The use of force in international law

The Law of The Hague and the Law of Geneva

Traditionally, the law of armed conflict is divided into two branches: the Law of Geneva and the Law of the Hague (Figure 4).

Figure 4 The two legal arms of IHL

In this course, we will focus on the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the three Additional Protocols of the Geneva Conventions (AP I and II 1977, AP III 2005), which create the core of the legal framework of protection for victims of armed conflict. Aim to familiarise yourself with the relevant provisions of the Geneva Conventions related to the various issues discussed in this section.