Humanitarian action and international law

Definition of international humanitarian law

International humanitarian law is a set of rules that seek to limit the effects of armed conflicts on protected persons and goods. This law, commonly called “the law of war”, protects people who do not participate in hostilities (civilians, members of health personnel or humanitarian organizations) and those who no longer take part in combat (wounded, sick and shipwrecked people, prisoners of war), just as it limits the choice of means and methods of warfare. International humanitarian law is also called the “law of armed conflicts” or “jus in bello”. In this sense, it is important to make a distinction between international humanitarian law, which regulates the way in which parties to a conflict are permitted to conduct their hostilities (jus in bello), and the principles of international public law set out in the Charter of the United Nations, which determines whether a State is permitted to legally resort to armed force against another State (jus ad bellum).

International humanitarian law falls under international public law, which is essentially made up of treaties, international customary law and general principles of law. The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols are benchmark treaties of contemporary international humanitarian law. There exists, however, many other conventions, including to provide rules for certain specific situations (for example, the 1954 Hague Convention on Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict) or certain environments (for example, the 1907 Hague Convention on Maritime Warfare) and a significant number of customary rules applicable in periods of both international and non-international armed conflict.

The Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols, the fundamental texts of international humanitarian law

International humanitarian law is one of the oldest branches of international law and its contemporary wording is mainly based on the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 and 2005 Additional Protocols. In 1947, at the instigation of the Swiss Government, 59 States – including France – took part in a diplomatic conference with the aim of continuing work on the codification and development of international humanitarian law begun by States before the First World War, while taking into account the experience and atrocities perpetrated during the two World Wars. The International Committee of the Red Cross played a driving role in drafting these Conventions, and 12 other States and several international organizations, including the United Nations, also participated as observers in the conference’s work. The four new Conventions, signed on 12 August 1949, considerably improved the protection of civilians and persons hors de combat during periods of international armed conflict, particularly the third and fourth Conventions.

States universally welcomed the Conventions, which have two fundamental objectives :

• Respect for life and personal dignity, which is enshrined in all the Conventions, and must be guaranteed in international and non-international armed conflicts by prohibiting cruel treatment, torture, hostage-taking and executions without previous judgment ;
• Solidarity, whereby wounded people must be cared for without any adverse distinction. The Conventions reinforce the role of medical missions and the protection of medical personnel, units and means of health-related transport.
  The Conventions and Protocols make it possible to save many lives by establishing rules enshrined by law regarding the conduct of hostilities by parties to the conflict. These parties to the conflict are obliged to respect five fundamental principles of international humanitarian law :
• The principle of humanity, which imposes the obligation to treat all people protected by international humanitarian law with humanity and indiscriminately ;
• The principle of distinction, which obliges belligerents to make at all times a distinction between the civilian population and combatants, and between civilian objects and military objectives ;
• The principle of proportionality, which imposes the obligation to evaluate the feasible effects of an attack on protected persons and property, and to refrain from conducting such an attack or to interrupt it if the effects are “excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated” (Article 51 §5b, PA I) ;
• The principle of precaution, which imposes the obligation on parties to a conflict to take all feasible precautions to avoid or to limit the effects on protected persons and property, whether that be in the conduct of an attack or a military operation or vis-à-vis such attacks conducted by the other party to the conflict (Article 57 and 58, PA I) ;
• The principle of the prohibition of superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering, which prohibits the use of means or methods of warfare to cause unnecessary damage and suffering to achieve strictly military ends and to weaken the adverse camp.

These principles, and more broadly the provisions that apply to international and non-international armed conflicts, shall be applied “in all circumstances to all persons who are protected by those instruments, without any adverse distinction based on the nature or origin of the armed conflict or on the causes espoused by or attributed to the parties to the conflicts”, according to the Preamble of Additional Protocol I. Likewise, France considers that international humanitarian law must fully be applied whatever the means and methods of warfare used, including new ones, and whatever the context (cyberspace and outer space, for example).

Lastly, the Conventions and their Protocols set out that measures will be taken to prevent and punish perpetrators of what are called “grave breaches”.

France supports worldwide compliance with international humanitarian law

France signed the four Geneva Conventions on 12 August 1949. They were then ratified in 1951. Article 1, which is common to the four Conventions, affirms the obligation to respect and to ensure respect for the Conventions under all circumstances.

France defends a universal, uniform and accurate application of international humanitarian law. France works to promote the protection of civilians as well as humanitarian and medical personnel and their free access to populations in conflict zones. It is committed to the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions relating to international humanitarian law, such as UN Security Council Resolution 2417 (2018), which condemns the use of famine as a method of warfare.

France is rallying the support of the international community for compliance with international humanitarian law. In cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross, France, Brazil, China, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and South Africa launched a global initiative in September 2024 aiming to revitalize political engagement for international humanitarian law. This initiative will lead to the drafting of tangible recommendations aiming to address these challenges and implement practical measures on the ground. Work will result in the organization of a high-level meeting in 2026, whose aim will be to protect humanity during warfare.

In 2021, France established a National Plan for Training in International Humanitarian Law, which intends to strengthen international humanitarian law training for French government personnel (including diplomats and military staff) who are liable to deal with these issues. It also aims to offer and strengthen international humanitarian law training by France to armed forces of their partners, NGOs and large French companies who are interested.

^{Updated : October 2025}