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Cease-Fires, Truces, and Armistices In the Practice of the UN Security Council

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

Sydney D. Bailey
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Extract

There is no question that there has been confusion about the precise meaning of the terms cease-fire, truce, and armistice. The oldest term is truce, which in the Middle Ages usually had a religious connotation as in the phrase “Truce of God.” Hugo Grotius used truce to mean an agreement by which warlike acts are for a time abstained from, though the state of war continues—“a period of rest in war, not a peace.” If hostilities were resumed after a truce, according to Grotius, there would be no need for a new declaration of war, since the state of war was “not dead, but sleeping.” Truces might be concluded by generals in command of forces or by officers of lower rank. In the absence of agreement to the contrary, it was lawful to rebuild walls or to recruit soldiers during a truce, but actual acts of war were forbidden, whether against persons or property: that is to say, “whatever is done by force against the enemy.” Also forbidden were the bribery of enemy garrisons and the seizure of places held by the enemy. If a truce was violated, the injured party was free to resume hostilities “even without declaring war.” Private acts did not constitute a violation, however, unless there was public command or approval.

Type
Three Perspectives on Sovereign Immunity
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 71 , Issue 3 , July 1977 , pp. 461 - 473
Copyright
Copyright © The American Society of International Law 1977

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References

1 6(1) Recueils De La Societe Internationale De Dhoit Penal Militaibe Et De Droit De La Guehhe (Procs. Of The Sixth International Congress Held At The Hague, May 22-25, 1973) 141 (Belgian Report), 255-56 (French Report) (hereinafter cited as Procs. Of Hague Cong.)

2 Book III, Chapt. XXI, sects. I and II, 832, 834, The Law Of War And Peace (F. W. Kelsey trans. 1925) in 3 Carnegie Endowment For International Peace (Ceip), Classics Of International Law (reprinted 1964).

3 Id sect. Ill, 834.

4 Id. Chapt. XXII, sect. VIII, 848.

5 Id. Chapt. XXI, sects. VI-VIII, 835-36.

6 Id. sects. XI and XIII, 838-39.

7 1 AJIL Supp. 96, 102 (1907), 1 Friedman, The Law Of War: A Documentary History 194, 201 (1972).

8 Documents Relating To The Program Of The First Hague Peace Conference 38-39 (CEIP 1921); The Hague Conventions Of 1899 (II) and 1907 (IV) Respecting The Laws And Customs Of War On Land 20-23 (CEIP 1915).

9 Arts. 48-52.

10 Bernard, L'armistice dans les guerres Internationales 7 (doctoral thesis No. 454, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva, 1947).

11 Sibert, L'armistice dans le droit des gens, 40 Rev. Gen. De Droit Int. Public 666 (1933); Bernard, supra note 10, at 8; Bliss, The Armistices, 16 AJIL 520 (1922).

12 Sibert, supra note 11, at 657, 658, 662, 663, 700; Bernard, supra note 10, at 7-8, 12, 14, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 67; Stone, Legal Controls Of International Conflicts: A Legal Treatise On The Dynamics Of Disputes And War-Law 636 (1954).

13 Sibert, supra note 11, at 714.

14 Id. 681, 685, Bernard, supra note 10, at 68, 69, 71-74, 85.

15 Sibert, supra note 12, at 709, 712: Bernard, supra note 11, at 114-16.

16 Mohn, Problems of Truce Supervision, International Conciliation, No. 478, at 53 (1952).

17 Bastid, Pbocs. Of Hague Cong., supra note 1, at 41; id. 152 (French Report). See also Report of the Interim Committee, 4 GAOR Supp. (No. 11) 25, paras. 141-43, UN Doc. A/966 (1949) and Goodrich&Simons, The United Nations And The Maintenance Of Peace And Security 377 (1955).

18 SC res. 27, 2 SCOR, RES.&Dec. 6, UN Doc. S/459 (1947).

19 SCOR (173rd mtg.) 1700-10 (1947).

20 Id. (174th mtg.) 1716-18, UN Doc. S/465; id. (178th mtg.) 1841-42, 1850-51, UN Doc. S/469. See also Report of the Consular Commission, id, Spec. Supp. (No. 4) 72, UN Doc. S/586/Rev. 1.

21 For communication delays during the first Palestine war, see 3 SCOR (299th mtg.) 4; id (303rd mtg.) 37, 38, 40 (1948).

22 Report of the Consular Commission, supra note 20, at 71-72, 90-91; 2 SCOR (211th mtg.) 2570, UN Doc. S/581, para. 2 (1947).

23 Id. para. 3.

24 Report of the Consular Commission, supra note 20, at 130-33.

25 SC res. 27, supra note 18; SC res. 30, 2 SCOR, Res.&Dec. 6, UN Doc. S/525, I (1947); SC res. 32, id. 7, UN Doc. S/525, III; SC res. 36, id. 9, UN Doc. S/597.

26 SC res.43, 3 SCOR,Res.&Dec. 14, UN Doc. S/714, I(1948); SC res.46 id. 15, UN Doc. S/723; SC res.48 id. 17, UN Doc. S/727; SC res. 49 id. 19, UN Doc. S/773; SC res.50 id. 20, UN Doc. S/801; SC res. 53 id. 21, UN Doc. S/875; SC res. 54 id. 22, UN Doc. S/902; SC res.56 id. 24, UN Doc. S/983; SC res. 59 id. 26, UN Doc. S/1045; SC res.66 id. 30, UN Doc. S/1169.

27 SC res.63, 3 SCOR, Res.&Dec 12, UN Doc. S/1150 (1948).

28 SC res.82, 5 SCOR, RES.&DEC. 4, UN Doc. S/1501 (1950); SC res. 83 id. 5, UN Doc. S/1511.

29 SC res. 193, 19 SCOR, Res.&Dec. 6, UN Doc. S/5868 (1964); id. (1143rd mtg.) para. 358; SC res. 353, 29 SCOR, Res.&Dec. 7, UN Doc. S/11350 (1974); SC res. 354, id., UN Doc. S/11369; SC res. 355, id. 8, UN Doc. S/11402; SC res. 357, id., UN Doc. S/11446/Rev. 1; SC res. 358, id., UN Doc. S/11448.

30 SC res. 203, 20 SCOR, Res.&Dec. 10, UN Doc. S/6355 (1965); SC res. 205, id., UN Doc. S/6376; and id. (1233rd mtg.) para. 2.

31 SC res. 209, 20 SCOR, Res.&Dec. 13, UN Doc. S/6657 (1965); SC res. 210, id. 14, UN Doc. S/6662; SC res. 211, id. UN Doc. S/6694; SC. res. 214, id. 16; SC res. 215, id. 16, UN Doc. S/6876; and id. (1244th mtg.), para. 50.

32 SC res. 233, 22 SCOR Res.&Dec. 2, UN Doc. S/7935 (1967); SC res. 234, id. 3, UN Doc. S/7940; SC res. 235; id. 4, UN Doc. S/7960; SC res. 236, id. 4; SC res. 240, id. 7.

33 SC res. 338, 28 SCOR, Res.&Dec. 10, UN Doc. S/11036 (1973); SC res. 339, id. 11, UN Doc. S/11039; SC res. 340, id., UN Doc. S/11046/Rev. 1.

34 SC res.215, supra note 31. .

35 SC res.233, 234, 235, 236, supra note 32.

36 SC res.338, 339, supra note 33.

37 SC res.357, supra note 29.

38 SC res.43, 46, 49, 50, 54, supra note 26.

39 SC res.67, 4 SCOR, Res.&Dec. 2, UN Doc. S/1234 (1949).

40 SC res.205, supra note 30.

41 S C res.307, 26 SCOR, Res.&Dec 11, UN Doc. S/10465 (1971), noted India's unilateral declaration of a cease-fire in the western theatre and Pakistan's agreement to it, noted also that “consequently a cease-fire and a cessation of hostilities prevail,” and demanded that “a durable cease-fire and cessation of all hostilities in all areas … be strictly observed… .“

42 SC res. 338, supra note 33.

43 SC res. 36, supra note 25.

44 3 SCOR (367th mtg.) 38 (1949); SC res. 61 id. Res.&Dec. 28, UN Doc. S/1070; SC res. 62. id. 29, UN Doc. S/1080.

45 SC res. 164, 16 SCOR, Res.&Dec. 9, UN Doc. S/4882 (1961).

46 SC res. 209, 210, 211, 215, supra note 31.

47 SC res. 236, supra note 32 and SC res. 339, 340, supra note 33.

48 SC res. 307, supra note 41.

49 Mohn, supra note 16, at 52.

50 Dedijer, On Military Conventions: An Essay On The Evolution Of International Law 123 (1961).

51 Rosenne, Israel's Armistice Agreements With The Arab States: A Judicial Interpretation 24-25 (1951); Procs. Of Hague Cong., supra note 1, at 356.

52 Stone, supra note 12, at 645.

53 Bowett et al., United Nations Forces: A Legal Study Of United Nations Practice 73-74 (1964).

54 Proc Of Hague Cong., supra note 1, at 31 (Bastid), 143 (Belgian Report), 198- 200 (U.S. Report), 253 (French Report), 365 (British Report), 375 (Draper).

55 Id. 200 (US Report).

56 Levie, The Nature and Scope of the Armistice Agreement, 50 AJIL 880-906 (1956).

57 Id. 880 and n. 65.

58 Id. n.5. The date of the cease-fire resolution was August 13, 1948, not September 13, as given by Levie.

59 3 SCOR, Supp. (Nov. 1948) 32-34, UN Doc. S/1100, para. 75.

60 4 SCOR, Spec. Supp. (No. 7) 169-72, UN Doc. S/1430, Annex 47 (1949).

61 Levie, supra note 56, at 894-95.

62 4 SCOR, Spec. Supp. (No. 7), supra note 60, at 126-29, Annex 26.

63 Levie, supra note 56, at 899.

64 4 SCOR, Spec. Supp. (No. 7), supra note 60, at 105, 110-11, 112, 171-72, 182 (Section E.3 to the Appendix to Annex 17, para. 10 of Annex 20, Section III.D of Annex 21, Section B.5 of Annex 47, and para. 16 of Annex 47).

65 Id. 64-65 (Appendix II).

66 The Law Of Land Warfare, FM27-10, para. 479 (1956).

67 2 Hermes, United State Army In The Korean War: Truce Tent And Fighting Front 13, n. 1 (1966); Clark, From The Danube To The Yalu (1954).

68 Rosenne, supra note 51, at 25; Mohn, supra note 16, at 57; Procs. Of Hague Cong., supra note 1, at 35 and 36 (Bastid), 152 (Belgian Report), 257 (French Report), 355 (Norwegian Report).

69 3 SCOR, Spec. Supp. (No. 1) 68-69, 72-75, 77, UN Doc. S/649/Rev. 1, Appendices IX, XI, and XIV (1948); id., Supp. (Nov. 1948), supra note 59, at 32-34 (para. 75); 4 SCOR, Supp. (Jan. 1949) 23-25, UN Doc. S/1196, para. 15; id., Spec. Supp. (No. 7), supra note 60, at 102-05, 111-13, 126-29, 169-72, Annexes 17, 21, 26, and 47.

70 4 SCOR, Spec. Supp. (No. 1) Israel-Jordan, UN Doc. S/1302/Rev. 1 (1949); id. Spec. Supp. (No. 2) Israel-Syria, UN Doc. 1353/Rev. 1; id. Spec. Supp. (No. 3) Israel-Egypt, UN Doc. 1264/Rev. 1; id. Spec. Supp. (No. 4) Israel-Lebanon, UN Doc. S/1296.

71 8 SCOR, Supp. (July-Sept. 1953), UN Docs. S/3079, Appendices A and B, and S/3084.

72 Rosenne, supra note 51, at 30.

73 Dedijer, supra note 50, at 67.

74 Rosenne, supra note 51, at 28, 82; Levie, supra note 56, at 881, 892.

75 Article IV of the Israel-Egypt armistice agreement, Article II of the Israel-Jordan, Israel-Lebanon, and Israel-Syria agreements (supra note 70) and preamble to the Korean armistice agreement (supra note 71).

76 G.A. res. 194 (III).

77 G.A. res. 186 (S-2).

78 Para. 60 of the Korean armistice agreement, supra note 71.

79 Id. paras. 19-35, Article X of the Israel-Egypt agreement, Article XI of Israel- Jordan agreement, and Article VIII of the Israel-Lebanon and Israel-Syria agreements, supra note 70.

80 Mohn, supra note 16, at 53, 58.

81 Stone, supra note 12, at 636.

82 Dedijer, supra note 50, at 130.

83 Pbocs. Of Hague Cong., supra note 1, at 33.

84 Rosenne, supra note 51, at 83; Stone, supra note 12, at 638, 643; Levie, supra note 56, at 884; Dedijer, supra note 50, at 69; Procs. Of Hague Cong, supra note 1, at 33 (Bastid), 355 (Norwegian Report), 379 (Draper); 2 Oppenheim, International Law 547, 597 (H. Lauterpacht, 7th ed. 1952).

85 4 GAOR, Supp. (No. 11) 25, paras. 141-62, UN Doc. A/966 (1949).

86 4 SCOR, Supp. (Aug. 1949) 6, paras. 1-3 of part III of UN Doc. S/1357.

87 Id. (434th mtg.) 35 (1949), UN Doc. S/1364; id (435th mtg.) 2-3, 5-9, UN Doc. S/1367; id Supp. (Aug. 1949) 8, UN Doc. S/1362.