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A Century of Achievement and Unfinished Work

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

George H. Aldrich  and
Christine M. Chinkin
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Extract

The Hague Conferences that produced the Conventions of 1899 and 1907 closed the nineteenth century and opened the twentieth. They established an agenda for negotiation, in the parliamentary-diplomatic mode, for the next hundred years; elevated the development of mechanisms of dispute resolution to new prominence; tried to order many areas of armed conflict with new international law; and, perhaps unintentionally, set parameters for the future diplomacy of international conferences.

Subsequent international lawmaking efforts grappled with many of the themes debated at The Hague, even as the political landscape of international law was completely transformed by the breakup of empires and the advent of almost two hundred new states; the founding of international organizations and regional organizations that could scarcely have been imagined in 1899, and the establishment of a truly permanent international judicial institution, followed by the creation of many other judicial institutions with more focused jurisdictions. Despite these changes, much of the style of the Hague Conferences left a deep imprint on international law. The mixture of lofty rhetoric, prophetic international legal vision, and narrow political interest of the Hague Conferences became a characteristic, even an expected feature, of collective international lawmaking efforts in this century.

Type
Symposium: The Hague Peace Conferences
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 94 , Issue 1 , January 2000 , pp. 90 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2000

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References

1 Scott called the Convention “the great and crowning glory” of the first conference. James Brown Scott, The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 AND 1907, at 254 (reprint 1972) (1909). Holls called it the “Magna Charta of International Law.” Frederick W. Holls, The Peace Conference at The Hague 471 (1900).

2 See UN Charter Art. 2(4).

3 Id., Art. 33.

4 Restoration to the General Act of 26 September 1928 of its original efficacy, GA Res. 268A (III), UN GAOR, 3d Sess., pt. II, Res. at 10, UN Doc. A/900 (1949); see also General Act for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, Sept. 26,1928, 93 LNTS 342.

5 Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, GA Res. 2625 (XXV), UN GAOR, 25th Sess., Supp. No. 28, at 121, UN Doc. A/8028 (1970).

6 Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes, GA Res. 37/10, UN GAOR, 37th Sess., Supp. No. 51, at 261, UN Doc. A/37/51 (1982).

7 See Thomas M. Franck, Fairness in International Law 173–217 (1995).

8 E.g., the General Assembly made promotion of the means and methods for the peaceful settlement of disputes a purpose of the Decade of International Law. United Nations Decade of International Law, GARes. 44/23, UN GAOR, 44th Sess., Supp. No. 49, at 31, UN Doc. A/44/49 (1989); and GA Res. 53/100 (Jan. 20,1999).

9 E.g., American Treaty on Pacific Settlement [Pact of Bogota], Apr. 30, 1948, 30 UNTS 55; European Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, Apr. 29,1957, 320 UNTS 243; Protocol of the Commission of Mediation and Arbitration of the Organization of African Unity July 21, 1964, 3 ILM 1116 (1964); Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, Convention on Conciliation and Arbitration within the CSCE, Dec. 15, 1992, 32 ILM 551 (1993).

10 However, its importance to peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peace building continues to be stressed. See An Agenda for Peace—Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-Keeping, Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. A/47/277-S/24111 (1992), UN Sales No. E.95.I.15 (1995); Supplement to An Agenda for Peace, UN Doc. A/50/60-S/1995/1 (1995).

11 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, opened for signature Dec. 10,1982,1833 UNTS 397.

12 E.g., the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, under Article 287 and Annex VI of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea; the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda; and the dispute setdement mechanisms under the 1994 Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization.

13 See, e.g., Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, Sept. 16, 1987, Art. 8, S. Treaty Doc. No. 10, 100th Cong. (1987), 26 ILM 1550 (1987); and Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, Doc. UNEP/OZL.pro.4/15 (1992), reprinted in 3Y.B. Int'l Envtl. L. 819 (1992).

14 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, opened for signature Dec. 12, 1977, Art.90, 1125 UNTS 3 [hereinafter Geneva Protocol I].

15 E.g., mixed arbitral tribunals such as the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, and those constituted under the provisions of the International Convention on Setdement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States, Mar. 18, 1965, 17 UST 1270, 575 UNTS 159.

16 These have been established by the World Bank, the Inter-American Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. On the former, see Ibrahim Shihata, The World Bank Inspection Panel (1994); Richard E. Bissell, Recent Practice of the Inspection Panel of the World Bank, 91 AJIL 741 (1997).

17 See Julius Stone, Legal Controls of International Conflict 81–82 (1954).

18 Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, June 17,1925, 26 UST 571, 94 LNTS 95.

19 See Treaty Relating to the Use of Submarines and Noxious Gases in Warfare, Feb. 6, 1922, Conference on the Limitation of Armaments (Washington, D.C., GPO 1922), reprinted in The Laws Of Armed Conflicts 877 (Dietrich Schindler & Jiří Toman eds., 3d rev. ed. 1988) (entered into force); Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armaments, Apr. 22, 1930, 46 Stat. 2858, 112 LNTS 88 (expired at the end of 1936); Procès-Verbal Relating to the Rules of Submarine Warfare Set Forth in Part IV of the Treaty of London of 22 April 1930, Nov. 6, 1936, 173 LNTS 353, 3 Bevans 298; Nyon Agreement, Sept. 14,1937, and Supplementary Agreement, Sept. 17, 1937, 181 LNTS 137 (relating to the Spanish Civil War).

20 See Richard A. Falk, The Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion and the New Jurisprudence of Global Civil Society, 7 Transnat'l L. & Contemp. Probs. 333, 339 (1997).

21 For a list of those bilateral agreements, see U.S. Dep't of State, Treaties in Force: A List of Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States in Force on January 1, 1998, at 290–91, 293 (1998).

22 United States v. Von Leeb [High Command Case], 11 Trials of War Criminals before the Nuernberg Military Tribunal under Control Council Law No. 10, at 462 (1950); see also 2 Lassa Oppenheim, International Law 234–36 (Hersch Lauterpacht ed., 7th ed. 1952).

23 Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, Aug. 22, 1864, 18 Martens Nouveau Recueil (le sér.) 612, translated and reprinted in The Laws of Armed Conflicts, supra note 19, at 279.

24 Convention [No. III] for the Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the Principles of the Geneva Convention of 22 August 1864, July 29, 1899, 32 Stat. 1827, 1 Bevans 263.

25 Convention [No. X] for the Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of Principles of the Geneva Convention, Oct. 18, 1907, 36 Stat. 2371,1 Bevans 694.

26 Convention [No. II] for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick, and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 UST 3217, 75 UNTS 85.

27 Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of Warjuly 27, 1929, 47 Stat. 2021, 118 LNTS 343.

28 Convention [No. IV] Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 UST 3516, 75 UNTS 287.

29 See, e.g., id., Art. 3.

30 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Dec. 9, 1948, 78 UNTS 277.

31 Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia, Art. 4, UN Doc. S/25704, annex (1993), reprinted inS2 ILM 1192 (1993); Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens responsible for genocide and other such violations committed in the territory of neighbouring States, between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994, SC Res. 955, annex, Art. 2, UN SCOR, 49th Sess., Res. & Dec, at 15, UN Doc. S/INF/50 (1994), reprinted in 33 ILM 1602 (1994).

32 Final Act of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, May 14, 1954, 249 UNTS 216.

33 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, May 14, 1954, 249 UNTS 240.

34 Geneva Protocol I, supra note 14.

35 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts, opened for signature Dec. 12, 1977, 1125 UNTS 609.

36 See Agreement for the Prosecution and Punishment of the Major War Criminals of the European Axis, Aug. 8, 1945, 59 Stat. 1544, 82 UNTS 279, and the annexed Charter of the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg); Charter of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Jan. 19, 1946, as amended Apr. 26, 1946, TIAS No. 1589, 4 Bevans 20.

37 SC Res. 827, UN SCOR, 48th Sess., Res. & Dec, at 29, UN Doc. S/INF/49 (1993) (formerYugoslavia); SC Res. 955, supra note 31 (Rwanda).

38 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, July 17, 1998, UN Doc. A/CONF.183/9* (1998), reprinted in 37 ILM 999 (1998).

39 San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea (Louise Doswald-Beck ed., 1995) [hereinafter San Remo Manual].

40 See STONE, supra note 17, at 380–413.

41 See Dietrich Schindler, Transformations in the Law of Neutrality Since 1945, in Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflict: Challenges Ahead 367, 383–88 (Astrid J. M. Delissen & Gerard J. Tanja eds., 1991) (discussing permanent neutrality).

42 Stone, supra note 17, at 407.

43 San Remo Manual, supra note 39, at 21-3, 31-3, 37-9; see also id., Explanation, paras. 13.1–13.4 (discussing its use of the term “neutral”).

44 Their role was clear: “their vivacity enlivened the proceedings, and by richness of color of their elaborate and fashionable costumes relieved the somber of the evening broadcloth.” Scott, supra note 1, at 184.