Archive for category: Insights

When States cannot or are not willing to settle their disputes by resorting to peaceful means, weapons are instantaneously brought into play. Wars, as a matter of course, result in immeasurable and immense sufferings among civilians and drastic damages to nature as well as objects.

 

International Humanitarian Law (IHL), as a branch of Public International Law, is a set of rules that seek to limit the effects of armed conflicts by protecting persons who are not participating in hostilities and also by restricting and regulating the means and methods of warfare. IHL is sometimes referred to either as “the law of armed conflict” or simply “the law of war” (jus in bello). Armed conflicts can be of an international or non‑international character.

A major part of international humanitarian law is contained in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949:

 

(1) the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field,

 

(2) the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick, and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea,

 

(3) the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, and

 

(4) the Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

 

Nearly every State in the world has agreed to be bound by those conventions. The Conventions have been developed and supplemented by two further agreements: The Additional Protocols of 1977 relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts:

 

1. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977

 

2. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 8 June 1977

 

To be continued

 

By: Dr. Parastou Esmailzadeh

Attorney at Law, PhD in International Law, Head of International Trade Law Department

 

 

 

 

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. ICJ was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began its work in April 1946. Unlike the other principal organs of the UN which are all located in New York, the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands) is the seat of ICJ. The official languages of the Court are English and French.

Article 2 of ICJ’s Statute provides: “The Court shall be composed of a body of independent judges, elected regardless of their nationality from among persons of high moral character, who possess the qualifications required in their respective countries for appointment to the highest judicial offices, or are juris consults of recognized competence in international law.”

As per Article 3 and Article 13 of the Statute of the Court, ICJ consists of 15 judges with different nationalities who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. The judges shall be independent and shall be elected regardless of their nationalities from among persons of high moral character. They also need to be expert and reputable in the field of International Law.

In accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 31 of the Court’s Statute, a State Party to a case brought before ICJ which does not have a judge of its own nationality on the Bench, may choose a person to sit as an ad-hoc judge in that specific case under the conditions laid down in Articles 35 to 37 of the Rules of the Court. Furthermore, this point needs to be taken into consideration that the ad-hoc judges do not necessarily have to be nationals of the states that designate them.

By: Dr. Parastou Esmailzadeh

Attorney at Law, PhD in International Law, Head of International Trade Law Department

United Nations peacekeepers (also known as Blue Helmets) consist of soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel. In other words, the UN military personnel are the Blue Helmets on the ground that help countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace. Today, they are composed of over 97,000 military personnel contributed by national armies from across the globe.

UN peacekeepers have the ability to deploy troops and police from around the world, integrating them with civilian peacekeepers to address a range of mandates set by the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly. All military personnel working under the Blue Helmet are first and foremost members of their own national armies and are then seconded to work under the command and control of the United Nations.

UN military personnel can be called upon to:

• Protect civilians and UN personnel;
• Monitor a disputed border;
• Monitor and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas
• Provide security across a conflict zone;
• Provide security during elections;
• Assist in-country military personnel with training and support
• Assist ex-combatants in implementing the peace agreements; they may have signed.

Since 1948, the UN has helped end conflicts and foster reconciliation by conducting successful peacekeeping operations in dozens of countries, including Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mozambique, Namibia and Tajikistan.

There are currently 12 peacekeeping operations led by UN’s Department of Peace Operations which are listed as below:

      1.MINURSO, Western Sahara

      2.MINUSCA, Central African Republic

      3.MINUSMA, Mali

      4.MONUSCO, D.R. of the Congo

      5.UNDOF, Golan

     6.UNFICYP, Cyprus

      7.UNIFIL, Lebanon

      8.UNISFA, Abyei

      9.UNMIK, Kosovo

     10.UNMISS, South Sudan

    11.UNMOGIP, India and Pakistan

     12.UNTSO, Middle East

By: Dr. Parastou Esmailzadeh

Attorney at Law, Ph.D. In International Law, Head of International Trade Law Department