The Legality of New Armaments from the Viewpoint of International Humanitarian Law

The rapid and intensive progress in science and technology in the world, despite its abundant advantages and gifts of welfare and comfort for the mankind, in many ways, it has pushed human security to face grave tragic events. To give an example, the progress in chemistry before the Great War, made it possible to produce and use toxic gases including Phosgene gas causing enormous deaths of both military personnel and civilians. Another example in man’s progress in nuclear physics led to innovating nuclear bomb with no precedent and unheard of in terms of mass destruction and ruins. In turn, the international humanitarian law, despite its progress in recent decades, has had been slower than the development of aforementioned scientific progresses. Nonetheless, one should consider the point that those disciplines of human sciences have more essential and fundamental principles that provide it with the ability to prevail with new conditions and situations. To elaborate the subject, although the international humanitarian law lacks explicit rules, regulations and treaties in addressing many of the modern armaments and warfare, it still possesses the principle of distinction, principle of unnecessary pain and suffering, principle of preventing vast and long-term damages that could be enforced on new arms by assessing its legality in order to boost human security.  The present paper aims at studying various aspects of this issue.

The Legality of New Armaments from the Viewpoint of International Humanitarian Law Keywords:

Human Security , International Humanitarian Law , New Arms , Principle of Unnecessary Injuries and Suffering , Principle of Distinction , واژگان کلیدی: حقوق بشردوستانه بین المللی , تسلیحات نوین , اصل درد و رنج غیر ضرور , اصل تناسب , اصل تفکیک