1 Historical Development and Legal Basis
Mary Ellen O’Connell
From: The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law (3rd Edition)
Edited By: Dieter Fleck
- Subject(s):
- Armed conflict — Geneva Conventions 1949 — Military necessity — UN Charter — Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties — Ius ad bellum — Peace keeping — Humanitarian intervention
101 The use of armed force is prohibited under Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. States may resort to armed force only in the exercise of individual or collective self- defence (Article 51 UN Charter) or as authorized by the Security Council (Articles 39–42 UN Charter). International humanitarian law (IHL) applies with equal force to all the parties in an armed conflict irrespective of which party was responsible for starting the conflict. IHL comprises the whole of established law governing the conduct of armed conflict. 1. Introduction. Although the subject of...
