Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Enforcement of International Humanitarian Law

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
International Human Rights Institutions, Tribunals, and Courts

Part of the book series: International Human Rights ((IHR))

Abstract

This chapter provides a critical assessment of the enforcement system of international humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the law of armed conflict (LOAC) or jus in bello. The notion of enforcement should be distinguished from that of implementation, which is much broader, in that enforcement involves at least some degree of sanctioning for violations of IHL, which could encompass individual criminal responsibility or State responsibility and liability for reparations. After briefly discussing several factors that induce compliance with IHL, this chapter focuses on IHL enforcement at the three possible levels. At the domestic level, the chapter starts from the obligations imposed on States under the 1949 Geneva Conventions (GCs) and their two Additional Protocols of 1977 (AP1 and AP2), including the obligation to investigate and prosecute war crimes amounting to grave breaches. At the regional level, the chapter addresses the enforcement of IHL through the regional human rights systems, focusing on the three regional human rights courts, but also including relevant findings by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. At the international level, the chapter analyzes the enforcement of IHL by discussing briefly the mechanisms included under IHL treaties, including Protecting Powers, the ad hoc and the standing International Fact-Finding Commission (established through Article 90 of AP1), and the ICRC. The focus then shifts onto the main UN organs, including the Security Council, the General Assembly (and its subsidiary bodies, the Human Rights Council and the International Law Commission), and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Another type of enforcement mechanisms addressed here includes international criminal courts and tribunals. Finally, the chapter addresses briefly the role of non-State actors, focusing on non-State armed groups (NSAGs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 449.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 599.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • ACmHPR (2000) Commission Nationale des Droits de l’Homme et des Libertés v. Chad, AHRLR 66

    Google Scholar 

  • ACmHPR (2003) Democratic Republic of Congo v. Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, AHRLR 19

    Google Scholar 

  • ACmHPR (2007a) Amnesty International and others v. Sudan, AHRLR 297

    Google Scholar 

  • ACmHPR (2007b) Article 19 v. Eritrea, AHRLR 73

    Google Scholar 

  • ACmHPR (2009) Sudan Human Rights Organisation & Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) v. Sudan, AHRLR 153

    Google Scholar 

  • ACtHR (2011) African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

    Google Scholar 

  • Additional Protocol (I) to the Geneva Conventions 1977

    Google Scholar 

  • Additional Protocol (II) to the Geneva Conventions 1977

    Google Scholar 

  • Azzarello C and Niederhauser M (2018) The independent humanitarian fact-finding commission: has the ‘sleeping beauty’ awoken?, 9 January 2018. Available at http://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/2018/01/09/the-independent-humanitarian-fact-finding-commission-has-the-sleeping-beauty-awoken. Accessed 27 Mar 2018

  • Blank LR (2011) Understanding when and how domestic courts apply IHL. Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 44:205–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Boisson de Chazournes L, Condorelli L (2000) Common article 1 of the Geneva conventions revisited: protecting collective interests. International Review of the Red Cross 82(837):67–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonafè B (2009) The relationship between state and individual responsibility for international crimes. Brill, Leiden

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Buis EJ (2008) The implementation of international humanitarian law by human rights courts: the example of the inter-American human rights system. In: Arnold R, Quénivet N (eds) International humanitarian law and human rights law: towards a new merger in international law. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, pp 269–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Cerna C (2011) The history of the inter-American system’s jurisprudence as regards situations of armed conflict. Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies 2(1):3–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chetail V (2003) The contribution of the international court of justice to international humanitarian law. International Review of the Red Cross 85(850):235–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clapham A (2014) Focusing on armed non-state actors. In: Clapham A, Gaeta P (eds) The Oxford handbook of international law in armed conflict. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 766–810

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford E, Pert A (2015) International humanitarian law. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford J, Pellet A, Olleson S (eds) (2010) The law of international responsibility. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Darcy S (2014) Judges, law and war: the judicial development of international humanitarian law. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Darcy S, Powderly J (eds) (2010) Judicial creativity at the international criminal tribunals. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • de Wet E, Kleffner J (eds) (2014) Convergence and conflicts of human rights and international humanitarian law in military operations. Pretoria University Law Press, Pretoria

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörmann K, Serralvo J (2014) Common article 1 to the Geneva conventions and the obligation to prevent international humanitarian law violations. International Review of the Red Cross 96(895/896):707–736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ECtHR (1995) McCann and others v. the United Kingdom (Application no. 18984/91)

    Google Scholar 

  • ECtHR (1996) Aksoy v. Turkey (Application no. 37546/08)

    Google Scholar 

  • ECtHR (2001) Cyprus v. Turkey (Application no. 25781/94)

    Google Scholar 

  • ECtHR (2005) Öcalan v. Turkey (Application no. 46221/99)

    Google Scholar 

  • ECtHR (2009) A. and others v. the United Kingdom (Application no. 3455/05)

    Google Scholar 

  • ECtHR (2012a) El-Masri v. “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (Application no. 39630/09)

    Google Scholar 

  • ECtHR (2012b) Marguš v. Croatia (Application no. 4455/10)

    Google Scholar 

  • ECtHR (2013) Stichting mothers of Srebrenica and others v. the Netherlands (Application no. 65542/12)

    Google Scholar 

  • ECtHR (2014a) Al Nashiri v. Poland (Application no. 28761/11)

    Google Scholar 

  • ECtHR (2014b) Husayn (Abu Zubaydah) v. Poland (Application no. 7511/13)

    Google Scholar 

  • El Zeidy M (2008) The principle of complementarity in international criminal law: origin, development and practice. Brill, Leiden

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Findlay T (2002) The use of force in UN peace operations. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Focarelli C (2010) Common article 1 of the 1949 Geneva conventions: a soap bubble? EJIL 21(1):125–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foley C (2017) UN peacekeeping operations and the protection of civilians: saving succeeding generations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gardam J (2001) The contribution of the international court of justice to international humanitarian law. Leiden Journal of International Law 14:349–365

    Google Scholar 

  • Geneva Convention (I) on wounded and sick in armed forces in the field 1949

    Google Scholar 

  • Geneva Convention (II) on wounded, sick and shipwrecked of armed forces at sea 1949

    Google Scholar 

  • Geneva Convention (III) on prisoners of war 1949

    Google Scholar 

  • Geneva Convention (IV) on civilians 1949

    Google Scholar 

  • Genser J, Stagno Ugarte B (eds) (2014) The United Nations Security Council in the age of human rights. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • 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 – liber Amicorum in memory of Avril McDonald. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 33–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillard E-C (2003) Reparation for violations of international humanitarian law. International Review of the Red Cross 85(851):529–553

    Google Scholar 

  • Gioia A (2011) The role of the European court of human rights in monitoring compliance with humanitarian law in armed conflict. In: Ben-Naftali O (ed) International humanitarian law and international human rights law. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 201–249

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Green LC (2003) Enforcement of international humanitarian law and threats to National Sovereignty. Journal of Conflict and Security Law 8(1):101–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartridge S (2014) The European court of human Right’s engagement with international humanitarian law. In: Jinks D, Maogoto JN, Solomon S (eds) Applying international humanitarian law in judicial and quasi-judicial bodies. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 257–287

    Google Scholar 

  • Henckaerts J-M, Doswald-Beck L (eds) (2005) Customary international humanitarian law: volume I, rules; volume II, practice: part 1 and part 2. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • IACtHR (1987a) Habeas Corpus in emergency situations (Arts. 27 (2), 25 (I) and 7 (6) American Convention on Human Rights) (advisory opinion) Ser A No 8 (30 Jan 1987)

    Google Scholar 

  • IACtHR (1987b) Judicial Guarantees in States of Emergency (Arts. 27(2), 25 and 8 American Convention on Human Rights) (Advisory Opinion) Ser A No 9 (6 Oct 1987)

    Google Scholar 

  • IACtHR (2000) Bámaca-Velásquez v. Guatemala (Merits and Judgment) Ser C No 70 IACHR (25 Nov 2000)

    Google Scholar 

  • IACtHR (2006) Case of the Pueblo Bello massacre v. Colombia (Merits, Reparations and Costs) Ser C No 140 IACHR (31 Jan 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • ICJ (1986) Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), Merits, ICJ Reports 1986, p. 14

    Google Scholar 

  • ICJ (1993) Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), ICJ Reports 1993, p. 3

    Google Scholar 

  • ICJ (1996) Legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons, ICJ Reports 1996, p. 226

    Google Scholar 

  • ICJ (2000) Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda), ICJ Reports 2000, p. 111

    Google Scholar 

  • ICJ (2002) Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Belgium), ICJ Reports 2002, p. 3

    Google Scholar 

  • ICJ (2004) Legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory, advisory opinion, ICJ Reports 2004, p. 136

    Google Scholar 

  • ICJ (2005) Armed activities on the territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda, ICJ Reports 2005, p. 168

    Google Scholar 

  • ICJ (2008) Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Georgia v. Russian Federation), ICJ Reports 2008, p. 353

    Google Scholar 

  • ICRC (2015) International humanitarian law and the challenges of contemporary armed conflicts: document prepared by the international committee of the red cross for the 32nd international conference of the red cross and red crescent, Geneva, Switzerland, 8–10 December 2015. International Review of the Red Cross 900:1427–1502

    Google Scholar 

  • ICRC Database on National Implementation. https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/ihl-nat

  • ICTR (2008, 2011) Bagosora et al. (Military I) (ICTR-98-41)

    Google Scholar 

  • ICTR (1998, 2000) Jean Kambanda (ICTR-97-23)

    Google Scholar 

  • ICTR (1998, 2001) Jean Paul Akayesu (ICTR-96-4)

    Google Scholar 

  • ICTY (2016) Radovan Karadžić (IT-95-5/18)

    Google Scholar 

  • ICTY (2017) Ratko Mladić (IT-09-92)

    Google Scholar 

  • ICTY (1995) Duško Tadić (IT-94-1-AR72)

    Google Scholar 

  • ICTY (2001, 2002) Kunarac et al. (IT-96-23 & IT-96-23/1)

    Google Scholar 

  • ICTY (2013, 2017) Prlić et al. (IT-04-74)

    Google Scholar 

  • ICTY (2009, 2014) Šainović et al. (IT-05-87)

    Google Scholar 

  • ICTY (2005, 2007) Limaj et al. (IT-03-66)

    Google Scholar 

  • Inazumi M (2005) Universal jurisdiction in modern international law: expansion of national jurisdiction for prosecuting serious crimes under international law. Intersentia, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • International Crimes Database, T.M.C. Asser Institute. www.internationalcrimesdatabase.org

  • Jørgensen N (2003) The responsibility of states for international crimes. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalshoven F (2007) Implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law. In: Kalshoven F (ed) Reflections on the law of war: collected essays. Brill, Leiden, pp 593–620

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kleffner J (2008) Complementarity in the Rome statute and national criminal jurisdictions. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Koops J, MacQueen N, Tardy T, Williams PD (eds) (2015) The Oxford handbook of United Nations peacekeeping operations. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Kress C (2013) The international court of justice and the law of armed conflicts. In: Tams C, Sloan J (eds) The development of international law by the international court of justice. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 263–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Krieger H (ed) (2015) Inducing compliance with international humanitarian law: lessons from the African Great Lakes region. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwakwa E (2004) The Cairo-Arusha principles on universal jurisdiction in respect of gross human rights offenses: an African perspective. In: Yusuf A (ed) African yearbook of international law/Annuaire Africain de Droit International, volume 10 (2002). Nijhoff, The Hague, pp 407–430

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen KM (2012) The human rights treaty obligations of peacekeepers. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lowe V, Roberts A, Welsh J, Zaum D (eds) (2010) The United Nations security council and war: the evolution of thought and practice since 1945. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Macedo S (2006) Universal jurisdiction: national courts and the prosecution of serious crimes under international law. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Melzer N (2016) International humanitarian law: a comprehensive introduction. ICRC, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Morjé Howard L, Dayal AK (2018) The use of force in UN peacekeeping. Int Organ 72(1):71–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nerlich V (2009) War crimes. In: Cassese A (ed) The Oxford companion to international criminal justice. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 566–570

    Google Scholar 

  • Nouwen S (2013) Complementarity in the line of fire: the catalysing effect of the international criminal court in Uganda and Sudan. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Oberleitner G (2015) Human rights in armed conflict. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Oellers-Frahm K (2014) A regional perspective on the convergence and conflicts of human rights and international humanitarian law in military operations: the European court of human rights. In: de Wet E, Kleffner J (eds) Convergence and conflicts of human rights and international humanitarian law in military operations. Pretoria University Law Press, Pretoria, pp 333–364

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (2011) International legal protection of human rights in armed conflict. United Nations, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Orakhelashvili A (ed) (2015) Research handbook on jurisdiction and immunities in international law. Edward Elgar Publishing, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Pejić J (2002) Accountability for international crimes: from conjecture to reality. International Review of the Red Cross 84(845):13–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfanner T (2009) Various mechanisms and approaches for implementing international humanitarian law and protecting and assisting war victims. International Review of the Red Cross 91(874):279–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Princeton Project on Universal Jurisdiction (2001) The Princeton principles on universal jurisdiction. Program in law and public affairs. Princeton University, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Quéguiner J-F (2003) Dix ans après la création du Tribunal penal international pour l’ex-Yougoslavie: évaluation de l’apport de sa jurisprudence au droit international humanitaire. International Review of the Red Cross 85(850):271–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raimondo F (2007) The international court of justice as a guardian of the unity of humanitarian law. Leiden Journal of International Law 20:593–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roscini M (2010) The United Nations security council and the enforcement of international humanitarian law. Israel Law Review 43(2):330–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryngaert C, Cuyckens H (2013) The general assembly. In: Zyberi G (ed) An institutional approach to the responsibility to protect. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 109–129

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sassòli M (2002) State responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law. International Review of the Red Cross 84(846):401–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sassòli M (2007) The implementation of international humanitarian law: current and inherent challenges. Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 10:45–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schabas WA (2001) Enforcing international humanitarian law: catching the accomplices. International Review of the Red Cross 83:439–459

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt M, von Heinegg WH (eds) (2012) The implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law. Ashgate, Aldershot

    Google Scholar 

  • Seibert-Fohr A (2009) Prosecuting serious human rights violations. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Shelton D (2014) Humanitarian law in the inter-American human rights system. In: de Wet E, Kleffner J (eds) Convergence and conflicts of human rights and international humanitarian law in military operations. Pretoria University Law Press, Pretoria, pp 365–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Stahn K, El Zeidy M (eds) (2011) The international criminal court and complementarity: from theory to practice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Tabak S (2016) Ambivalent enforcement: international humanitarian law at human rights tribunals. Michigan Journal of International Law 37:661–715

    Google Scholar 

  • UK Ministry of Defence (2004) The manual of the law of armed conflict. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • US Supreme Court (2006) Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557

    Google Scholar 

  • US Supreme Court (2008) Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723

    Google Scholar 

  • van Alebeek R (2008) The immunity of states and their officials in international criminal law and international human rights law. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • van den Herik L (2005) The contribution of the Rwanda tribunal to the development of international law. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden/Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • van Sliedregt E (2012) Individual criminal responsibility in international law. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Viljoen F (2014) The relationship between international human rights and humanitarian law in the African human rights system: an institutional approach. In: de Wet E, Kleffner J (eds) Convergence and conflicts of human rights and international humanitarian law in military operations. Pretoria University Law Press, Pretoria, pp 303–332

    Google Scholar 

  • Vité S (2009) Typology of armed conflicts in international humanitarian law: legal concepts and actual situations. International Review of the Red Cross 91(873):69–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vöneky S (2013) Implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law. In: Fleck D (ed) The handbook of international humanitarian law, 3rd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 647–700

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner N (2003) The development of the grave breaches regime and of individual criminal responsibility by the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. International Review of the Red Cross 85(850):351–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weill S (2014a) The role of national courts in applying international humanitarian law. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Weill S (2014b) Building respect for IHL through national courts. International Review of the Red Cross 96(895/896):859–879

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson JA (2008) Some considerations on command responsibility and criminal liability. International Review of the Red Cross 90(870):303–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willmot H, Sheeran S (2013) The protection of civilians mandate in UN peacekeeping operations: reconciling protection concepts and practices. International Review of the Red Cross 95(891/892):517–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zegveld L (2003) Remedies for victims of violations of international humanitarian law. International Review of the Red Cross 85(851):497–527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu L (2014) International humanitarian law in the universal periodic review of the UN human rights council: an empirical survey. Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies 5:186–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zyberi G (2008) The humanitarian face of the international court of justice: its contribution to interpreting and developing international human rights and humanitarian law rules and principles. Intersentia, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Zyberi G (2010) Provisional measures of the international court of justice in armed conflict situations. Leiden Journal of International Law 23:571–584

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zyberi G (2014a) The jurisprudence of the international court of justice and international criminal courts and tribunals. In: de Wet E, Kleffner J (eds) Convergence and conflicts of human rights and international humanitarian law in military operations. Pretoria University Law Press, Pretoria, pp 395–416

    Google Scholar 

  • Zyberi G (2014b) The role of non-state actors in implementing the responsibility to protect. In: Ryngaert C, Noortmann M (eds) Human security and international law: the challenge of non-state actors. Intersentia, Cambridge, pp 53–74

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Gentian Zyberi

Authors
  1. Gentian Zyberi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gentian Zyberi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Law, University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Gerd Oberleitner

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Zyberi, G. (2018). Enforcement of International Humanitarian Law. In: Oberleitner, G. (eds) International Human Rights Institutions, Tribunals, and Courts. International Human Rights. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5206-4_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation