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Civil War, Humanitarian Law and the United Nations

Civil War, Humanitarian Law and the United Nations I. Introduction Emer de Vattel, in his classical treatise "Le Droit des Gens ou Principes de la Loi Naturelle", introduced his observations concerning civil war with some famous remarks that urged for caution in dealing with the topic: "It is a much-discussed question whether the sovereign must observe the ordinary laws of war in dealing with rebellious subjects who have openly taken up arms against him. A flatterer at court or a cruel tyrant will immediately answer that the laws of war are not made for rebels, who deserve nothing better than death."1 Vattel, however, reminded his readers to "proceed more temperately" and to argue the matter upon the "incon- testable principles" of reason and of natural law. The warning against precipitate conclusions that was formulated by Vattel still has its justification, even nowadays. This is not only due to the Martens clause,2 which in its modernized version in the Additional Pro- tocols of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 provides that ... in cases not covered by the law in force, the human person remains under the protection of the principles of humanity and the dictates of the public conscience".3 With the introductory remarks http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law Online Brill

Civil War, Humanitarian Law and the United Nations

Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law Online , Volume 1 (1): 35 – Jan 1, 1997
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References (2)

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
eISSN
1875-7413
DOI
10.1163/187574197X00083
Publisher site
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Abstract

I. Introduction Emer de Vattel, in his classical treatise "Le Droit des Gens ou Principes de la Loi Naturelle", introduced his observations concerning civil war with some famous remarks that urged for caution in dealing with the topic: "It is a much-discussed question whether the sovereign must observe the ordinary laws of war in dealing with rebellious subjects who have openly taken up arms against him. A flatterer at court or a cruel tyrant will immediately answer that the laws of war are not made for rebels, who deserve nothing better than death."1 Vattel, however, reminded his readers to "proceed more temperately" and to argue the matter upon the "incon- testable principles" of reason and of natural law. The warning against precipitate conclusions that was formulated by Vattel still has its justification, even nowadays. This is not only due to the Martens clause,2 which in its modernized version in the Additional Pro- tocols of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 provides that ... in cases not covered by the law in force, the human person remains under the protection of the principles of humanity and the dictates of the public conscience".3 With the introductory remarks

Journal

Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law Online – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 1997

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