The Law of Armed Conflict International Humanitarian Law in War

Chapter 2 describes how this text will develop, moving from LOAC basics to somewhat more difficult legal situations and their resolution, to complex LOAC concepts and their often less-than-clear resolutions. A thumbnail sketch of the “father” of LOAC, Francis Lieber, is given, along with his LOAC foundational Code of 1863, including a basic element of that Code, the “combatant’s privilege,” which allows lawful combatants to kill and wound, destroy, and damage, without penalty of law – but only lawful combatants. The first Geneva Convention (1864) is described, along with brief accounts of one or two other basic LOAC treaties. Finally, the actual “law” of the law of armed conflict is described: the 1899 and 1907 Hague Peace Conferences, both of which continue into today to be international laws for which violators are being convicted. Finally, brief extracts from actual trials that illustrate elements of the chapter are provided to demonstrate to the student that the reading represents real-world events with modern application.