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JSP 383

THE JOINT SERVICE MANUAL OF THE LAW OF ARMED CONFLICT

Joint Service Publication 383, 2004 Edition is promulgated

as directed by the Chiefs of Staff

Director-GeneralJoint Doctrine and Concepts Centre

CONDITIONS OF RELEASE

The information in this manual is Crown copyright and the intellectual property rights for thispublication belong exclusively to the Ministry of Defence (MOD). No material or informationcontained in this publication should be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted

in any form outside MOD establishments except as authorised by both the sponsor and theMOD where appropriate. This information is released by the United Kingdom Government to

a recipient Government for defence purposes only. It may be disclosed only within theDefence Department of a recipient Government, except as otherwise authorised by the MOD.

This information may be subject to privately owned rights.

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AUTHORISATION

The Joint Doctrine and Concepts Centre (JDCC) is responsible for publishing Joint WarfarePublications (JWPs) and maintaining a hierarchy of such publications. Users wishing to quoteJWPs or this JSP as reference material in other work should confirm with the JDCC DoctrineEditor whether the particular publication and amendment state remains extant. Comments onfactual accuracy or proposals for amendment should also be directed to the Doctrine Editor at:

The Joint Doctrine & Concepts CentreMinistry of DefenceShrivenhamSWINDONWiltshireSN6 8RF

Telephone number: 01793 314216/7Facsimilie number: 01793 314232E-mail: doctrine.pubs@jdcc.mod.uk

DISTRIBUTION

Distribution of this JSP is managed by DSDC(L), Mwrwg Road, Llangennech, Llanelli,Carmarthenshire, SA14 8YP. Requests for issue of this publication, or amendments to its dis-tribution, should be referred to DSDC(L). All other JDCC publications including a regularlyupdated CD Joint Doctrine Disk (containing both JWPs and Allied Joint Publications (AJPs))can also be demanded from DSDC(L).

Telephone number: 01554 822368Facsimilie number: 01554 822350

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Foreword

By the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Permanent underSecretary, Ministry of Defence

Law, both domestic and international, plays an increasingly important partin Defence activities these days. When undertaking operations, Com-manders must take into account a broad and increasingly complex body ofoperational law. The Law of Armed Conflict is a part of that wider body ofapplicable law, but it merits a manual in its own right because of its greatimportance to all those involved in the use of force and in wider militaryactivities.

This is the first major statement of the British approach to the Law ofArmed Conflict since 1958. During the intervening years, there have beennumerous expressions of the UKs position on aspects of this law, but noth-ing as comprehensive as this Manual. In this fast moving world, someissues cannot of necessity be stated in absolute terms. What follows is, how-ever, a clear articulation of the UKs approach to the Law of Armed Conflict.

In the same fast moving world, the law itself evolves, and to that end thispublication will be subject to periodic revision, the resulting amendmentsbeing published as noted in the Preface.

The United Kingdom has long appreciated the practical, policy and legalimportance of conducting the full range of its military activities in accor-dance with applicable legal norms. The publication of this Manual shouldbe seen as another step in stating publicly the UKs interpretation of whatthe Law of Armed Conflict requires. This Manual will form the basis fortraining of UK military personnel in this body of law, and will be usedwidely to inform practical decision making.

CDS PUS

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Preface

Background and Acknowledgements

This Manual is a reference work for members of the United KingdomsArmed Forces and officials within the Ministry of Defence and otherdepartments of Her Majestys Government. It is intended to enable all con-cerned to apply the law of armed conflict when conducting operations andwhen training or planning for them.

It has distinguished antecedents. Chapter XIV of the Manual of MilitaryLaw, published by the Army in 1914, was written jointly by Colonel J EEdmonds and Professor Lassa Oppenheim. This was revised in 1936 andwas the principal source of guidance throughout the Second World Warand Korean War. During the 1950s the law of armed conflict element of theManual of Military Law was completely redrafted to form a volume entitledThe Law of War on Land, being Part III of the Manual of Military Law (London,HMSO, 1958). This volume was written by Sir Hersch Lauterpacht QC withthe assistance of Colonel (later Professor) Gerald Draper OBE and came tobe regarded internationally as a classic text on its subject. The current vol-ume owes a great deal to the work carried out by these earlier authors but,clearly, has been influenced a very great deal by changes that have takenplace within the law of armed conflict since the 1950s. It is also, signifi-cantly, a Joint Service Publication and not merely a manual for use by theArmy during land operations. As such, it incorporates the relevant lawdealing with both maritime and air operations.

This new Manual is the result of work put in by a great many people overa long period of time, almost 25 years. The need for a new manual becameapparent when the 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of1949 were adopted and drafting first got underway in 1979. The full list ofcontributors during the years since then would be too great to reproduce andan attempt to compile it would, in any case, risk offence by leaving out somewhose input was significant at the time but whose names are no longer onrecord. Nevertheless, mention of some key contributors is appropriate. Thefirst General Editor was Colonel (later Major General) Michael Fugard, withthe first full version of a draft text completed by 1986 under the generaleditorship of Colonel (later Major General) David Selwood. At that pointpublication was delayed to await the United Kingdoms ratification of theAdditional Protocols. However, it took a further 12 years for ratification tooccur. In the meantime, in the period 199497, as ratification became increas-ingly likely, Colonel Charles Garraway took on the general editorship and

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carried out a complete revision of the draft to take account of internationallegal developments, particularly those arising from the Gulf conflict of 1991.At that stage, Professor Christopher Greenwood was enlisted as AcademicConsultant, a position he has retained ever since.

Following the ratification of the 1977 Additional Protocols by the UnitedKingdom on 28 January 1998, the draft has been thoroughly revised onceagain to prepare it for publication, taking account of more recent develop-ments and conflicts, notably the jurisprudence of the InternationalCriminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda and theadoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.Sponsorship of the Manual was assumed by the newly established JointDoctrine and Concepts Centre (JDCC) in 1999 and a new General Editor,Major General (Retired) Anthony Rogers, was appointed to co-ordinatework to bring the Manual fully up to date. This was achieved under thesupervision and active assistance of an Editorial Board convened and chairedby the JDCC. This was composed of representatives of the three Services, theMinistry of Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Legal Advisers,and the Academic Consultant, listed alphabetically as follows:

Commodore Jeffrey Blackett Royal Navy, Chief Naval Judge AdvocateGroup Captain William Boothby, Royal Air Force Legal ServicesColonel Charles Garraway CBE, Army Legal ServicesProfessor Christopher Greenwood CMG, QC, London School of

Economics (Academic Consultant)Commander Steven Haines Royal Navy, Joint Doctrine and Concepts

Centre (MOD Central Staff Sponsor and Chairman, Editorial Board)John Hudson Esq, Ministry of Defence Legal AdvisersMiss Ruma Mandal, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Legal

AdvisersMajor General (Retired) Anthony Rogers OBE, Fellow of the

Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law, University ofCambridge (General Editor).

The Editorial Board has also received a great deal of assistance since 1999 froma number of people whose contribution deserves acknowledgement: MartinEaton Esq CMG, FCO Legal Advisers; Professor Vaughan Lowe, ChicheleProfessor of Public International Law in the University of Oxford (who pro-vided particular advice on Chapter 13 on Maritime Warfare); Professor SirAdam Roberts KCMG FBA, Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford (who read andcommented on a draft of the whole text); Michael Meyer Esq OBE of the BritishRed Cross Society (who read and commented on 12 draft chapters); and MissElizabeth Wilmshurst CMG, who has read and commented on several com-plete drafts and who has striven hard to improve its quality. Last but not least,

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the full text was read by Sir Michael Wood KCMG (FCO Legal Adviser) andMartin Hemming Esq CB (MOD Legal Adviser) prior to its formal adoptionon 1 July 2004 as the United Kingdoms official manual on the subject.

Although the Manual represents the United Kingdoms interpretation ofthe law, there were several meetings over the years up to the ratification ofthe Additional Protocols, w