This chapter reviews the enforcement of IHL through a range of legal and non legal mechanisms. It first addresses the obligation to respect and ensure respect for IHL, protecting powers, the international humanitarian fact finding committee and the role of human rights bodies. State responsibility, state immunity and acts of state and political question doctrines are then discussed. Reparations, including state reparations, individual reparations and reparations by armed groups are then reviewed. UN immunity, UN enforcement and responsibility in peacekeeping operations, liability and reparations in peacekeeping operations and criminal responsibility in peacekeeping operations are also addressed. The use of belligerent reprisals in the enforcement of IHL and armed groups and enforcement of IHL is then discussed. In conclusion the chapter considers United Nations Action in enforcement of IHL.

Chapter 7 demonstrates that, contra the inevitable conflict thesis, military necessity never affirmatively conflicts with humanity. Where humanity demands what military necessity permits, or where humanity condemns what military necessity merely tolerates, the belligerent always satisfies both considerations by acting as directed by humanity. IHL framers are more likely to impose unqualified prohibitions against acts deemed inhumane and unnecessary than to make humane and necessary acts obligatory. Military necessity’s normative indifference also means that, even where humanity demands unnecessary acts or condemns necessary acts, the belligerent still satisfies them jointly by acting as directed by humanity. IHL framers are then to decide whether to obligate jointly satisfactory behaviour and, if so, whether to obligate it unqualifiedly, principally, indeterminately or exceptionally.