Precautions in attacks (under IHL)

There are direct links between respect for the rules on precautions in attacks and respect for other customary international humanitarian law (IHL) rules applicable to the conduct of hostilities, notably distinction and proportionality, as well as the prohibition on use of means or methods of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering. Most of the rules on precautions in attacks, which were codified in 1977 Additional Protocol I, are of a customary nature and are applicable in non-international as well as in international armed conflicts, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) customary IHL study published in 2005. Central among them is the obligation to take ‘constant care’ in the conduct of military operations to ‘spare the civilian population, civilians, and civilian objects’. In this regard, ‘[a]ll feasible precautions must be taken to avoid, and in any event to minimise, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, and damage to civilian objects.’ICRC 2005 Customary IHL Study, Rule 15. In so doing, under Article 57 of 1977 Additional Protocol I (formally applicable only in international armed conflict), those who plan or decide upon an attack shall ‘take all feasible precautions in the choice of means and methods of attack’.Art. 57(2)(a)(ii), 1977 Additional Protocol I. While, of course, Art. 57 of 1977 Additional Protocol I applies only in an international armed conflict, the norm it embodies also applies in non-international armed conflict. See Rule 17 of the ICRC Customary IHL study, which reads: ‘Each party to the conflict must take all feasible precautions in the choice of means and methods of warfare with a view to avoiding, and in any event to minimizing, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects.’

Last updated on: 30 November 2013