"Respect of the law" [2019] ELECD 599; in Sassoli, Marco (ed), "International Humanitarian Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 68

Book Title: International Humanitarian Law

Editor(s): Sassòli, Marco

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: Respect of the law

Number of pages: 100

Abstract/Description:

Before even discussing in detail the substantive rules of IHL, it is necessary to address the elephant in the room faced by everyone who studies IHL, namely the doubts of students as to whether those engaged in armed conflicts actually respect the substantive rules of IHL. If actors involved in armed conflicts do not in reality care for IHL, this field of law would consequently amount to nothing more than a purely intellectual exercise that, while nevertheless perhaps useful to train the legal capacities of young minds, would not warrant a book on the subject. In my opinion, however, IHL is indeed frequently respected, thus playing an important role in mitigating the negative effects caused by armed conflict.