International Institute of Humanitarian Law
Encyclopedia
The International Institute of Humanitarian Law is an independent, non-profit humanitarian organisation founded in 1970. Its headquarters are situated in Villa Ormond, Sanremo
, Italy
. A liaison office of the Institute is established in Geneva
, Switzerland
. The main purpose of the Institute is to promote the development of international humanitarian law
, human rights
, refugee law
, immigration law
and related issues.
Thanks to its specific, well-tested experience, the Institute has earned an international reputation as a centre of excellence in the field of training, research, and the dissemination of all aspects of international humanitarian law
. Considering the aims it pursues, the Institute works in close collaboration with the most important international organisations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), and the International Organization for Migration
(IOM). It has operational relations with the EU, UNESCO
, NATO, Organisation International de la Francophonie (OIF) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
. It has consultative status with the United Nations
(ECOSOC) and the Council of Europe
.
The Institute is composed by more than 200 individual members from different nationalities. In accordance with the Statutes, they are persons that have particularly distinguished themselves through competence or activities in fields of specific interest to the Institute. Institutions significantly contributing to the work of the Institute may also be admitted as members.
The General Assembly establishes and guides the general policy of the Institute.
The Council, which is elected by the General Assembly, oversees the management of the Institute, determining the programme of activities. It elects the President and Vice-Presidents, and appoints the Secretary-General and the Treasurer.
Since September 2007, President of the Institute is Ambassador Maurizio Moreno, a career diplomat. Eminent personalities from diplomatic circles , scholars and experts are among the Institute’s Council members: Dr. Mohammed Al-Hadid (Jordan), President, Permanent Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement; Prof. Mario Bettati (France), Special Representative to the Minister for Foreign Affairs; Gen. Erwin Dahinden (Switzerland
), Chief of the International Relations Section of the Swiss Armed Forces; Dr. Baldwind De Vidts, Legal Adviser to the NATO Secretary General; Dr. Ndioro Ndiaye (Senegal), Deputy Director General of International Organization for Migration; Prof. Yoram Dinstein
(Israel
), Emeritus Professor at University of Tel Aviv; Prof. Jacques Forster (Switzerland
), Emeritus Professor at the Geneva Institute for Advanced Studies in Development; Prof. Dr. Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg (Germany
), Head of the Faculty of Law at Viadrina University, Frankfort; Prof. Marie G. Jacobsson (Sweden
), Principal Legal Advisor at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Dr. Michael A. Meyer (United Kingdom
), Head of the International Humanitarian Law Office of the British Red Cross; Judge Hisashi Owada (Japan
), President, International Court of Justice
; Prof. Fausto Pocar (Italy
), former President of the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; Prof. William H.Taft IV (USA), Former US Permanent Representative to NATO, Professor of International Law at Stanford Law School
; Prof. Michel Veuthey, Associate Professor University of Nice.
The Municipality of Sanremo
and the Italian Red Cross
are ex officio members of the Council of the Institute.
, human rights
, refugee law
and immigration law
for military personnel, government officials, diplomats, experts, representatives of non governmental organisations, and students from all over the world. These courses, which are organised in collaboration with interested international institutions and countries, are taught in various languages (French
, English
, Spanish
, Arabic, Chinese
and Russian
) by qualified teachers of different nationalities, using a multidisciplinary interactive approach.
The “San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea
”, which was compiled between 1988 and 1994, still remains the most consulted Manual in Naval Military Academies all over the world, and is considered to be a reference work of world repute.
“The Manual on the Law of Non-International Armed Conflict”, which was published in March 2006, is the Institute’s latest Manual. It reflects the developments registered by humanitarian rules at a time where conflicts all too often differ from classical warfare waged between States that are bound by The Hague Conventions and the Geneva Protocols.
For over ten years now the Institute has continued to produce a series of publications dedicated to the proceedings of its main Round Tables. In addition, it distributes a “Newsletter
” every two months.
Sanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. A liaison office of the Institute is established in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. The main purpose of the Institute is to promote the development of international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law
International humanitarian law , often referred to as the laws of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal corpus that comprises "the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions, as well as subsequent treaties, case law, and customary international law." It...
, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, refugee law
Refugee law
Refugee law is the branch of international law which deals with the rights and protection of refugees. It is related to, but distinct from, international human rights law and international humanitarian law, which deal respectively with human rights in general, and the conduct of war in...
, immigration law
Immigration law
Immigration law refers to national government policies which control the phenomenon of immigration to their country.Immigraton law, regarding foreign citizens, is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people, in matters such as citizenship...
and related issues.
Thanks to its specific, well-tested experience, the Institute has earned an international reputation as a centre of excellence in the field of training, research, and the dissemination of all aspects of international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law
International humanitarian law , often referred to as the laws of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal corpus that comprises "the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions, as well as subsequent treaties, case law, and customary international law." It...
. Considering the aims it pursues, the Institute works in close collaboration with the most important international organisations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
(ICRC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
(UNHCR), and the International Organization for Migration
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to help resettle people displaced by World War II....
(IOM). It has operational relations with the EU, UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, NATO, Organisation International de la Francophonie (OIF) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is a humanitarian institution that is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement along with the ICRC and 186 distinct National Societies...
. It has consultative status with the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
(ECOSOC) and the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
.
Organisation
The General Assembly establishes and guides the general policy of the Institute.
The Council, which is elected by the General Assembly, oversees the management of the Institute, determining the programme of activities. It elects the President and Vice-Presidents, and appoints the Secretary-General and the Treasurer.
Since September 2007, President of the Institute is Ambassador Maurizio Moreno, a career diplomat. Eminent personalities from diplomatic circles , scholars and experts are among the Institute’s Council members: Dr. Mohammed Al-Hadid (Jordan), President, Permanent Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement; Prof. Mario Bettati (France), Special Representative to the Minister for Foreign Affairs; Gen. Erwin Dahinden (Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
), Chief of the International Relations Section of the Swiss Armed Forces; Dr. Baldwind De Vidts, Legal Adviser to the NATO Secretary General; Dr. Ndioro Ndiaye (Senegal), Deputy Director General of International Organization for Migration; Prof. Yoram Dinstein
Yoram Dinstein
Yoram Dinstein is an international law Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University and is a specialist on international law, and an authority on the laws of war.-Career:...
(Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
), Emeritus Professor at University of Tel Aviv; Prof. Jacques Forster (Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
), Emeritus Professor at the Geneva Institute for Advanced Studies in Development; Prof. Dr. Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg (Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), Head of the Faculty of Law at Viadrina University, Frankfort; Prof. Marie G. Jacobsson (Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
), Principal Legal Advisor at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Dr. Michael A. Meyer (United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), Head of the International Humanitarian Law Office of the British Red Cross; Judge Hisashi Owada (Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
), President, International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
; Prof. Fausto Pocar (Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
), former President of the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; Prof. William H.Taft IV (USA), Former US Permanent Representative to NATO, Professor of International Law at Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law...
; Prof. Michel Veuthey, Associate Professor University of Nice.
The Municipality of Sanremo
Sanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...
and the Italian Red Cross
Italian Red Cross
The Italian Red Cross is the Italian national Red Cross society that has its origin in the Comitato dell'Associazione Italiana per il soccorso ai feriti ed ai malati in guerra that was formed in Florence in 1863, and in Milan on June 15, 1864. Other committees were formed later...
are ex officio members of the Council of the Institute.
Training of civil and military personnel
Every year, the Institute organises basic courses, training courses, and advanced courses in the field of international humanitarian lawInternational humanitarian law
International humanitarian law , often referred to as the laws of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal corpus that comprises "the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions, as well as subsequent treaties, case law, and customary international law." It...
, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, refugee law
Refugee law
Refugee law is the branch of international law which deals with the rights and protection of refugees. It is related to, but distinct from, international human rights law and international humanitarian law, which deal respectively with human rights in general, and the conduct of war in...
and immigration law
Immigration law
Immigration law refers to national government policies which control the phenomenon of immigration to their country.Immigraton law, regarding foreign citizens, is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people, in matters such as citizenship...
for military personnel, government officials, diplomats, experts, representatives of non governmental organisations, and students from all over the world. These courses, which are organised in collaboration with interested international institutions and countries, are taught in various languages (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Arabic, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
) by qualified teachers of different nationalities, using a multidisciplinary interactive approach.
Organisation of conferences, workshops and round tables
These events are much appreciated by the international community as they offer an opportunity for periodic dialogue and debate on topics of international humanitarian law , human rights and other related issues. They encourage members of scientific, diplomatic, institutional and military circles from all over the world to meet informally to examine the more burning issues concerning the promotion of, respect for and development of international humanitarian law with an eye to the future. Almost forty years of meetings and intense academic activity addressing the main topics of humanitarian law, under the auspices of the Institute, have created what has universally become known as “humanitarian dialogue in the spirit of Sanremo”.Research and publications
The Institute has become increasingly involved in research activities, study and analysis. It publishes texts, essays and monographs that aim to contribute to the awareness of issues relevant to international humanitarian law and its different aspects.The “San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea
San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea
The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea was adopted in June 1994 by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law after a series of round table discussions by naval and legal experts...
”, which was compiled between 1988 and 1994, still remains the most consulted Manual in Naval Military Academies all over the world, and is considered to be a reference work of world repute.
“The Manual on the Law of Non-International Armed Conflict”, which was published in March 2006, is the Institute’s latest Manual. It reflects the developments registered by humanitarian rules at a time where conflicts all too often differ from classical warfare waged between States that are bound by The Hague Conventions and the Geneva Protocols.
For over ten years now the Institute has continued to produce a series of publications dedicated to the proceedings of its main Round Tables. In addition, it distributes a “Newsletter
Newsletter
A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...
” every two months.