Chapter

Armed forces and the International Court of Justice : the relevance of international humanitarian law and human rights law to the conduct of military operations

Giulio Bartolini

Armed forces and international jurisdictions

Cambridge [etc.] : Intersentia, 2013

p. 51-89

English

This article reviews the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) role in defining International Humanitarian Law (IHL) through its case law. The author notes that while the ICJ jurisprudence is limited in volume, the ICJ has made important contributions to IHL through cases, Nicaragua v USA (1986), Congo v Uganda (2005), and advisory opinions, Nuclear Weapons advisory opinion (1996), Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (2004). The author argues that the ICJ has reaffirmed and clarified legal principles surrounding IHL. For example, the ICJ has combined "Hague Law" and "Geneva Law" into a single, complex system for IHL. Moreover, the ICJ has stressed that there is underlying customary law to certain international treaties, such as the VIII Hague Convention, which apply despite non-ratification. Furthermore, other international bodies rely on the legal principles developed by the ICJ. However, the ICJ's decisions have been too brief, making some principles ambiguous. The author also examines the application of the definition of armed conflict, conduct of hostilities, the law of occupation, humanitarian assistance, and guarantees for the implementation of IHL in ICJ jurisprudence. Finally, the author considers ICJ case law relating to the extraterritorial application of human rights treaties and the relationship between IHL and HRL. [Summary by students at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (IHRP)]

• Armed forces and international jurisdictions / Marco Odello, Francesco Seatzu (eds.)