Introduction

Tolstoy's ignorance of the laws of war is probably feigned, rather than deliberate; his main thrust is at the irony of civilizing the barbaric practice of war, but more importantly for the purposes of this chapter, he also points to the possibility that many who enter combat are not aware of any legal restraint upon their actions. Today, education of potential combatants in the rules of international humanitarian law (IHL) is one of the principal duties of a state party to the Geneva Conventions. The availability and quality of this education remains, however, in doubt. Against this background the exclusion by the states parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) of all but a very narrow defence of ignorance or mistake of law in the Statute raises questions of adherence to the principle of legality. This chapter explores the relationship between this narrow defence and the poor quality of education of combatants in IHL that currently pertains in many parts of the world.