What is international humanitarian law? This branch of law is also called the “laws of war”, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict and so on. This legal discipline owes its birth and development to two very important agreements and these are the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions. Other than these two treaties, there are many other treaties and agreements and other negotiations that have led to the development of the International Humanitarian Law. Basically the function of IHL, as it is popularly called, was to regulate the actions of aggressive nations, nations which were politically neutral, and warring countries as well. This law discipline sought to set down the relationship of these nations to one another and also to the civilian population in general.

The two streams which make up the International Humanitarian Law have evolved from many conferences where there were many treaties written with the ultimate aim of being able to regulate war and suchlike violence. The most important of these conferences were the Hague Conventions which were held in 1899 and 1907.  Another important one was the Geneva Conventions which was in 1863. The Law of The Hague is also called the Laws of War and this basically sets down the duties and responsibilities of the belligerent nations when they are conducting any particular operation and also to make sure that they have the least opportunity to do any sort of harm.

The Geneva Conventions were a long drawn process and evolved and developed during the years of 1864 and 1949. These conventions were made to protect the rights and the safety of all civilians and also those who were unable to fight in wars. The Second World War required some revisions and modifications and thus all the four conventions underwent some structural changes and these were based on the Hague Conventions of 1907. Thus the Geneva Conventions were readopted by the international community in the year of 1949.

Here are the Geneva Conventions:

• First Geneva Convention “for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field” (adopted in 1864,revised in 1949)
• Second Geneva Convention “for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea” ( adopted in 1949)
• Third Geneva Convention “relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War” ( adopted in 1929, latest revision in 1949)
• Fourth Geneva Convention “relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War” (adopted in 1949)

There have been a few amendments also to the Geneva Convention.

The first amendment of the Geneva Conventions was about the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts. The second one was about the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts. The third convention related to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem.