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Mr. Dustin A. Lewis

Mr. Dustin A. Lewis
Research Director
Program on International Law and Armed Conflict
Harvard Law School

Biography Biography in PDF

Law of Armed Conflict
The End of an Armed Conflict under International Law
Video | Audio
(12/12/2022, 36 minutes)
Law of Armed Conflict
The End of an Armed Conflict under International Law
A. Legal Instruments

Annex to Hague Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land Regulations Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, The Hague, 18 October 1907, Stat., vol. 36, p. 2295.

Charter of the United Nations, San Francisco, 26 June 1945.

Treaty of Peace with Bulgaria, Paris, 10 February 1947, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 41, p. 21.

Treaty of Peace with Hungary, Paris, 10 February 1947, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 41, p. 135.

Treaty of Peace with Romania, Paris, 10 February 1947, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 42, p. 3.

Treaty of Peace with Italy, Paris, 10 February 1947, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 49, p. 3.

Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 31.

Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 85.

Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 135.

Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 287.

Treaty of Peace with Japan, San Francisco, 8 September 1951, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 136, p. 45.

Agreement on German external debts (with annexes and subsidiary agreements), London, 27 February 1953, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 333, p. 3.

Agreement between the Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command, on the one Hand, and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army and the Commander of the Chinese People’s Volunteers on the other Hand, concerning a Military Armistice in Korea (Panmunjom Agreement), Panmunjom, 27 July 1953, American Journal of International Law Supplement, vol. 47, p. 186.

Joint Declaration by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan, Moscow, 19 October 1956, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 263, p. 99.

Tashkent Declaration, Tashkent, 10 January 1966, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 560, p. 39.

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Vienna, 23 May 1969, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1155, p. 331.

Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Viet-Nam, Paris, 27 January 1973, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 935, p. 2.

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), Geneva, 8 June 1977, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1125, p. 3.

Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), Geneva, 8 June 1977, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1125, p. 609.

Treaty of Peace between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Israel, Washington, 26 March 1979, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1136, p. 100.

General Peace Treaty between El Salvador and Honduras, Lima, 30 October 1980, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1310, p. 213.

Treaty on the final settlement with respect to Germany (with agreed minute), Moscow, 12 September 1990, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1696, p. 115.

Security Council resolution 687 (1991) of 3 April 1991.

Agreement on a comprehensive political settlement of the Cambodia conflict (with annexes), Paris, 23 October 1991, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1663, p. 27.

Treaty of peace between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (with annexes, agreed minutes and maps), Arava/Araba Crossing Point, 26 October 1994, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2042, p. 351.

Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices as Amended on 3 May 1996 (Protocol II as amended on 3 May 1996) annexed to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects, Geneva, 3 May 1996, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2048, p. 93.

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Rome, 17 July 1998, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2187, p. 3.

Agreement between the Government of the State of Eritrea and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for the resettlement of displaced persons, as well as rehabilitation and peacebuilding in both countries, Algiers, 12 December 2000, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2138, p. 93.

Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects (Protocol V), Geneva, 28 November 2003, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2399, p. 100.

Security Council resolution 1546 (2004) of 8 June 2004.

Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (Protocol III) (with annex), Geneva, 8 December 2005, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2404, p. 261.

B. Jurisprudence

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Duško Tadić, Appeals Chamber, Decision on the Defence Motion for Interlocutory Appeal on Jurisdiction of 2 October 1995, IT-94-1-AR72.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Duško Tadić, Trial Chamber, Opinion and Judgment of 7 May 1997, IT-94-1-T.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovac, and Zoran Vukovic, Appeals Chamber Judgement of 12 June 2002, IT-96-23 & IT-96-23/1-A.

Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission, Partial Award: Prisoners of War - Eritrea’s Claim 17, Decision of 1 July 2003, Reports of International Arbitral Awards, vol. XXVI.

Special Court for Sierra Leone, Prosecutor v. Morris Kallon and Brima Bazzy Kamara, Appeals Chamber, Decision on Challenge to Jurisdiction: Lomé Accord Amnesty of 13 March 2004, SCSL-2004-15-AR72(E) and SCSL-2004-16-AR 72(E).

International Court of Justice, Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 136.

International Court of Justice, Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2005, p. 168.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Ramush Haradinaj, Idriz Balaj, and Lahi Brahimaj, Trial Chamber I, Judgement of 3 April 2008, IT-04-84-T.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Ante Gotovina, Ivan Čermak, and Mladen Markač, Trial Chamber I, Judgment of 15 April 2011, IT-06-90-T.

International Criminal Court, The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Trial Chamber III, Judgment Pursuant to Article 74 of the Statute: Public with Annexes I, II, and A to F of 21 March 2016, ICC-01/05-01/08.

C. Documents

Letter dated 24 October 1989 from the Permanent Representatives of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (transmitting the text of the Joint statement issued at Madrid on 19 October 1989 by the delegations of the Republic of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), A/44/678-S/20915, p. 2-5, 24 October 1989.

Letter dated 27 January 1992 from the Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (transmitting the text of the New York Act and the New York Act II signed at United Nations Headquarters on 31 December 1991 and 13 January 1992 respectively by the Government of El Salvador and the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional), A/46/863-S/23504, Annex I, 30 January 1992.

Letter dated 6 October 1992 from the Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (transmitting the text of the General Peace Agreement for Mozambique), S/24635, 8 October 1992.

Identical letters dated 5 February 1997 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the General Assembly and to the President of the Security Council (transmitting the text of the Agreement on the Implementation, Compliance and Verification Timetable for the Peace Agreements and of the Agreement on a firm and lasting peace), A/51/796-S/1997/114, Annexes I and II, 7 February 1997.

Letter dated 12 July 1999 from the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the Permanent Mission of Togo to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (transmitting the text of the Peace Agreement between the Government of Sierra Leone and the Revolutionary United Front), S/1999/777, 12 July 1999.

The Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi of 28 August 2000.

Letter dated 27 August 2003 from the Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (transmitting the text of the Peace Agreement between the Government of Liberia, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia and the political parties), S/2003/850, 29 August 2003.

U.K. Ministry of Defence, The Joint Service Manual on the Law of Armed Conflict, 2004.

Royal Australian Air Force, Operations Law for RAAF Commanders (2d ed.), 2004.

European Parliament and the Council, Directive 2011/95/EU of the 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted (recast), Official Journal of the European Union, L 337/9, 20 December 2011.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), A/HRC/30/CRP.2, 16 September 2015.

U.S. Department of Defense, Office of General Counsel, Law of War Manual, December 2016.

Report on the Legal and Policy Frameworks Guiding the United States’ Use of Military Force and Related National Security Operations, December 2016.

D. Doctrine

A. M. Amoroso, G. Jasutis, T. Kebebew, G. Marcucci, L. Baron-Mendoza, L. Muscarella, and M. Sulce, “Armed Conflicts in 2018”, in: A. Bellal (ed.), The War Report, The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Geneva, April 2019.

V. Azarova and I. Blum, “Suspension of Hostilities”, in: R.Wolfrum (ed.), Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, September 2015.

R. Bartels, “From Jus in Bello to Jus Post Bellum: When Do Non-International Armed Conflicts End?”, in: C. Stahn, J. S. Easterday and J. Iverson (eds.), Jus Post Bellum, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014.

R. Bartels, “A Fine Line Between Protection and Humanisation: The Interplay Between the Scope of Application of International Humanitarian Law and Jurisdiction over Alleged War Crimes Under International Criminal Law”, in: T. D. Gill, T. McCormack, R. Geiß, H. Krieger, and C. Paulussen (eds.), Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, vol. 20: 2017, T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague, 2019.

R. Baxter, “Armistices and Other Forms of Suspension of Hostilities”, in: D. F. Vagts, T. Meron, S. M. Schwebel, and C. Keever (eds.), Humanizing the Laws of War: Selected Writings of Richard Baxter, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013.

C. Bell, “Peace Agreements: Their Nature and Legal Status”, American Journal of International Law, vol. 100, no. 2, 2006.

G. Blum, “The Fog of Victory”, European Journal of International Law, vol. 24, no. 1, 2013.

G. Blum, “Prizeless Wars, Invisible Victories: The Modern Goals of Armed Conflict”, Arizona State Law Journal, vol. 49, Special Issue, 2017.

M. Bothe, “The Law of Neutrality”, in: D. Fleck (ed.), The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law (4th ed.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2021. 

R. M. Chesney, “Postwar”, Harvard National Security Journal, vol. 5, no. 1, 2014.

N. Derejko, “A Forever War? Rethinking the Temporal Scope of Non-International Armed Conflict”, Journal of Conflict and Security Law, vol. 26, issue 2, 2021.

Y. Dinstein, The International Law of Belligerent Occupation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011.

Y. Dinstein, Non-International Armed Conflicts in International Law, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2014.

Y. Dinstein, “Armistice”, in R. Wolfrum (ed.), Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, September 2015.

Y. Dinstein, War, Aggression and Self-Defence (6th ed.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2017.

M. L. Dudziak, War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences, Oxford University Press, New York, 2012.

C. J. Dunlap, Jr., “No, Ceasefires and Armistices Are Not ‘Outmoded’”, Just Security, 22 January 2018.

J. K. Elsea and M. C. Weed, “Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Historical Background and Legal Implications”, Congressional Research Service, 14 April 2014.

T. Ferraro, “Determining the Beginning and End of an Occupation under International Humanitarian Law”, International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 94, no. 885, 2012.

C. Gray, “After the Ceasefire: Iraq, the Security Council and the Use of Force”, British Yearbook of International Law, vol. 65, 1994.

C. Greenwood, “The Concept of War in Modern International Law”, International and Comparative Law Quarterly, vol. 36, 1986.

J. Grignon, L’applicabilité temporelle du droit international humanitaire, Schulthess, Zürich, 2014.

J. Grignon, “The Geneva Conventions and the End of Occupation”, in: A. Clapham, P. Gaeta, and M. Sassòli (eds.), The 1949 Geneva Conventions: A Commentary, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015.

J. Grignon, “The ‘General Close of Military Operations’ as the Benchmark for the Declassification of Armed Conflicts and the End of the Applicability of International Humanitarian Law”, The Canadian Yearbook of International Law, 2021.

J.-M. Henckaerts and L. Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, International Committee of the Red Cross, Cambridge University Press, Geneva, 2005.

J.-M. Henckaerts, and International Committee of the Red Cross, “Commentary on the First Geneva Convention: Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field”, in: D. Knut (ed.), Commentaries on the 1949 Geneva Conventions, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2016.

D. Jinks, “The Temporal Scope of Application of International Humanitarian Law in Contemporary Conflicts”, Background Paper prepared for the Informal High-Level Expert Meeting on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law, Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University, Cambridge, 2003.

J. C. Johnson, “The Conflict against Al Qa’ida and Its Affiliates: How Will It End?”, Oxford University, 30 November 2012.

J. K. Kleffner, “Peace Treaties”, in: R. Wolfrum (ed.), Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, March 2011.

J. K. Kleffner, “Scope of Application of International Humanitarian Law”, in: D. Fleck (ed.), The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law (4th ed.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2021. 

R. Kolb and R. Hyde, An Introduction to the International Law of Armed Conflicts, Portland Oregon: Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2008.

V. Koutroulis, Le début et la fin de l’application du droit de l’occupation, Pedone, Paris, 2010.

V. Koutroulis, “The Application of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law in Situation[s] of Prolonged Occupation: Only a Matter of Time?”, International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 94, no. 885, 2012.

D. Kritsiotis, “Topographies of Force”, in: M. N. Schmitt and J. Pejic (eds.), International Law and Armed Conflict: Exploring the Faultlines, Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007.

D. A. Lewis, G. Blum, and N. K. Modirzadeh, “Indefinite War: Unsettled International Law on the End of Armed Conflict”, Legal Briefing, Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict, February 2017.

D. A. Lewis, “The notion of ‘protracted armed conflict’ in the Rome Statute and the termination of armed conflicts under international law: An analysis of select issues,” International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 101, no. 912, 2019.

Lord McNair and A. D. Watts, The Legal Effects of War (4th ed.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1966.

R. Mahnad and K. Thynne, “Silenced guns do not mend lives: what does the law say about human suffering at the end of conflict?”, Humanitarian Law & Policy, 21 July 2022.

M. Milanovic, “The End of Application of International Humanitarian Law”, International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 96, no. 893, 2014.

C. S. Müller, “The Role of Law in Enforcing Peace Agreements: Lessons Learned from Colombia”, Journal of Conflict and Security Law, vol. 26, issue 1, 2021.

S. V. Nikolaevich and B. I. Vladimirovich, “Indefinite War: Unregulated Field of International Law Pertaining to an Armed Conflict Termination Criteria”, Journal of Military Law, No. 3, 2017.

B. Oswald, “End of Internment”, in. A. Clapham, P. Gaeta, and M. Sassòli (eds.), The 1949 Geneva Conventions: A Commentary, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015.

D. N. Pearlstein, “Law at the End of War”, Minnesota Law Review, vol. 99, no. 1, 2014.

D. N. Pearlstein, “How Wartime Detention Ends”, Cardozo Law Review, vol. 36, no. 2, 2014.

J.-F. Quéguiner, “Dix ans après la création du Tribunal pénal international pour l’ex-Yougoslavie : évaluation de l’apport de sa jurisprudence au droit international humanitaire”, International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 85, no. 850, 2003.

B. Salazar Torreon and C. A. Miller, “U.S. Periods of War and Dates of Recent Conflicts”, Congressional Research Service, 29 November 2022.

T. R. Salomon, “Capitulation, Military”, in: R. Wolfrum (ed.), Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, March 2015.

M. Sassòli, “Release, Accommodation in Neutral Countries, and Repatriation of Prisoners of War”, in. A. Clapham, P. Gaeta, and M. Sassòli (eds.), The 1949 Geneva Conventions: A Commentary, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015.

C. Schaller, “The Temporal Scope of the Laws of Armed Conflict in Multinational Military Operations”, in: R. Geiß and H. Krieger (eds.), The ‘Legal Pluriverse’ Surrounding Multinational Military Operations, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2019.

K. Schmalenbach and A. Prantl, “How to End an Illegal War?”, Völkerrechtsblog (Blogarticle), 21 April 2022.

M. N. Schmitt, “Debellatio”, in: R. Wolfrum (ed.), Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, October 2009. 

B. Scholdan, “‘The End of Active Hostilities:’ The Obligation to Release Conflict Internees under International Law”, Houston Journal of International Law, vol. 38, no. 1, 2016.

C. Shields Delessert, Release and Repatriation of Prisoners of War at the End of Active Hostilities: A Study of Article 118, Paragraph 1 of the Third Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Schulthess Polygraphischer Verlag, Zürich, 1977.

S. Sivakumaran, The Law of Non-International Armed Conflict, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012.

P. Strauch and B. Walton, “Jus ex bello and international humanitarian law: States’ obligations when withdrawing from armed conflict”, International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 102, no. 914, 2020. 

P. Sullo and J. Wyatt, “War Reparations”, in: R. Wolfrum (ed.), Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, September 2015.

O. M. Uhler, and H. Coursier, with F. Siordet, C. Pilloud, R. Boppe, R.-J. Wilhelm, and J.-P. Schoenholzer, “Commentary: : IV Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians Persons in Time of War” (translated by R. Griffin and C.W. Dumbleton, in: J. S. Pictet (ed.), The Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949: Commentary, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, 1958.

S. Ukhuegbe and A. I. Fenemigho, “Determining the Termination of a Non-International Armed Conflict: An Analysis of the Boko Haram Insurgency in Northern Nigeria”, in: C. Eboe-Osuji, E. Emeseh, and O.D. Akinkugbe (eds.), Nigerian Yearbook of International Law, vol. 2018/2019, Springer, 2021. 

G. Venturini, “The Temporal Scope of Application of the Conventions”, in: A. Clapham, P. Gaeta, and M. Sassòli (eds.), The 1949 Geneva Conventions: A Commentary, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015.

N. Weizmann, “The End of Armed Conflict, the End of Participation in Armed Conflict, and the End of Hostilities: Implications for Detention Operations under the 2001 AUMF”, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, vol. 47, no. 3, 2016.

M. Weller, M. Retter, and A. Varga (eds.), International Law and Peace Settlements, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2021.