The 1949 Geneva Conventions

A Commentary
Erscheinungsjahr 2015
ISBN: 978-0-19-967544-9
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 1754 Seiten, Format (B × H): 180 mm x 247 mm, Gewicht: 2030 g

The four Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1949, remain the fundamental basis of contemporary international humanitarian law. They protect the wounded and sick on the battlefield, those wounded, sick or shipwrecked at sea, prisoners of war, and civilians in time of war. However, since they were adopted warfare has changed considerably. In this groundbreaking commentary over sixty international law experts investigate the application of the Geneva Conventions and explain how they should be interpreted today. It places the Conventions in the light of the developing obligations imposed by international law on states, armed groups, and individuals, most notably through international human rights law and international criminal law.

The context in which the Conventions are to be applied and interpreted has changed considerably since they were first written. The borderline between international and non-international armed conflicts is not as clear-cut as was once thought, and is complicated further by the use of armed force mandated by the United Nations and the complex mixed and transnational nature of certain non-international armed conflicts. The influence of other developing branches of international law, such as human rights law and refugee law has been considerable. The development of international criminal law has breathed new life into multiple provisions of the Geneva Conventions. This commentary adopts a thematic approach to provide detailed analysis of each key issue dealt with by the Conventions, taking into account both judicial decisions and state practice. Cross-cutting chapters on issues such as transnational conflicts and the geographical scope of the Conventions also give readers a full understanding of the meaning of the Geneva Conventions in their contemporary context. Prepared under the auspices of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, this commentary on four of the most important treaties in international law is unmissable for anyone working in or studying situations of armed conflicts.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Clapham, Andrew

Gaeta, Paola

Sassòli, Marco

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Internationales Recht und Europarecht Internationales Recht Internationales Strafrecht, Internationales Verfahrensrecht
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Gewalt Völkermord, Ethnische Säuberung, Kriegsverbrechen
• Rechtswissenschaften Internationales Recht und Europarecht Internationales Recht Internationales Öffentliches Recht, Völkerrecht, Internationale Organisationen
• Rechtswissenschaften Internationales Recht und Europarecht Internationales Recht Internationales Kriegsrecht, Territorialrecht, Humanitäres Recht

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- PART I

Cross-Cutting Issues and Common Provisions

- Section A - Cross-Cutting Issues

- 1: Andrew Clapham: The Concept of International Armed Conflict

- 2: Marko Milanovic: The Applicability of the Conventions to Transnational and Mixed Conflicts

- 3: Gabriella Venturini: The Temporal Scope of Application of the Conventions

- 4: Katja Schoberl: The Geographical Scope of Application of the Conventions

- 5: Yves Sandoz: Rights, Powers and Obligations of Neutral Powers under the Conventions

- Section B - Common Provisions

- Sub-Section 1 - General

- 6: Robin Geiß: The Obligation to Respect and to Ensure Respect for the Conventions

- 7: Stuart Casey-Maslen: Special Agreements in International Armed Conflicts

- 8: Pierre d'Argent: Non Renunciation of the Rights Provided by the Conventions

- 9: Giovanni Distefano and Etienne Henry: Final Provisions, Including the Martens Clause

- Sub-Section 2 - Special Rules

- 10: Gabor Rona and Robert J. McGuire: The Principle of Non-Discrimination

- 11: Elzbieta Mikos-Skuza: Hospitals

- 12: Flavia Lattanzi: Humanitarian Assistance

- 13: Anna Petrig: Search for Missing Persons

- 14: Daniela Gavshon: The Dead

- 15: David Tuck: Taking of Hostages

- 16: Manfred Nowak and Ralph Janik: Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

- 17: Patricia Viseur Sellers and Indira Rosenthal: Rape and Other Sexual Violence

- 18: Natalino Ronzitti: Protected Areas

- Sub-Section 3 - Common Article 3

- 19: Lindsay Moir: The Concept of Non-International Armed Conflict

- 20: Sandesh Sivakumaran: The Addressees of Common Article 3

- 21: Jann K. Kleffner: The Beneficiaries of the Rights Stemming from Common Article 3

- 22: Sarah Knuckey: Murder in Common Article 3

- 23: Louise Doswald-Beck: Judicial Guarantees

- 24: Nishat Nishat: The Right of Initiative of the International Committee of the Red Cross

- 25: Luisa Vierucci: Applicability of the Conventions by means of Ad Hoc Agreements

- Section C - Ensuring Compliance with the Conventions

- 26: Steven R. Ratner and Rotem Giladi: The Role of the International Committee of the Red Cross

- 27: Robert Kolb: Protecting Powers

- 28: Theo Boutruche: Good Offices, Conciliation, and Enquiry

- 29: Jerôme de Hemptinne: Prohibition of Reprisals

- 30: Elzbieta Mikos-Skuza: Dissemination of the Conventions, Including in Time of Armed Conflict

- 31: Paola Gaeta: Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions

- 32: Andreas R. Ziegler and Stefan Wehrenberg: Domestic Implementation

- Section D - The Geneva Conventions in Context

- 33: Frédéric Mégret: The Universality of the Geneva Conventions

- 34: Paolo Benvenuti: Relationship with Prior and Subsequent Treaties and Conventions

- 35: Andrew Clapham: The Complex Relationship between the 1949 Geneva Conventions and International Human Rights Law

- 36: Paola Gaeta: The Interplay Between the Geneva Conventions and International Criminal Law

- PART II - Specific Issues and Regimes

- Section A - Geneva Conventions I and II

- 37: Annyssa Bellal: Who is Wounded and Sick?

- 38: Steven Haines: Who is Shipwrecked?

- 39: Gilles Giacca: The Obligations to Respect, Protect, Collect and Care for the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked

- 40: Stuart Casey-Maslen: The Status, Rights, and Obligations of Medical and Religious Personnel

- 41: Katja Schöberl: Buildings, Material and Transports

- 42: Tom Haeck: Loss of Protection

- 43: Antoine A. Bouvier: The Use of the Emblem

- Section B - Geneva Convention III

- 44: Sean Watts: Who is a Prisoner of War?

- 45: Laura M. Olson: Status and Treatment of Those Who Do Not Fulfill the Conditions for Prisoner of War Status

- 46: Marie-Louise Tougas: Determination of Prisoner of War Status

- 47: Keiichiro Okimoto: Evacuation and Transfer of Prisoners of War

- 48: Silvia Sanna: Treatment of Prisoners of War

- 49: Sharon Weill: Relations with the Outside World

- 50: Peter Rowe: Penal or Diciplinary Proceedings Brought against a Prisoner of War

- 51: Marco Sassòli: Release, Accommodation in Neutral Countries, and Repatriation of Prisoners of War

- Section C - Geneva Convention IV

- Sub-Section 1 - General

- 52: Nishat Nishat: The Structure of Geneva Convention IV and the Resulting Gaps in that Convention

- 53: Heike Spieker: Maintenance and Re-establishment of Family Links and Transmission of Information

- 54: Anne-Laurence Graf-Brugere: The Derogation Clause

- Sub-Section 2 - Civilians in the Hands of the Enemy: General Protection

- 55: Elizabeth Salmon: Who is a Protected Civilian?

- 56: Shane Darcy: The Prohibition of Collective Punishment

- 57: Pamela Anne Hylton: The Right to Leave

- 58: Vincent Chetail: The Transfer and Deportation of Civilians

- 59: Payam Akhavan: Judicial Guarantees

- 60: Iris van der Heijden: Other Issues Relating to the Treatment of Civilians in Enemy Hands

- Sub-Section 3 - Specific Protection

- 61: Noelle Quenivet: Special Rules on Women

- 62: Hans-Joachim Heintze and Charlotte Lulf: Special Rules on Children

- 63: François Crépeau and Bethany Hastie: Special Rules on Refugees

- Sub-Section 4 - Internment

- 64: Laura M. Olson: Admissibility of and Procedures for Internment

- 65: Bruce Oswald and Lucrezia Iapichino: Treatment of Internees

- 66: Bruce Oswald: End of Internment

- Sub-Section 5 - Occupied Territories

- 67: Marco Sassoli: The Concept and the Beginning of Occupation

- 68: Yutaka Arai-Takahashi: Law-Making and the Judicial Guarantees in Occupied Territories

- 69: Michael Bothe: The Administration of Occupied Territory

- 70: Gilles Giacca: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Occupied Territories

- 71: Yutaka Arai-Takahashi: Protection of Private Property

- 72: Anicee Van Engeland: Protection of Public Property

- 73: Christian Tomuschat: Prohibition of Settlements

- 74: Julia Grignon: The Geneva Conventions and the End of Occupation

Über Autor(innen)

Andrew Clapham is Professor of Public International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva. Before he joined the GIIS in 1997, he was the Representative of Amnesty International to the United Nations in New York. His current research relates to the role of non-state actors in international law and related questions in human rights and humanitarian law. Andrew Clapham was the Director of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights from 2006 until 2014. His publications include The Oxford Handbook of International Law in Armed Conflict (co-edited with Paola Gaeta) (OUP 2014), Human Rights: A Very Short Introduction (2007), Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Actors (2006), and International Human Rights Lexicon (2005), with Susan Marks. He is an academic associate member of Matrix Chambers in London.

Paola Gaeta (PhD in Law, European University Institute, 1997) was Assistant Professor (1998), Associate Professor (2001) and then Tenured Professor (2001-2010) of Public International Law at the University of Florence. She is currently Tenured Professor of International Criminal Law at the Law Faculty of the University of Geneva and Adjunct Professor of International Criminal Law at the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies. From 2007 until 2014, she was the Director of the LL.M. Programme in International Humanitarian Law of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and from 2011 until 2014 Director of the Academy itself. She is a Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of International Criminal Justice and of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of International Law. Her publications include The Oxford Handbook of International Law in Armed Conflict (co-edited with Andrew Clapham) (OUP 2014).

Marco Sassòli (PhD in Law, Basel, 1989) is Professor of International Law and Director of the Department of International Law and International Organization at the University of Geneva. From 2001-2003, Marco Sassòli was Professor of International Law at the Université du Québec à Montreal, Canada, where he remains Associate Professor. He is member of the International Commission of Jurists. He has worked from 1985-1997 for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at the headquarters, inter alia as Deputy Head of its Legal Division, and in conflict areas, in particular the Middle East and the Balkans. He has also served as registrar at the Swiss Supreme Court, and from 2004-2013 as chair of the board of Geneva Call, an NGO engaging non-state armed actors to respect humanitarian rules.