Abstract:
Some provisions of the framework of the Hague and Geneva laws have some relevance with regard to wanton depradation of the human environment. To what extent have the Hague and Geneva laws contributed to the protection of the environment?In the first section, protection against environmental destruction by the traditional law of war and the modern law of war are examined. Some international agreements discussed in this section deal with the actions of armed forces by placing some restrictions on the methods of warfare in. order to limit unnecessary suffering.Section II deals with the evolution of cultural norms relating to war and the environment. First it is determined· whether traditional norms can be interpreted as providing protection for the environmenL Second, different doctrinal views on the existence of customary international law for the protection of the environment in time of war are also being analized.
Machine summary:
Regarding environmental destruction, Article 53 of this Convention provides that quot;[a]ny destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.
Protection of the Environment from Naval Forces in Time of War: The 1907 Hague Convention IX In 1896, the Institute of International law adopted a body of rules.
This notion was clearly enunciated in the so-called Martens Clause in the preamble to the 1907 Hague Convention IV: quot;Until a more complete code of the laws of war has been issued, the high contracting Parties deem it expedient to declare that, in cases not included in the Regulations adopted by them, the inhabitants and the belligerents remain under the protection and the rule of the principles of the law of nations, as they result from the usages established among civilized peoples, from the laws of humanity, and the dictates of the public conscience.
quot;75 The 1899 Hague Decl ation 2 concerning Asphyxiating Gases76 and the 1925 Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare77, were derived from the general principles of customary international law.