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Bringing the Commentaries on the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols into the twenty-first century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2013

Jean-Marie Henckaerts
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Abstract

The ICRC Commentaries on the 1949 Geneva Conventions date back to the 1950s, and those on the 1977 Additional Protocols were written in the 1980s. Since the original Commentaries were published, the Conventions and Protocols have been put to the test, and practice with respect to their application and interpretation has developed significantly. In order to capture these new developments a major ICRC project to update the Commentaries on these six treaties is now well underway. Its goal is to contribute to a better understanding of, and respect for, international humanitarian law. Ultimately, the project seeks to enhance protection for the victims of armed conflicts.

Type
Reports and Documents
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 94 , Issue 888: ICRC: 150 years of Humanitarian Action , December 2012 , pp. 1551 - 1555
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2013 

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References

1 The Geneva Conventions have 195 States Parties, Additional Protocol I on international armed conflicts has 173 States Parties, and Additional Protocol II on non-international armed conflicts has 167 States Parties; see www.icrc.org/ihl. A third Additional Protocol was adopted in 2005, introducing a new protective emblem, the Red Crystal. The current project does not deal with the 2005 Additional Protocol, as a Commentary on this Protocol was published recently. See Quéguiner, Jean-François, ‘Commentary on the Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (Protocol III)’, in International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 89, No. 865, 2007, pp. 175–207CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/article/review/review-865-p175.htm.

2 Jean S. Pictet, with contributions by Siordet, Frédéric, Pilloud, Claude, Schoenholzer, Jean-Pierre, Wilhelm, René-Jean, and Uhler, Oscar M., Geneva Convention I: Commentary, ICRC, Geneva, 1952Google Scholar (French original and English); Jean S. Pictet, with the cooperation of Rear-Admiral M. W. Mouton (Netherlands), with contributions by Siordet, Frédéric, Pilloud, Claude, Schoenholzer, Jean-Pierre, Wilhelm, René-Jean, and Uhler, Oscar M., Geneva Convention II: Commentary, ICRC, Geneva, 1959Google Scholar (French) and 1960 (English); Jean de Preux, with contributions by Siordet, Frédéric, Pilloud, Claude, Coursier, Henri, Wilhelm, René-Jean, Uhler, Oscar M., and Schoenholzer, Jean-Pierre, Geneva Convention III: Commentary, ICRC, Geneva, 1958Google Scholar (French) and 1960 (English); Uhler, Oscar M., Coursier, Henri, Siordet, Frédéric, Pilloud, Claude, Boppe, Roger, Wilhelm, René-Jean, and Schoenholzer, Jean-Pierre, Geneva Convention IV: Commentary, ICRC, Geneva, 1956Google Scholar (French) and 1958 (English).

3 ICRC, Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, ICRC and Martinus Nijhoff, Geneva, 1987Google Scholar : Additional Protocol I (and Annex I): Commentary by Claude Pilloud, Jean de Preux, Yves Sandoz, Bruno Zimmermann, Philippe Eberlin, Hans-Peter Gasser, and Claude F. Wenger; Additional Protocol II: Commentary by Sylvie-S. Junod. Both Commentaries were prepared under the editorship of Yves Sandoz, Christophe Swinarski, and Bruno Zimmermann.

4 Statutes of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, 1986, Art. 5(2)(g). On the ICRC's role in the interpretation of international humanitarian law, see also Bugnion, François, The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Protection of War Victims, ICRC and MacMillan, Geneva, 2003, pp. 914–922Google Scholar.

5 Statutes of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, 1986, Art. 5(2)(c).

6 See www.icrc.org/customary-ihl.

7 See www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/vwTreaties1949.xsp.