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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 August 2015
The Belgian Interministerial Commission for Humanitarian Law was created in 1987 for the purpose of identifying and coordinating national measures for implementing the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977, which Belgium had just ratified. In the first part of this article, the authors describe the Commission's background, composition, missions and structure. They then explain how, through its work, the Commission helps incorporate the rules of international humanitarian law into domestic law, disseminate these rules and promote compliance with them. In the final part of the article, the authors highlight the key factors underpinning the Commission's success in achieving its missions.
The Belgian Interdepartmental Commission for Humanitarian Law was the subject of an article published in the Review several years after the Commission was created: Marc Offermans, “The Belgian Interdepartmental Commission for Humanitarian Law”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 31, No. 281, April 1991, pp. 154–166.
1 See the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) treaty database, available at: www.icrc.org/ihl (all internet references were accessed in January 2015); and the law of 3 September 1952 approving the following international laws: (a) the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, plus Annexes, signed in Geneva on 12 August 1949; (b) the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, plus Annex, signed in Geneva on 12 August 1949; (c) the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, plus Annexes, signed in Geneva on 12 August 1949; and (d) the Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, plus Annexes, signed in Geneva on 12 August 1949. Belgian Official Gazette, 26 September 1952, p. 6822.
2 See the ICRC treaty database, above note 1, and the law of 16 April 1986 approving the following international laws: (a) Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (AP I); (b) Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (AP II), both adopted in Geneva on 8 June 1977. Moniteur belge, 7 November 1986, p. 15196.
3 Royal Decree of 31 October 1952 creating a Permanent Commission to examine questions of criminal law in international relations, Belgian Official Gazette, 30 January 1953. This commission filed an opinion concerning the legislation needed to prosecute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions together with a draft model law for this purpose that was submitted in 1956 to a committee of experts meeting under the auspices of the ICRC. However, owing to significant differences between national legal systems, this draft model law was subsequently abandoned. The Commission then analyzed the question from the angle of Belgian law, and the minister of justice filed a draft law with the Chamber of Representatives in 1963 (see Parliamentary Documents, Chamber, 577 (1962–1963)-1). This text served as the basis for the preparation of the law of 16 June 1993 on prosecuting grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols (see below).
4 Visit the ICHL website, available at: www.cidh-ichr.be.
5 See Article 1 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and Article 1(1) of AP I.
6 See “Letter to the States Party to the Geneva Conventions” and “Letter to the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies”, dated 28 April 1988 and sent by the ICRC president. International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 28, No. 263, 1988, pp. 122–124Google Scholar.
7 Resolution I, “International Humanitarian Law: From Law to Action. Report on the Follow-Up to the International Conference for the Protection of War Victims”, adopted at the 26th International Conference of the Red Cross, Geneva, 7 December 1995, para. 4; report of the meeting of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts for the Protection of War Victims, Geneva, 23–27 January 1995, Recommendations, Point V.
8 Belgian Red Cross, “Implementation of the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949: Under the Co-presidency of Vaast Leysen and Jacques Delruelle, National Vice-Presidents of the Belgian Red Cross”, Symposium, 27–28 November 1986, Brussels, Military Law and the Law of War Review, Vol. 27, No. 2, 1988, pp. 195–366Google Scholar.
9 Ibid., pp. 205–209.
10 Ibid., pp. 203–204.
11 As noted above, the ICHL was created following the 1986 symposium on the implementation of the Additional Protocols of 1977. Because this symposium was organized at the same time that Belgium was ratifying these Protocols, the ICHL's coordination mission focused particularly on measures to implement these laws without explicitly excluding the Geneva Conventions of 1949. But since the Additional Protocols supplement the Geneva Conventions, the ICHL would, at the same time, address implementation of them as well (it was made clear at the symposium that a number of provisions of the Conventions, including those relating to the prosecution of grave breaches, had not yet been incorporated into Belgian law).
12 Offermans, Marc, “The Belgian Interdepartmental Commission for Humanitarian Law”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 31, No. 281, 1991, p. 154CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
13 Guido Van Gerven, Chairman of the ICHL, Introduction to the ICHL's Working Documents, 14 June 2005, p. 3.
14 M. Offermans, above note 12, p. 154. For more detailed information on how the ICHL spurs government action, see the discussion of the Commission's mandate in the second part of this article.
15 Royal Decree of 6 December 2000 reorganizing the Interdepartmental Commission for Humanitarian Law, Belgian Official Gazette, 12 December 2000, p. 41449.
16 Under the terms of Article 2 of the Royal Decree of 6 December 2000:
The mission of the Interministerial Commission for Humanitarian Law … is to:
1. identify and examine the national enforcement measures necessary for the implementation of the rules of international humanitarian law, inform the federal ministers concerned of them and submit proposals to them in this regard;
2. monitor and coordinate the national enforcement measures addressed in point 1;
3. as a permanent advisory body, assist the federal government, on its own initiative or on the request of the latter, with studies, reports, opinions and proposals concerning the application and development of international humanitarian law;
4. ensure the work of the Interdepartmental Commission for Humanitarian Law is carried on and its archives preserved.
17 Marc Offermans, “The Interdepartmental Commission on Humanitarian Law (ICHL) and the Testing of National Implementation Measures on the Protection of Cultural property in Armed Conflict”, in The Protection of Cultural Property in Times of Armed Conflict: Report of the Informational Meeting of 27 April 2000, 2001, available at: http://cidh-ichr.be/fr/activites%20de%20la%20CIDH#rapports_activités.
18 “Protecting Human Dignity” declaration contained in the Annex to Resolution I, “Adoption of the Declaration and Agenda for Humanitarian Action”, 28th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, 2–6 December 2003, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 85, No. 852, 2003Google Scholar, pp. 888 ff.
19 Cairo Declaration on the Protection of Cultural Property, adopted during a regional conference held on 14–16 February 2004 under the aegis of the Egyptian national IHL committee, in partnership with the ICRC, the Egyptian Red Crescent Society and UNESCO, para. 4, available at: www.icrc.org/en/document/cairo-declaration-protection-cultural-property.
20 Royal Decree of 6 December 2000 reorganizing the Interdepartmental Commission for Humanitarian Law, Belgian Official Gazette, 12 December 2000, p. 41449, Art. 4(1)(1).
21 Ibid., Art. 4(2).
22 Ibid., Art. 6.
23 Ibid., Art. 4(1)(2); Internal Regulations of the ICHL, adopted on 14 September 2001, Art. 3.
24 Royal Decree of 6 December 2000 reorganizing the Interdepartmental Commission for Humanitarian Law, Belgian Official Gazette, 12 December 2000, p. 41449, Art. 7.
25 Resolution V, “National Measures to Implement International Humanitarian Law”, adopted by the 25th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, October 1986, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 28, No. 263, 1988, p. 127Google Scholar. See also General-Major René Bats, introduction to the proceedings of the symposium on “Implementation of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949”, Brussels, 27 and 28 November 1986, Military Law and the Law of War Review, Vol. 27, No. 2, 1988, p. 197Google Scholar.
26 Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, adopted by the 25th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, 8 November 1986, and amended in 1995 and 2006, Art. 3(2)(3). The mission of disseminating IHL is included in the statutes of the Belgian Red Cross, revised on 13 October 2003, Art. 4; approved by the decree of the government of the French Community on 4 December 2003, which approved the statutes of the Belgian Red Cross, Belgian Official Gazette, 22 April 2004, p. 23953; by the decree of the Flemish government on 2 April 2004, which approved the modified statutes of the Belgian Red Cross, Belgian Official Gazette, 1 July 2004, p. 53385; and by the decree of the German-speaking Community on 4 June 2004, which approved the new statutes of the Belgian Red Cross, Belgian Official Gazette, 20 August 2004, p. 62408.
27 Previously, by virtue of the decision of the Council of Ministers in 1987 creating the ICHL, the Commission was chaired by the chairman of the Commission for National Defence Problems (CPND), a body under the direct authority of the prime minister. The CPND's mission was to support the Ministerial Defence Committee, which was created by the Royal Decree of 3 August 1950. This law was abrogated by the Royal Decree of 24 April 2014, Belgian Official Gazette, 13 May 2014, p. 38600.
28 G. Van Gerven, above note 13, p. 3.
29 Royal Decree of 6 December 2000 reorganizing the Interdepartmental Commission for Humanitarian Law, Belgian Official Gazette, 12 December 2000, p. 41449, Art. 4(1)(1).
30 Ibid., Art. 8.
31 Ibid., Art. 9.
32 Ibid., Art. 8, according to which, “[a]t the first meeting following the entry into force of this decree, the Commission defines internal regulations”.
33 Pursuant to Article 15 of the ICHL's Internal Regulations, adopted on 14 September 2001: “The ICHL defines its working procedures for its mission of identifying and examining national enforcement measures needed for the implementation of the rules of international humanitarian law and for following up on and coordinating these national enforcement measures.”
34 ICHL Internal Regulations, 14 September 2001, Art. 5; ICHL Working Procedures, 14 September 2001, Point I(C).
35 An overview of the current working groups is available at: www.cidh.be/fr/Composition%20et%20structure. There are currently six ad hoc working groups: Legislation, Protection of Cultural Property, Public Outreach, International Conferences, Promoting IHL, and National Information Bureau.
36 Royal Decree of 6 December 2000 reorganizing the Interdepartmental Commission for Humanitarian Law, Belgian Official Gazette, 12 December 2000, p. 41449, Art. 2(3).
37 ICHL Internal Regulations, 14 September 2001, Art. 16.
38 “Respect for International Humanitarian Law: National Measures to Implement the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols in Peacetime”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 28, No. 263, 1988, pp. 130–140Google Scholar.
39 G. Van Gerven, above note 13, p. 3.
40 “It is responsible for preparing proposals for implementation measures of a legal or practical nature that should be taken at the national level”, ICHL Working Procedures, 14 September 2001, Point I(B).
41 ICHL Working Procedures, 14 September 2001, Point I(E).
42 On 14 March 2006, the ICHL adopted a working procedure for updating these working documents.
43 ICHL, Collected Working Documents, June 2005. These updated documents and the Commission's archives of working documents are available at: www.cidh.be/fr/inventaire_doc.
44 Ibid., Document 01, “National Measures to Implement the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols.”
45 More information is available at: www.cidh.be.
46 Law of 16 June 1993 on prosecuting grave breaches of international humanitarian law, Belgian Official Gazette, 5 August 1993, p. 17751.
47 Draft amendments abrogating the law of 16 June 1993 on prosecuting grave breaches of international humanitarian law and transferring its provisions to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. These texts led to the law of 5 August 2003 on grave breaches of international humanitarian law, Belgian Official Gazette, 7 August 2003, p. 40506.
48 Law of 22 November 2013 assenting to the amendment to Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted in Kampala on 10 June 2010 during the Review Conference of the Rome Statute, Belgian Official Gazette, 3 March 2014, p. 17672; Law of 22 November 2013 assenting to the amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on the crime of aggression, adopted in Kampala on 11 June 2010 during the Review Conference of the Rome Statute, Belgian Official Gazette, 3 March 2014, p. 17674.
49 More information is available at: www.cidh.be. The resolutions of the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent held in 2011 and the pledges made by Belgium on this occasion are available at: www.rcrcconference.org.
50 The various follow-up reports to the 30th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent are available at: www.icrc.org/applic/p130e.nsf/va_navPage/POAI?openDocument&count=-1.
51 “Survey (Mid-Term Review) on the Outcome of the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (2011)”, available at: http://rcrcconference.standcom.org/en/midtermreview.html.
52 See, for example, the report of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRC/C/OPAC/BEL/1, 15 August 2005.
53 Report prepared by the ICHL on the implementation of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (The Hague, 1954) and its two Protocols of 1954 and 1999, for the 2004–2008 period, 2008; and Report on the national implementation of the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols (1954 and 1999), for the 2009–2012 period, 2012. Documents available at: www.unesco.org/new/fr/culture/themes/armed-conflict-and-heritage/.
54 European Regional Meetings of National Committees on International Humanitarian Law (Budapest, 2–3 February 2001; Athens, 25–28 January 2006) and Universal Meetings of National Committees on International Humanitarian Law (Geneva, 25–27 March 2002; Geneva, 27–29 March 2007; Geneva, 27–29 October 2010). At each of these meetings, an ICHL representative either made a presentation or ran a workshop. The Commission took advantage of these opportunities to share its experience in the implementation of IHL.
55 European Meeting of National Committees on the implementation of international humanitarian law, Brussels, 19–20 April 1999. See the meeting report in ICHL, above note 43, Document 01, “National Measures to Implement the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols”, Annex A.
56 Colloquium entitled “From Rome to Kampala: The First Two Amendments to the Rome Statute”, held in Brussels on 5 June 2012. The colloquium proceedings were subsequently published: Gérard Dive, Benjamin Goes and Damien Vandermeersch (ed.), From Rome to Kampala: The First 2 Amendments to the Rome Statute, Bruylant, Brussels, November 2012.
57 Colloquium held in Brussels on 12–13 December 2013.
58 More information on the Health Care in Danger project is available at: www.icrc.org/eng/what-we-do/safeguarding-health-care/solution/2013-04-26-hcid-health-care-in-danger-project.htm.
59 Expert workshop on “Domestic Normative Frameworks for the Protection of Health Care”, held in Brussels on 29–31 January 2014. The workshop report was published in January 2015 and is available at: www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/publications/icrc-002-4215.pdf. See also ICRC, “Protecting Health Services Requires Good National Laws”, 31 January 2014, available at: www.cicr.org/eng/resources/documents/news-release/2014/01-31-health-care-in-danger-brussels.htm.
60 For more on this, see M. Offermans, above note 12, p. 156.
61 Law of 4 July 1956 on protecting Red Cross names, signs and emblems, Belgian Official Gazette, 11 July 1956, p. 4616; modified by the law of 22 November 2013, Belgian Official Gazette, 20 December 2013, p. 101271.
62 ICHL, The Protection of Cultural Property in Belgium: Applicable Law, Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Brussels, 2007.
63 The Arms Trade Treaty was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 67/234 B of 2 April 2013. Belgium ratified it on 3 June 2014. The text of the treaty and the status of ratifications are available at: http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/att. Since 2011, Belgium has adopted national measures aimed at taking into account the requirements of IHL in the context of arms transfers: Decree of the Flemish Region of 15 June 2012 concerning the importation, exportation, transit and transfer of defence-related products, other equipment for military use, equipment for maintaining order, civilian firearms, spare parts and ammunition, Belgian Official Gazette, 4 July 2012, p. 36557; Decree of the Walloon Region of 21 June 2012 concerning the importation, exportation, transit and transfer of civilian arms and defence-related products, Belgian Official Gazette, 5 July 2012, p. 36653; Ordinance of the Brussels-Capital Region of 20 June 2013 concerning the importation, exportation, transit and transfer of defence-related products, other equipment that may have a military use, equipment for maintaining order, civilian firearms, and their spare parts, accessories and ammunition, Belgian Official Gazette, 21 June 2013, p. 40076.
64 Belgium ratified these amendments on 26 November 2013. The status of ratifications of these amendments is available at: www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/Pages/PR968.aspx. Two laws of assent were prepared by the ICHL before the ratification instrument was filed. See above note 48 for reference information on these two laws.
65 See the aforementioned information on the ICHL's work in this regard, and above note 61, for references to national legislation.
66 This agreement was signed on 23 November 2012.
67 According to Article 14(5) of the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, adopted by the 25th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, 8 November 1986 and amended in 1995 and 2006, “[t]he Council [of Delegates] may refer any matter to the International Conference”.
68 Resolution 1 on “Strengthening Legal Protection for Victims of Armed Conflict”, adopted by the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, 1 December 2011.
69 For more information on how long a working group exists and the topics currently covered, see the section on the Commission's operating structure and working procedures in the first part of this article.
70 G. Van Gerven, above note 13, pp. 4, 8.
71 Ibid., p. 8.
72 Ibid., p. 7.
73 Royal Decree of 6 December 2000 reorganizing the Interdepartmental Commission for Humanitarian Law, Belgian Official Gazette, 12 December 2000, p. 41449, Art. 3(1).
74 Ibid., Report to the King.
75 Ibid., Art. 3(2).