Report on – 33rd IC Resolution 1: Bringing IHL home: A road map for better national implementation of international humanitarian law (33IC/19/R1) – U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Has your State/National Society/Institution incorporated the commitments contained in this resolution into the relevant strategic or operational plans?

At the International, National level

Explanation:

National

The UK’s National Committee on International Humanitarian Law is an interdepartmental body comprising policy and legal specialists in IHL from across Government, the armed forces and the British Red Cross. The Committee meets biannually to develop further, and disseminate understanding of, international humanitarian law policy and practice nationally and to discuss ways to encourage international partners to do likewise, particularly those members of the Commonwealth. The Committee encourages the dissemination and training of international humanitarian law to the armed forces, police, civil servants, teachers, the judiciary, the medical profession, journalists and others as necessary.

Under the auspices of the United Kingdom’s National Committee on International Humanitarian Law and with the support of the British Red Cross, the UK is in the process of preparing a second edition of its Voluntary Report. In May 2023, the Chair of the Committee was invited to speak on the topic of voluntary reporting at a seminar convened by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the British Red Cross.

International

The UK has promoted the formation of national International Humanitarian Law committees, has partnered with states wanting to set up similar bodies, and has offered practical assistance to those wishing to do so.

The UK Government works with the British Red Cross to encourage other states to draft their own Voluntary Reports on domestic implementation of IHL. In November 2019, we published a toolkit on GOV.UK including templates for preparing a national report. The toolkit has been translated into seven languages: Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili and Simplified Chinese.

In 2023, the United Kingdom launched the International Alliance on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSV) I, which drives forward global action on tackling Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV). The Alliance currently has 26 confirmed members including governments of conflict-affected states, such as Ukraine and Colombia, civil society, multilateral organisations and survivors.

Since 2022, a member of the PSVI Team of Experts has supported the Ukrainian Office of the Prosecutor General in developing its CRSV strategy and to help ensure survivor-centred justice. The United Kingdom has provided £6.2m to support projects aimed at building Ukraine’s domestic capability for investigating war crimes.

Has your State/National Society/Institution been working with other partners to implement the commitments contained in this resolution?

Partner with:
National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society in your country
Government and/or public authorities

Examples of cooperation:

The British Red Cross and other States’ partner organisations, including the Georgian National Red Cross Society and the Georgian National IHL Committee.

Working with the British Red Cross and selected academics, the UK’s National IHL Committee plans to publish a public-facing UK practitioner’s legal handbook, which focusses on conflict, hunger and the role of IHL in prohibiting starvation in situations of armed conflict. The handbook gathers relevant rules and practice in one place and considers issues such as the prohibition of starvation of civilians, humanitarian relief operations, and sanctions and conflict-induced food security, with a view to increasing knowledge among practitioners, sharing best practice and identifying pathways for better implementation of IHL. 

The UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Law Faculty works in partnership with the British Red Cross to offer practitioner-level courses and workshops for diplomats and officials of the FCDO and other Government Departments entitled ‘The Laws of War – an introduction to international humanitarian law’. Special sessions are sometimes arranged to help inform officials working on situations where IHL is of particular relevance.

The UK Government’s Ministry of Defence’s Joint Service Manual on the Law of Armed Conflict, which sets out the United Kingdom’s interpretation of IHL is published on the Government’s website together with amendments. A Ministry of Defence programme to update the Manual is underway. It will draw upon Service, Government and external academic legal experts to ensure that the new manual will be comprehensive and authoritative.

Members of the National IHL Committee have acted as speakers and chairs at a number of conferences as part of efforts to help promote IHL, including: the Regional Conference of European National IHL Committees held in Vienna (March 2023); the inaugural Ukrainian Red Cross IHL Summer School held in Kyiv (July 2023); the ICRC Regional IHL seminar for Eastern Africa held in Nairobi (in August 2023); and the 6th Commonwealth Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference on IHL held in Pretoria (April 2024).

Have you encountered any challenges in implementing the commitments contained in this resolution?

With challenges on:
Lack of capacity and/or support (technical, financial, or other)

Details about challenges:

The Covid-19 pandemic slowed our progress engaging with other states on reporting on IHL as we were forced to prioritise across all Government work in this period.

Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the work and direction of your State/National Society/Institution?

Type of Impact:
Training and capacity of staff and volunteers has increased (for National Societies)

Details about the impact:

All United Kingdom Armed Forces receive training on IHL throughout their careers, which covers the four fundamental principles of Necessity, Humanity, Distinction and Proportionality. IHL training is also provided as part of the mandatory pre-deployment training for all personnel deploying on military operations in which IHL may apply. Each service will deploy lawyers to operational theatres where there is a requirement to do so. Once deployed, these lawyers will advise on all legal issues and provide refresher training where necessary and practicable. In all cases, lawyers are involved in the development of directives, authorities, and rules of engagement and the associated guidance and they are available through a well-established system for any discrete points or training needs that may arise.

Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the communities that your State/National Society/Institution serves?

Description of the impact:

It is difficult to measure the direct impact of the commitments contained in the resolution on communities in the UK. Improving understanding of and compliance with IHL is a continuing and long-term process. We feel that there is a greater awareness of IHL and of the actions taken by the UK and by the British Red Cross in implementing and upholding IHL.

Although IHL is not directly relevant to many of our service users, our renewed focus on IHL dissemination activities, particularly in schools, will have the impact at community level of increasing the public’s baseline awareness of IHL, in particular, the Geneva Conventions.