig et al. 2014. For a discussion of human rights as a protected value under ICSL, see Chap. 5 by Anicée Van Engeland.

  31. 31.

    Renzo 2012, at 450.

  32. 32.

    Roxin 2006, at 16; Lauterwein 2010, at 9.

  33. 33.

    Lauterwein 2010, at 9.

  34. 34.

    Masters and Kelly 2005, at 48–49.

  35. 35.

    Kant 1999, at 151.

  36. 36.

    Rawls 1999, at 4.

  37. 37.

    In general, Grotius 2005.

  38. 38.

    For a useful explanation of the theory of global social contract see Neidleman 2012.

  39. 39.

    Ambos 2013, at 298.

  40. 40.

    See Ambos 2013.

  41. 41.

    For a useful working definition of IHL, see ICRC Manual 2013, at 13.

  42. 42.

    See Chap. 49 by Ewa Sałkiewicz Munnerlyn and Sergey Sayapin for an overview of war crimes.

  43. 43.

    According to Pictet, the term ‘humanitarian’ characterizes any action beneficent to man. Pictet 1979, at 143. The word denotes ‘concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare’, see the contemporary English definition in the ‘Oxford Dictionaries Online’ (UK English), at http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/humanitarian (accessed 17 August 2018). Both are in full accord with Pictet’s earlier definition of humanity as a sentiment of active goodwill towards mankind. For both terms the ultimate object is the human being.

  44. 44.

    Pictet 1979, at 143; also Condé 2004, at 110–111.

  45. 45.

    Sayapin 2014, at 4.

  46. 46.

    Cooper et al. 2013, at 3.

  47. 47.

    The project of “fundamental standards of humanity” is well described in Oberleitner 2015, at 64–68.

  48. 48.

    Id., at 66.

  49. 49.

    This is so even if the eventual adoption of a respective declaration by the UN General Assembly has come to a halt in the mid-1990s. Id., at 66–68.

  50. 50.

    Id., at 64–66.

  51. 51.

    United Nations 1991.

  52. 52.

    Ibid.

  53. 53.

    The ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals have put an emphasis on humanitarian considerations. Boot 2002, at 537.

  54. 54.

    For the discussion of other values protected by criminalisation of war crimes, see Werle and Jessberger 2014, at 409, paras 1073–1074.

  55. 55.

    A keen observation in this regard has been made by one of the human rights researchers: ‘Notwithstanding the intricacies of the interplay of human rights and humanitarian law, humanity is always the ‘telos’ of all regulatory activities in armed conflict.’ Oberleitner 2015, at 233.

  56. 56.

    As noted in Brus et al. 2013, at 90.

  57. 57.

    For a detailed description of IHRL, see Chap. 11 by Melanie O’Brien.

  58. 58.

    Condé 2004, at 109. These rules and principles establish the legally acceptable and (at least in theory) enforceable minimum standards of conduct for governments to protect the inherent human dignity of individuals. Ibid.

  59. 59.

    The notion of human dignity is mentioned in numerous domestic constitutions, has been included into major international human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and many others, and it is often used in relation to the oppressed or vulnerable persons and groups. Fomerand 2014, at 210. For a useful analysis (and listing) of different legal instruments adopted at various levels (international, domestic, regional) incorporating or mentioning in that or another manner the notion of human dignity, see McCrudden 2008.

  60. 60.

    Condé 2004, at 109. Another explanation of human dignity (by Renzo) is used in Sect. 1.3.1 above as well. The Handbook’s definition has been employed in this section thanks to its more comprehensive coverage and at the same time a more detailed approach.

  61. 61.

    This understanding of the connection between human dignity and humanity is confirmed by other scholars, too. See, for example, Oberleitner who states the following: “The ultimate benchmark for all law is human dignity as expressed in international human rights law and no other possible manifestation of humanity.” Oberleitner 2015, at 233.

  62. 62.

    Also Schachter 1983, at 848–852.

  63. 63.

    Ibid., p. 849.

  64. 64.

    See generally Radbruch 1947; Manske 2003; Gierhake 2005; Geras 2011; Renzo 2012.

  65. 65.

    But this is not to say that they have not exerted their influence on other constituent parts of ICSL.

  66. 66.

    Update information on the work of the International Law Commission on crimes against humanity and the draft Convention may be found at http://legal.un.org/ilc/summaries/7_7.shtml (accessed 17 August 2018).

  67. 67.

    Cited in Brus et al. 2013, at 70.

  68. 68.

    See Meron 2006.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. KIMEP University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Rustam Atadjanov

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  1. Rustam Atadjanov
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, KIMEP University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Sergey Sayapin

  2. School of Law, KIMEP University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Rustam Atadjanov

  3. National Law School of India, Pune, India

    Umesh Kadam

  4. Law and Social Sciences, University of Derby, Derby, UK

    Gerhard Kemp

  5. School of Law, KIMEP University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Nicolás Zambrana-Tévar

  6. Bristol Law School, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

    Noëlle Quénivet

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Atadjanov, R. (2022). Humanity. In: Sayapin, S., Atadjanov, R., Kadam, U., Kemp, G., Zambrana-Tévar, N., Quénivet, N. (eds) International Conflict and Security Law. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-515-7_1

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