The 1949 Geneva Conventions

Katharine Fortin, Armed Groups and International Law One of the outstanding qualities of the book, is that despite being huge (nearly 1600-pages), The 1949 Geneva Conventions: A Commentary is surprisingly accessible...I am hugely impressed by this volume which is a staggering editorial achievement, bringing together some of the finest IHL scholarship around. There is no doubt in my mind that it will become a classic text for students and researchers.

Andrew Clapham is Professor of Public International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva. Before he joined the Graduate Institute of International Studies Institute in 1997, he was the Representative of Amnesty International to the United Nations in New York. His current research relates to the role of non-state actors in international law and related questions in human rights and humanitarian law. Andrew Clapham is the Director of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. His publications include Human Rights: A Very Short Introduction (2007), Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Actors (2006), and International Human Rights Lexicon (2005), with Susan Marks.

1. The Concept of International Armed Conflicts; The Interplay Between 1949 Geneva Conventions and International Human Rights Law ; 2. The Temporal Scope of Application of the Conventions ; 3. Rights, Powers and Obligations of Neutral Powers under the Conventions ; 4. The Obligation to Respect and to Ensure Respect for the Conventions ; 5. Special Agreements; The Status, Rights and Obligations of Medical and Religious Personnel ; 6. Non Renunciation of the Rights Provided by the Conventions ; 7. Final Provisions ; 8. The Principle of Non-discrimination ; 9. Hospitals; Dissemination of the Conventions, Including in Time of Armed Conflict ; 10. Humanitarian Assistance ; 11. Search for Missing Persons ; 12. The Dead ; 13. Taking of Hostages ; 14. Torture and Inhumane or Degrading Treatment ; 15. Rape and Sexual Violence ; 16. Protected Areas ; 17. The Concept of Non International Armed Conflict ; 18. The Addressees of Common Article 3 ; 19. The Beneficiaries of the Rights Stemming from CA3 ; 20. Judicial Guarantees ; 21. The Right of Initiative of the ICRC; The Structure of and Resulting Gaps in GC IV ; 22. Applicability of the Conventions by means of Special Agreements ; 23. The Role of the ICRC ; 24. Protecting Powers ; 25. Conciliation Procedure and Enquiry ; 26. Prohibition of Reprisals ; 27. The System of Repression of Grave Breaches; The Interplay Between the Geneva Conventions and International Criminal Law ; 28. Domestic Implementation ; 29. The Universality of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and Customary International Law ; 30. Relationship with Prior or Subsequent Treaties and Conventions ; 31. Who is Wounded and Sick? ; 32. Who is Shipwrecked? ; 33. The Obligations to Respect, Protect, Collect and Care for ; 34. Buildings, Material and Transports ; 35. Loss of Protection ; 36. The Use of the Emblem ; 37. Who is a Prisoner of War? ; 38. Status and Treatment of those who do not Fulfill the Conditions for Prisoner of War Status; Admissibility of and Procedures for Internment ; 39. Treatment of Prisoners of War ; 40. Relations with the Outside World ; 41. Prosecution of Prisoners of War ; 42. Repatriation of Prisoners of War; The Concept and the Beginning of Occupation ; 43. Maintenance and Reestablishment of Family Links and Transmission of Information ; 44. The Administration of Occupied Territory ; 45. Who is a Protected Civilian? ; 46. The Prohibition of Collective Punishment ; 47. Transfer of Civilians ; 48. Judicial Guarantees ; 49. Right to leave; Other Issues Related to the Treatment of Civilians in Enemy Hands ; 50. Special Rules on Women ; 51. Special Rules on Children ; 52. Special Rules on Refugees ; 53. Treatment of Internees; End of Internment ; 54. Treatment of Internees ; 55. Laws and Judicial System of the Occupied Territories; Protection of Private Property ; 56. Prohibition of Settlements ; 57. The End of Occupation ; 58. Transfer of POWs ; 59. the Protection of Public Property