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National implementation of IHL: Documentation
States party to international humanitarian law treaties must take certain legal and administrative measures to comply with the obligations they have undertaken. This section deals with various topics which are covered by the treaties and are the focus of Advisory Service promotional activities, including topics that have been highlighted by the recent adoption of international instruments, thus creating a new incentive for states to adopt implementation measures.
- Children
- Civil defence
- Cultural property
- Dissemination of IHL
- Emblem
- Environment and warfare
- Fact finding commission
- Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols
- Health
- Internally displaced persons
- International criminal law
- International humanitarian law
- Islamic law and IHL
- National Committees
- The missing
- Parliaments
- Penal repression
- Persons with disabilities
- Sexual violence
- Torture and other forms of ill-treatment
- Use of force in law enforcement
- Weapons
- Highlights
- Next event
Cultural property
- Factsheet - 1954 Convention on the protection of cultural property
- Ratification kit - 1954 Convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict and its protocols
- Model law - Protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict
- Guidelines - Practical advice for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict
- Report - Protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict
Emblem
- Study - Operational and commercial and other non-operational issues involving the use of the emblems
- Factsheet - The protection of the red cross, red crescent and red crystal emblems
- Model law - National legislation on the use and protection of the emblem
- Ratification kit - Third Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1949
Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols
- Ratification kit - 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949
- Ratification kit- Third Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1949
- Model law - Geneva Conventions (Consolidation) Act
- Model law - Geneva Conventions Act (for common law States)
- Factsheet - 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949
Health
- Guidance tool - The implementation of rules protecting the provision of health care in armed conflicts and other emergencies
- Factsheet - Respecting and protecting health care in armed conflicts and in situations not covered by international humanitarian law
- Report - Domestic Normative Frameworks for the Protection of Health Care
- Legislative Checklist - Protecting Health Care from Violence
Internally displaced persons
International criminal law
- Factsheet - General principles of international criminal law
- Factsheet - Universal jurisdiction over war crimes
- Ratification kit - Statute of the International Criminal Court
- Factsheet - Statute of the International Criminal Court
- Article 8 - Statute of the International Criminal Court
- Compendium - Issues raised regarding the Rome Statute of the ICC by national Constitutional Courts, Supreme Courts and Councils of State
- Factsheet - International criminal justice: The institution
- Table - War crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and their source in IHL
International humanitarian law
General information
Law implementation
- Factsheet - Implementing international humanitarian law : from law to action
- Factsheet - Guidelines for assessing the compatibility between national law and obligations under treaties of IHL
- Factsheet - The exchange of information on national measures to implement IHL
- Factsheet - ICRC database on national measures implementing international humanitarian law
- Facsheet - Means of personal identification
- Factsheet - National Committees for the implementation of international humanitarian law
- Factsheet - Online Community for National Committees and Similar Entities on IHL
- Bringing IHL Home: Guidelines on the National Implementation of International Humanitarian Law
Islamic law and IHL
- Factsheet - Islamic Law and International Humanitarian Law
- An introduction to the main principles - Islamic law and international humanitarian law
- An overview- IHL and Islam
- An interview - The Intersection of IHL and Islamic Law
- Article - IHL and Islamic law in the protection of Children in Armed conflicts
- Article - Management of the dead from Islamic law and international humanitarian law perspectives: Considerations for humanitarian forensics
- Article - International Committee of The Red-Cross(ICRC) Management of the Dead under Islamic Law
- Publication - Management of the dead under Islamic law
- Article - First global expert workshop on IHl and Islamic Law in contemporary armed conflits
- Report- Experts' workshop report on IHL and Islamic Law in Contemporary Armed Conflicts
- Article - Indonesia: ICRC strengthens collaboration with religious circles
- Article - Australia: Why the ICRC is talking about the Islamic Laws of War in Australia
- Videos - Muslim Scholars Present Their Perspectives on Islamic Law and IHL
- Book chapter - Respect for the dead under international law and Islamic law in armed conflicts
- Article - Necessity and Islamic Juristic Creativity: The Case of the Management of the Dead Related to COVID-19
- Article - Protection of Persons with Disabilities in Armed Conflict under International Humanitarian Law and Islamic Law
- Article - Of date palms and dialogue: Enhancing the protection of the natural environment under international humanitarian law and Islamic law
- Publication - 7 posters cover showcase the important areas of convergence between the Islamic laws of war and IHL
- Podcast - International Law and Islamic Law: Islamic Laws of War
- Podcast - Islamic Laws of War
- Podcast - The Operational Impacts of Islamic Law
- Webinar - A mirror or a kaleidoscope? Legal regimes protecting children affected by armed conflict
- Factsheet - Management of the Dead from the Perspectives of Islamic Law and International Humanitarian Law
Penal repression
- Factsheet - Obligations in terms of penal repression
- Factsheet - Penal repression: Punishing war crimes
- Factsheet - Methods of incorporating punishment into criminal law
- Factsheet - Command responsibility and failure to act
- Factsheet - Criminal procedure
- Factsheet - Judicial guarantees and safeguards
- Factsheet - Cooperation in extradition and judicial assistance in criminal matters
- Factsheet - Elements to render sanctions more effective
- Report - National measures to repress violations of international humanitarian law (civil law systems)
- Report - Analysis of the punishments applicable to international crimes (war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide) in domestic law and practice
- Report - Role of domestic jurisdictions in the implementation of IHL, law and practice
- Factsheet - Amnesties and IHL : Purpose and scope
Persons with disabilities
Torture and other forms of ill-treatment
Use of force in law enforcement
Weapons
Anti-personnel mines
- Factsheet - 1997 Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction
- Model law - Model of legislation to implement the 1997 Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines
- Information kit - Development of national legislation to implement the Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines
- Checklist - Domestic measures to implement the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention
Arms trade treaty
Chemical and biological weapons
- Factsheet - 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention
- Factsheet - 1972 Convention on the prohibition of bacteriological weapons and their destruction
- Synthesis and summary - Toxic chemicals as weapons for law enforcement: a threat to life and international law?
- Model law - The Biological and Toxin Weapons Crimes Act
Cluster munitions
Conventional weapons
New weapons
120 national IHL committees
There were 120 national IHL committees across the world in March 2025, including a new committee in Montenegro. Table of National IHL Committees outlines name, address, legal basis, membership, and mandate of each Committee.