The State of Qatar, the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee (AALCC), in cooperation with the Secretariat of the United Nations and Frère Cholmeley (Paris) organised the Conference on International Legal Issues Arising under the United Nations Decade of International Law in Doha, Qatar on 22--25 March 1994. Around 60 speakers and 200 participants from more than 40 nations freely expressed their views on the progressive development of international law and its codification with a view to States' actions in the future adhering to the principles of international law as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. The subjects dealt with by the Conference had one thing in common: they were all topical issues or, in French, `des questions d'actualité', and will remain thus throughout the United Nations Decade of International Law. The various themes were Environmental Law, the Law of the Sea, the Settlement of Disputes, Humanitarian Law, and the Rio Conference, Post-Rio and the New International Economic Order. This book which contains the Conference proceedings will be of great interest to lawyers specializing in international law. The book is not only a photograph of some very important issues as they existed and were perceived in 1994, it will also serve as a reference book and a unique tool which will be indispensable to understanding some of the most crucial legal problems with which the world community is faced today.

La destruction de l'environnement en période de conflit armé est ancienne, mais elle a pris une ampleur démesurée. C'est avec la guerre du Vietnam que cette destruction est devenue un objet essentiel de la stratégie militaire. L'opération Ranch Hand, par laquelle l'aviation étasunienne déversa de l'herbicide (l'Agent orange) sur les forêts vietnamiennes en est l'illustration. Par la suite, d'autres conflits auront recours à des techniques modifiant les conditions environnementales du champ de bataille. S'il est impossible d'éviter toute dégradation au cours du conflit, la préservation de l'environnement peut-elle être érigée en priorité ? N'est-il pas parfois nécessaire de sacrifier l'écosystème au bénéfice des populations ou de la victoire ? Quel équilibre trouver entre les nécessités militaires, humanitaires et la protection de l'environnement ?

This report inventories and analyses the range of international laws that protect the environment during armed conflict. With a view to identifying the current gaps and weaknesses in this system, the authors examine the relevant provisions within four bodies of international law - environmental humanitarian (IHL), international criminal law (ICL), international environmental law (IEL), and international human rights law (HRL). The report concludes with twelve concrete recommendations on ways to strengthen this legal framework and its enforcement. The Environment and Natural Resources are crucial for building and consolidating peace, it is urgent that their protection in times of armed conflict be strengthened. There can be no durable peace if the natural resources that sustain livelihoods are damaged or destroyed. This report provides a basis upon which Member States can draw upon to clarify, expand and enforce international law on environmental protection in times of war.

This book provides a modern and basic introduction to a branch of international law constantly gaining in importance in international life, namely international humanitarian law (the law of armed conflict). It is constructed in a way suitable for self-study. The subject-matters are discussed in self-contained chapters, allowing each to be studied independently of the others. Among the subject-matters discussed are, inter alia: the Relationship between jus ad bellum / jus in bello; Historical Evolution of IHL; Basic Principles and Sources of IHL; Martens Clause; International and Non-International Armed Conflicts; Material, Spatial, Personal and Temporal Scope of Application of IHL; Special Agreements under IHL; Role of the ICRC; Targeting; Objects Specifically Protected against Attack; Prohibited Weapons; Perfidy; Reprisals; Assistance of the Wounded and Sick; Definition of Combatants; Protection of Prisoners of War; Protection of Civilians; Occupied Territories; Protective Emblems; Sea Warfare; Neutrality; Implementation of IHL.

This book offers the most authoritative commentary and analysis of international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflict available. It is based upon the Joint Service Regulation for the German Ministry of Defence, augmented with extensive international references, and accompanied bycommentary by a team of distinguished and internationally renowned experts. Whilst the past decades have seen consistent development of international law applicable in armed conflict, culminating in a series of International Covenants and Protocols, world events in recent years have made reassessment of the law both a timely and topical concern. This Handbook available for the first time in paperback will serve as an indispensable reference source for practising lawyers and academics working in the field of international humanitarian law and for military personnel worldwide.

A most comprehensive book, first published in 1999, analysing the ICJ Advisory Opinions on nuclear weapons handed down in 1996.