Chapter

The belligerent occupation of territory

Andrea Gioia

The 1998-2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia war and its aftermath in international legal perspective : from 2000 Algiers Agreements to the 2018 Peace Agreement

The Hague : Asser Press, 2021

p. 425-439

English

This chapter examines the awards of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission in light of the legal debate relating to the continuing validity and viability of the international law of belligerent occupation. The Claims Commission significantly clarified the scope of application of that body of law, which was found to apply to the military occupation of territory that was peacefully administered by the other party prior to the outbreak of armed conflict, irrespective of the question of legal title thereto. Apart from this aspect, however, the Commission’s awards made no significant contribution to the law of belligerent occupation and, in most cases, enunciated and applied rules identical or very similar to those that were applied to situations where no belligerent occupation of territory was found to exist. It is, therefore, not always clear why the Claims Commission found it necessary to refer to the law of belligerent occupation, the core of which relates to the administration of occupied territory, in order attribute violations of international humanitarian law to the parties to the conflict. A fortiori, it is unclear why the Claims Commission felt the need to go beyond the traditional scope of application of the law of belligerent occupation, which relates to territory that is effectively occupied by a party to the conflict, to cover situations where military occupation only lasts for a few days.

• The 1998-2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia war and its aftermath in international legal perspective : from 2000 Algiers Agreements to the 2018 Peace Agreement / Andrea de Guttry, Harry H. G. Post, Gabriella Venturini, editors