Article

The history and development of the law of armed conflict (part I)

Arthur van Coller

• African yearbook on international humanitarian law, 2014, p. 44-67

English

This is the first of two articles on the history of the law of armed conflict (LOAC), with a focus on the evolving status of civilians in warfare. This first part examines the development of the law of armed conflict up to and including the Hague Peace Conference of 1907. The author follows early efforts to codify what are now foundational LOAC principles. The work of Hugo Grotius evidences early notions of proportionality and preventing civilian deaths. Rousseau also wrote on the principle of citizen immunity. During the US Civil War, the Lieber Code initiated a movement to codify the customs and usages of armed conflict into multilateral treaties. The St Petersburg Declaration then recognized a balance between military necessity and humanity in the principle of restraint, which the Brussels Declaration of 1874 subsequently confirmed, in addition to clarifying the definition of “belligerent.” The Oxford Manual of 1880 restricted violence to armed conflicts between states. Finally, the 1907 Hague Peace Conference made historically ground-breaking progress in limiting military necessity in favour of humanity, despite not providing for the immunity of civilians from direct attack. [Summary by students at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (IHRP)]

• The history and development of the law of armed conflict (part II)

• African yearbook on international humanitarian law
• African yearbook on international humanitarian law [2014]