WAR, LAW OF

that part of international law dealing with the inception, conduct, and termination of warfare. Its aim is to limit the suffering caused to combatants and, more particularly, to those who may be described as the victims of war-that is, noncombatant civilians and those no longer able to take part in hostilities. Thus, the wounded, the sick, the shipwrecked, and prisoners of war also require protection by law. The laws of war have found it difficult to keep up with rapid changes wrought by the development of ever-newer weapons and more technologically advanced warfare, with their attendant damage to the natural environment. It therefore becomes important constantly to supplement (but not to abolish) earlier treaties. This article shows how such a process of supplementation has been carried out. The law of war has also been taken to include limitations placed upon states on their use of armed force. No system of law can prevent a state (or, indeed, an individual) from using force in self-defense, and the limitations of this concept are also discussed in this article. that part of international law dealing with the inception, conduct, and termination of warfare. The law of war applies to declared and undeclared war and regulates relations between warring states and between those states and neutral countries. It establishes the responsibilities and rights of individuals involved in war, the types of weaponry and the uses to which they may be put, and the rights of civilians. War in ancient times knew few restraints, and slavery or death awaited those who were defeated. By the late European Middle Ages, a substantial body of law, influenced by religious concepts and chivalry as well as by rationalist and humanist sentiment, had evolved. For example, Christians captured by other Christians were not to be enslaved. Medieval law applied primarily to gentlemen-soldiers, however, and civilians and soldiers of lower rank were likely to suffer grievously. The evolution of nation-states in Europe was foreshadowed by the publication in 1625 of Hugo Grotius' De Jure Belli ac Pacis (On the Law of War and Peace), which held that states are bound by a code of duties and prohibitions. Efforts to regulate warfare grew when weapons became more destructive. The Declaration of Paris (1856) abolished privateering. In 1863, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued General Orders No. 100, Instructions for the Government of Armies in the Field, which were based on the Lieber code, a codification prepared by Francis Lieber that had great subsequent influence. In Switzerland in 1864, the first Geneva Convention was adopted to protect those wounded in war. Conferences at The Hague in 1899 and 1907 codified much of the existing laws of war. The Geneva Conventions in 1906, 1929, and 1949 expanded and refined the law of war as applied to civilians, prisoners of war, and wounded and sick military personnel. Several treaties banned particular weapons. The Geneva Protocol on Gas Warfare (1925) prohibited the use of lethal gases and bacteriological warfare. In ancient times the issue of what constituted a just war was argued in a theological context. A medieval war was "just," whatever its cause, if undertaken by the highest authority, an independent prince. From the 18th century through World War I, each nation was deemed the sole judge of its need to wage war. The League of Nations Covenant held, however, that aggression constituted serious international misconduct. The Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928), which condemned recourse to war, influenced the Nrnberg trials of German war criminals after World War II. The United Nations Charter (1945) limited resort to war to self-defense and to UN actions to enforce international security. The law of war is based on the principle that the weapons and methods of war are not unlimited. By setting limits to armed conflict, it reinforces the principle that the aim of warfare is to incapacitate the armed forces of the enemy and not to cause severe, indiscriminate suffering among combatants and civilians alike. The law of war at times has been enforced through judicial punishment of war criminals, and world opinion at times has persuaded nations to comply with customary international law. However, systematic enforcement of the entire body of treaties and conventions that make up the law of war has proved impossible, given that no supranational organization (including the UN) has been given the powers to punish offending nations. Crimes against peace (planning and waging aggressive war) may result in punishment only against those able to influence government policy, but genocide and crimes against humanity can bring punishment to officers and enlisted soldiers as well. An officer must try to prevent violations by his troops or bear responsibility for such acts even though unaware of their commission. A subordinate "following orders" also may be guilty of a war crime. The UN Charter's provision for self-defense leaves in doubt when such defense may begin. An armed attack may be preceded by subversion by the aggressor state and by its advance toward the border of the threatened state. The launching of nuclear missiles may provide little time for defense. Hence, the case has been made for preventive action by a defender. The laws of war distinguish between combatants and noncombatants, although indiscriminate aerial bombing during World War II blurred this difference. Military personnel, as distinguished from civilians, are under a commander's control, carry arms openly, and wear uniforms. The Geneva conventions of 1949 and their Protocols of 1977 hold that guerrillas must observe these distinctions during military operations or face punishment as illegal combatants. International law forbids treachery, as in use of the white flag or Red Cross to conceal hostilities. Espionage is permissible, but spies may be punished. Prisoners must be treated humanely and repatriated when hostilities end. War may end when both sides cease hostilities or when one side subjugates its opponent. A peace treaty, often preceded by an armistice, is the most desirable means of ending a war. The treaty may provide for reparations against a state whose citizens violated the laws of war. Additional reading Among comprehensive works of reference quality on the law of war are L. Oppenheim, International Law, a Treatise, 8th ed., ed. by H. Lauterpacht, vol. 2, Disputes, War, and Neutrality (1962); and Georg Schwarzenberger, International Law as Applied by International Courts and Tribunals, vol. 2, The Law of Armed Conflict (1968), an interpretation of the law chiefly through court decisions.For the history of the laws of war, see Geoffrey Best, Humanity in Warfare (1980). For the development of the law of war as it exists today, see Jean S. Pictet (ed.), The Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949: Commentary, 4 vol. (1952-60); Claude Pilloud et al. (eds.), Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 (1987; originally published in French, 1986); G.I.A.D. Draper, The Red Cross Conventions (1958); Waldemar A. Solf and J. Ashley Roach (eds.), Index of International Humanitarian Law (1987); and L.C. Green, Essays on the Modern Law of War (1985).Special treatments of developments brought about by particular military campaigns include Robert R. Bowie, Suez 1956 (1974); Georges Abi-Saab, The United Nations Operation in the Congo, 1960-1964 (1978); Abram Chayes, The Cuban Missile Crisis (1974, reprinted 1987); Richard A. Falk (ed.), The Vietnam War and International Law, 4 vol. (1968-76); Allan Gerson, Israel, the West Bank, and International Law (1978); Alberto R. Coll and Anthony C. Arend (eds.), The Falklands War: Lessons for Strategy, Diplomacy, and International Law (1985); and Scott Davidson, Grenada: A Study in Politics and the Limits of International Law (1987). For internal conflicts, see Richard A. Falk (ed.), The International Law of Civil War (1971); and Heather A. Wilson, International Law and the Use of Force by National Liberation Movements (1988).Laws on particular weapons, means of conflict, and areas of war are explored in Howard S. Levie, The Code of International Armed Conflict, 2 vol. (1986); Morris Greenspan, The Modern Law of Land Warfare (1959); D.P. O'Connell, The International Law of the Sea, 2 vol. (1982-84); Ann Van Wynen Thomas and A.J. Thomas, Jr., Development of International Legal Limitations on the Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons, 2 vol. (1968); and Peter Rowe, Defence: The Legal Implications: Military Law and the Laws of War (1987).War crimes as a branch of military law are analyzed in Robert K. Woetzel, The Nuremberg Trials in International Law: With a Postlude on the Eichmann Case (1962); Ann Tusa and John Tusa, The Nuremberg Trial (1983); Philip R. Piccigallo, The Japanese on Trial: Allied War Crimes Operations in the East, 1945-1951 (1979); L.C. Green, Superior Orders in National and International Law (1976); and Yoram Dinstein, The Defence of "Obedience to Superior Orders" in International Law (1965). Peter John Rowe