Hague Conventions

The Hague Conventions emerged from two Peace Conferences convened at the initiative of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia — in 1899 and 1907 — at which 26 and 44 nations respectively participated. The 1899 Conference produced three conventions (on laws of war on land, maritime adaptation of the Geneva Convention, and prohibition of certain projectiles) and three declarations (banning expanding 'dum-dum' bullets, asphyxiating gases, and aerial bombardment from balloons). The more comprehensive 1907 Conference produced 13 conventions covering land warfare, naval bombardment, the laying of mines, submarine cables, hospital ships, and the rights and duties of neutral powers in land and naval war.

The core of the Hague Conventions is the Martens Clause — a provision inserted at the insistence of the Russian diplomat Fyodor Martens that has become one of the most cited principles in international humanitarian law: 'Until a more complete code of the laws of war has been issued, the high contracting Parties deem it expedient to declare that, in cases not included in the Regulations adopted by them, the inhabitants and the belligerents remain under the protection and the rule of the principles of the law of nations, as they result from the usages established among civilized peoples, from the laws of humanity, and the dictates of the public conscience.' The Martens Clause means that even conduct not specifically prohibited by a treaty may still violate customary international law.

The 1907 Hague Regulations on the laws and customs of war on land (annexed to Convention IV) remain binding customary international law applicable to all states — not just the original signatories. Key provisions: prohibition of attacks on undefended places; requirement to give advance warning before bombardment of inhabited areas (where military situation permits); prohibition on pillage; prohibition of declaring 'no quarter' (taking no prisoners); protection of hospitals marked with the Red Cross; prohibition of compelling nationals to serve against their own country; and the requirement to treat occupied territories' population with humanity under an occupying power's rights and obligations. The Nuremberg Tribunal cited Hague Regulations violations as war crimes.