The Birth of Modern International Humanitarian Law: An Appraisal

Abstract

This paper assessed the historical evolution of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) as a compendium of codes of warfare. In so doing, it demonstrates that the idea of IHL first appeared in the 1970s as a product of work done by various actors pursuing different but related ends. Using the doctrinal legal research method, the researcher found that even though initial efforts to regulate terms of engagement in warfare at the international level dates back to 1864, the formal idea of an international humanitarian law was only codified in the 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions. It was equally revealed that while many of the provisions of the protocols remained vague and contested, with their status together with the humanitarian vision of the law they outlined being uncertain for some time, it was only at the end of the 20^th century that international lawyers, following the lead of human rights organizations declared Additional Protocol I to be authoritative and the law of war to be truly humanitarian. It was concluded that International Humanitarian Law is not simply a historical code, managed by states and promoted by the International Committee of the Red Cross, but rather a relatively new and historically contingent field that has been created, shaped and dramatically reinterpreted by a variety of actors, both traditional and unconventional. It was recommended that developing states should not only ratify these Conventions and Protocols but should further take steps to domesticate them especially in view of the fact that they have become part of Customary International Law.