Common use of INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Clause in Contracts

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. The law of armed conflict – or international humanitarian law (IHL) – regulates the conduct of parties to an armed conflict. It limits the methods and means that parties to an armed conflict may use to weaken the adversary and it provides rules that aim to limit the effects of warfare on vulnerable groups, in particular the civilian population as well as persons that no longer take part in hostilities. In other words, IHL primarily regulates the use of violence by parties to an armed conflict.1 This specific focus of IHL is decisive for the way in which this field of international law addresses activities relating to the exploitation of natural resources by parties to an armed conflict. It also imme- diately reveals the limits of IHL in this respect. The exploitation of natural resources by parties to an armed conflict is not an act of war in itself, but rather, an activity that sustains conflict. Natural resources provide parties to an armed conflict with the means to finance their armed struggle. Therefore IHL appears to be ill suited to regulate the exploita- tion of natural resources by parties to an armed conflict, in contrast with occupation law, which has a different aim, namely to define the rights and obligations for occupants as de facto State authorities. This field of IHL does include rules defining the rights of an occupant with regard to the natural resources situated in occupied territory. The limits of IHL for the scope of this book are also evident from its en- vironmental provisions. The few international humanitarian law provisions which were specifically designed to protect the environment during armed conflict focus on the effects of military operations on the environment.2 Their 1 See the following definition provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which defines IHL as “the branch of international law limiting the use of violence in armed conflicts by: a) sparing those who do not or no longer directly participate in hostilities; b) restricting it to the amount necessary to achieve the aim of the conflict, which ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ & ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, How Does Law Protect in War? Cases, Documents and Teaching Materials on Contemporary Practice in International Humanitarian Law, Third Edition, Volume I, Geneva: ICRC (2011), p. 1. 2 Articles 35 (3) and 55, Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977, 1125 UNTS 3. Besides these provisions, mention must be made of the Convention purpose is to prevent “widespread, long-term and severe” damage to the environment resulting from acts of warfare.3 They were not designed to protect the environment against other threats resulting from the conduct of parties to an armed conflict, such as environmental damage resulting from the ex- ploitation of natural resources by parties to an armed conflict. Furthermore, it should be noted that these provisions were adopted in 1977, when modern international environmental law was at an early stage of development. Despite all these apparent limitations, IHL is important for the protection of natural resources and the environment during armed conflict. First, it is the only field of international law that contains directly binding obligations for non-state armed groups. In addition, it is the primary field of international law that is applicable to States which occupy or intervene militarily in other States.