Law of war

Related Questions

How are war crimes different from crimes against humanity?
How did Christian ideas in the Middle Ages influence early limits on warfare?
How did Hugo Grotius influence the development of the law of war?
How did the 1929 Geneva Convention protect prisoners of war?
How did the 1949 Geneva Conventions expand protections for civilians during war?
How did the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 regulate weapons and military conduct?
How did the Nürnberg trials establish that individuals can be punished for international crimes?
How did the United Nations Charter limit the use of armed force by states?
How does customary international law become part of the law of war?
How does just war theory distinguish between deciding to go to war and conduct during war?
How does universal jurisdiction allow national courts to prosecute war crimes committed outside their own country?
How is genocide different from crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute?
What did the Declaration of St. Petersburg of 1868 prohibit in warfare?
What subjects are covered by the four Geneva Conventions of 1949?
When can Protocol II of 1977 apply to a civil war?
Which protections does Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions provide during civil wars?
Who was Henri Dunant and how did he help create the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions?
Why did the Geneva Gas Protocol of 1925 ban poisonous gases and bacteriological warfare?
Why did the Peace of Westphalia help end widespread enslavement of prisoners of war in Europe?
Why do just war principles require that force be a last resort and proportionate to the threat?
Why do treaties require countries to try or extradite people suspected of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions?
Why must prisoners of war receive the same legal penalties as members of the detaining country’s armed forces for similar offenses?
Why were rape and other forms of sexual violence recognized as war crimes by the Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals?

Law of war

international law

Written by

Peter John Rowe

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 4, 2026 •History

Law of war, that part of international law dealing with the inception, conduct, and termination of warfare. Its aim is to limit the suffering caused to combatants and, more particularly, to those who may be described as the victims of war—that is, noncombatant civilians and those no longer able to take part in hostilities. Thus, the wounded, the sick, the shipwrecked, and prisoners of war also require protection by law. The laws of war have...

Discover the world with Britannica

Subscribe to Continue Reading

Free Trial | No Ads | Exclusive Content

Explore Subscriptions

DNA

Right

Mobile