Chapter

Making the Geneva Conventions of 1949 : the view from Whitehall

Geoffrey Best

Etudes et essais sur le droit international humanitaire et sur les principes de la Croix-Rouge : en l'honneur de Jean Pictet = Studies and essays on international humanitarian law and Red Cross principles : in honour of Jean Pictet

Genève : CICR ; La Haye : Nijhoff, 1984

p. 5-15

English

The author discusses the evolving attitudes inside Whitehall — hereafter used as a synonym for the British Government as a whole — during the drafting of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Whitehall’s initially strict view of international relations as relations between states led to a concern about granting too much legitimacy to the political actions of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). However, the British government’s misgivings gave way due to an aversion to the alternative: efforts by national Red Cross Societies to revise the Geneva Conventions. The British government cultivated distance towards the British Red Cross on political matters and therefore was prevented from being involved in the movement’s politics. In the lead up to the 1949 drafting conferences, Whitehall was extremely careful and comprehensive in their preparations, and displayed caution to accept any potential legal obligations established by the conventions. The author argues that this led to inflexibility and a misguided concern with minutiae because Whitehall was concerned that adherence to any potential treaty would demand significant revisions of British municipal law. However, the UK eventually recognized the negative impact of its legalistic stance and entered the 1949 negotiations as a more flexible participant. Ultimately, the final Conventions of 1949 required very little change to British law. [Summary by students at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (IHRP)]

• Etudes et essais sur le droit international humanitaire et sur les principes de la Croix-Rouge : en l'honneur de Jean Pictet = Studies and essays on international humanitarian law and Red Cross principles : in honour of Jean Pictet / Christophe Swina