International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
Definition
The body of law, including the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, governing the conduct of armed conflict. IHL includes obligations to search for and record the missing and dead, which underpins the legal basis for forensic archaeology in post-conflict contexts.
- Core instruments
- Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols
- Relevant obligation
- Search for and record the missing and dead
- Field it underpins
- Forensic archaeology in post-conflict contexts
- Scope
- Governs conduct during armed conflict
Common questions
How does the IHL obligation to record the missing translate into forensic practice?+
It creates a legal basis for authorities and humanitarian organisations to conduct systematic searches, excavations, and identification efforts for conflict casualties, which forensic archaeologists and anthropologists carry out through site investigation and remains analysis.
Does IHL apply the same way in an internal civil conflict as in an international war?+
The Geneva Conventions distinguish between international and non-international armed conflicts, with somewhat different rules applying, but obligations regarding the missing and the dead are broadly recognised as extending to both categories under customary international humanitarian law.
Related terms
- Burial Act 1857
- UK legislation requiring a Ministry of Justice licence before any exhumation from a registered burial ground. The licence specifies the purpose, practitioner,...
- Chain of Custody
- The documented chronological record of who collected, handled, transferred, and examined a piece of evidence. For digital evidence, chain of custody includes...
- Coroner's Jurisdiction
- The authority of a coroner to investigate deaths where the cause is unknown, unnatural, or occurred in custody. In England and Wales,...
- Expert Witness vs Scene Manager
- Scene manager is a field role: the practitioner controlling the physical recovery and recording. Expert witness is a court role: the person...
- Scene Authority
- The legal right to control access to and activity at an investigation site. In a criminal context this usually rests with the...