Author
Assistant Professor, Hazrat-e- Masumeh University, Iran
Abstract
According to 1907 Hague Regulations, the right of belligerents to adopt weapons and methods of warfare is not unlimited. All States have obligations to ban or restrict certain weapons under International Agreements and International Customary Law. The reality of everyday developments in military and weapons technology led the founders of the 1977 Additional Protocol (I) to the Geneva Conventions (1944) to designate an Article with the purpose of obliging member States into legal assessment of their new weapons. Hence, Article 36 of Additional Protocol I (1977) of the Geneva Conventions (1944) indicates that States must determine whether new weapons, means or methods of warfare they intend to study, develop, acquire or adopt comply with the rules of International Law applicable to them. However, the practical aspects of the said review mechanism are not clear. As a result, to this date only six States have attempted to apply Article 36. Examining the practice of the aforementioned countries will help other States to fulfill their obligation of legal review of their modern weapons.
Keywords
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