International Law Commission International Law Commission

Last update: February 15, 2024

Analytical Guide to the Work of the International Law Commission

Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts

See also: Summary | Texts and Instruments

Mandate

Studies undertaken by the Secretariat and Reports of the Secretary-General

None

Reports of the Working Group or Sub-Committee

  • 69th session of the International Law Commission (2017)
    • Oral report of the Working Group on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts
 

Reports of the Special Rapporteur

  • Consideration of the inclusion of the topic in the programme of work of the Commission and previous consultations in the Commission; the debate in the Sixth Committee of the General Debate in the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session (2013); and responses to specific issues on which comments would be of particular interest to the Commission; practice of States and international organizations. Discussion on the purpose of the report, as well as of the scope, methodology and outcome of the topic, the use of terms, and the sources and others materials to be consulted. Consideration of the relationship with other topics addressed by the Commission. Consideration of Environmental principles and concepts, human rights and the environment, as well as of the future programme of work.
    • Preliminary report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Marie G. Jacobsson (66th session of the ILC (2014))
  • Summary of the debates held in 2014 by the Commission and by the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly during its sixty-ninth session (2014). Summary of responses received from States with regard to the specific issues identified by the Commission as being of particular interest to it. Identification of existing rules of armed conflict directly relevant to the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts.
    • Second report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Marie G. Jacobsson (67th session of the ILC (2015))
  • Identification of rules applicable in post-conflict situations. Legal aspects related to remnants of war and other environmental challenges. Proposals on post-conflict measures; access to and sharing of information; post-conflict environmental assessments and reviews; preventive measures and the rights of indigenous peoples.
    • Third report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Marie G. Jacobsson (68th session of the ILC (2016))
  • Overview of previous work on the topic, and debate held in the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly. Consideration of protection of the environment under the law of occupation; protection of the environment in situations of occupation through international human rights law; and the role of international environmental law in situations of occupation. Proposals for draft principles 6 (2) (Protection of the environment of indigenous peoples), 15 (Post-armed conflict environmental assessments and remedial measures), 16 (Remnants of war), 17 (Remnants of war at sea) and 18 (Sharing and granting access to information).
    • First report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Marja Lehto (70th session of the ILC (2018))
  • Overview of debate held in the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly. Consideration of certain questions of protection of the environment in non-international armed conflicts. Discussion of matters related to responsibility and liability for environmental damage. Discussion of use of terms (environment and natural environment). Proposals for draft principle 6bis (Corporate due diligence), 8bis (Martens Clause), 13bis (Environmental modification techniques), 13ter (Pillage), 13quater (Responsibility and liability), 13quinques (Corporate responsibility), and 14bis (Human displacement).
    • Second report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Marja Lehto (71st session of the ILC (2019))
  • Review of the comments and observations of States, international organizations and others on the draft principles and commentaries adopted on first reading, and suggestions of the Special Rapporteur in response. Special Rapporteur’s recommendation for the final form of the draft principles. Indication of the Special Rapporteur’s suggested changes to the draft principles adopted on first reading (Annex I).
    • Third report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Marja Lehto (73rd session of the ILC (2022))

Reports of the Drafting Committee

  • 67th session of the International Law Commission (2015)
    • Text of the draft introductory provisions and draft principles I-(x) to II-5, provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the sixty-seventh session
    • Statement of the Chair of the Drafting Committee
  • 68th session of the International Law Commission (2016)
    • Text of the draft principles provisionally adopted in 2015 and technically revised and renumbered during the present session by the Drafting Committee
    • Statement of the Chair of the Drafting Committee
  • Text of the draft principles provisionally adopted during the present session by the Drafting Committee
  • Statement of the Chair of the Drafting Committee
  • 70th session of the International Law Commission (2018)
    • Title of Part Four and texts and titles of the draft principles 19, 20 and 21 provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the seventieth session
    • Statement of the Chair of the Drafting Committee
  • 71st session of the International Law Commission (2019)
    • Text and titles of the draft principles provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee on first reading
    • Statement of the Chair of the Drafting Committee
  • 73rd session of the International Law Commission (2022)
    • Texts and titles of the draft preamble and the draft principles adopted by the Drafting Committee on second reading
    • Statement of the Chair of the Drafting Committee

Comments by Governments

 

Other

None

Reports of the International Law Commission

  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its sixty-fifth session, 6 May to 7 June and 8 July to 9 August 2013
    • At its 3171st meeting, on 28 May 2013, the Commission decided to include the topic “Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts” in its programme of work and decided to appoint Ms. Marie G. Jacobsson as Special Rapporteur for the topic.
    • At its 3188th meeting, on 30 July 2013, the Special Rapporteur presented to the Commission the following oral report on the informal consultations held on the topic, under her Chairship, on 6 June and 9 July 2013. At the same meeting, the Commission took note of the report.
    • Discussion in Plenary: 3171st meeting, held on 28 May 2013, and 3188th meeting, held on 30 July 2013.
  • ILC Report, A/68/10, 2013, chap.IX, paras. 130–144
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/666)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its sixty-sixth session 5 May–6 June and 7 July–8 August 2014
    • The Commission had before it the preliminary report of the Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/674 and Corr.1), which provided an introductory overview of phase I of the topic, namely the environmental rules and principles applicable to a potential armed conflict (“peacetime obligations”).
    • Discussion in Plenary: 3227th, 3228th, 3229th, 3230th and 3231st meetings (18 to 25 July 2014), and 3242nd meeting (7 August 2014).
  • ILC Report, A/69/10, 2014, chap. XI, paras. 186–222
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/678)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its sixty-seventh session 4 May–5 June and 7 July–7 August 2015
    • The Commission had before it the second report of the Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/685), which it considered at its 3264th to 3269th meetings, from 6 to 10 July and on 14 July 2015.
    • At its 3269th meeting, on 14 July 2015, the Commission referred the preambular paragraphs and draft principles 1 to 5, as contained in the second report of the Special Rapporteur, to the Drafting Committee, with the understanding that the provision on “use of terms” was referred for the purpose of facilitating discussions and to be left pending by the Drafting Committee at that stage.
    • At its 3281st meeting, on 30 July 2015, the Chair of the Drafting Committee presented the report of the Drafting Committee, containing the draft introductory provisions and draft principles I-(x) to II-5, provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the sixty-seventh session. The Commission took note of the draft introductory provisions and draft principles as presented by the Drafting Committee.
    • Discussion in Plenary: 3264th, 3265th, 3266th, 3267th, 3268th and 3269th meetings (6 to 10 and 14 July 2015), and 3281st meeting (30 July 2015).
  • ILC Report, A/70/10, 2015, chap. IX, paras. 130–170
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/689)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its sixty-eighth session, 2 May–10 June and 4 July–12 August 2016
    • The Commission had before it the third report of the Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/700), which it considered at its 3318th to 3321st and 3324th meetings, from 12 to 15 July and on 20 July 2016.
    • At its 3324th meeting, on 20 July 2016, the Commission referred draft principles I-1, I-3, I-4, III-1 to III-5 and IV-1, as contained in the third report of the Special Rapporteur, to the Drafting Committee.
    • At the same meeting, the Commission also decided to refer back to the Drafting Committee the draft introductory provisions and draft principles contained in the report of the Drafting Committee (A/CN.4/L.870) that the Commission had taken note of during its previous session to address some technical issues in the text involving the use of brackets and some inconsistencies regarding the terminology employed.
    • At its 3337th and 3342nd meetings, on 5 and 9 August 2016 respectively, the Chair of the Drafting Committee presented two reports of the Drafting Committee on “Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts”. The first contained the draft introductory provisions and draft principles taken note of by the Commission during the sixty-seventh session (2015), which had been renumbered and revised for technical reasons by the Drafting Committee (A/CN.4/L.870/Rev.1). The Commission provisionally adopted draft principles 1, 2, 5 [I-x], 9 [II-1], 10 [II-2], 11 [II-3], 12 [II-4], 13 [II-5] (see section C.1 below). At its 3344th meeting, on 10 August 2016, the Commission adopted the commentaries to the draft principles provisionally adopted at the present session.
    • The second report contained draft principles 4, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the present session (A/CN.4/L.876). The Commission took note of the draft principles as presented by the Drafting Committee.
    • Discussion in Plenary: 3318th, 3319th, 3320th, 3321st, 3324th (12 to 15 July and 20 July), 3337th and 3342nd (5 and 9 August 2016) meetings.
  • ILC Report, A/71/10, 2016, chap. X, paras. 139–189
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/703)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its sixty-ninth session, 1 May–2 June and 3 July–4 August 2017
      • The Commission had no report on the topic as the Special Rapporteur was no longer with the Commission. At its 3375th meeting, on 14 July 2017, the Commission decided to establish a Working Group on the topic and appointed Mr. Marcelo Vázquez-Bermúdez as Chair of the Working Group.
      • The Working Group held two meetings on 26 and 27 July 2017. The Working Group had before it the draft commentaries prepared by the Special Rapporteur, even though she was no longer with the Commission, on draft principles 4, 6 to 8, and 14 to 18 provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the sixty-eighth session, and taken note of by the Commission at that session. The Working Group recommended to the Commission the appointment of a new Special Rapporteur for the topic, preferably at the same session.
      • At its 3385th meeting, on 2 August 2017, the Commission received the oral report of the Chair of the Working Group.
      • The Commission decided, at its 3389th meeting, on 4 August 2017, to appoint Ms. Marja Lehto as Special Rapporteur.
      • Discussion in Plenary: 3375th (14 July 2017), 3385th (2 August 2017) and 3389th (4 August 2017) meetings.
  • ILC Report, A/72/10, 2017, chap. X, paras. 253–262
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/713)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventieth session, 30 April–1 June and 2 July–10 August 2018
    • The Commission established, at its 3390th meeting, a Working Group, Chaired by Mr. Vázquez-Bermúdez, to assist the Special Rapporteur in the preparation of the draft commentaries to draft principles 4, 6 to 8, and 14 to 18.
    • At its 3426th meeting, on 10 July 2018, the Commission provisionally adopted draft principles 4, 6 to 8, and 14 to 18, which had been provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the sixty-eighth session.
    • At the same meeting, the Commission began its consideration of the first report of Special Rapporteur Ms. Marja Lehto (A/CN.4/720 and Corr.1). The Commission continued its consideration of the first report at its 3427th to 3431st meetings, from 11 to 17 July 2018.
    • At is 3431st meeting, on 17 July 2018, the Commission referred draft principles 19 to 21, as contained in the first report of the Special Rapporteur, to the Drafting Committee.
    • At its 3436th meeting, on 26 July 2018, the Chair of the Drafting Committee presented the report of the Drafting Committee on “Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts”, containing draft principles 19, 20 and 21 provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the seventieth session (A/CN.4/L.911). The Commission took note of the draft principles as presented by the Drafting Committee.
    • At its 3451st meeting, on 9 August 2018, the Commission adopted the commentaries to the draft principles provisionally adopted at the session.
  • Discussion in Plenary: 3390th (30 April 2018), 3426th, 3427th, 3428th, 3429th, 3430th, 3431st (10 to 17 July 2018), 3436th (26 July 2018), and 3451st (9 August 2018) meetings.
  • ILC Report, A/73/10, 2018, chap. IX, paras. 164–218
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/724)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventy-first session, 29 April–7 June and 8 July–9 August 2019
    • At its 3455th meeting on 1 May 2019, the Commission provisionally adopted draft principles 19, 20 and 21, which had been provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the seventieth session.
    • The Commission had before it the second report of the Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/728). At its 3464th to 3471stmeetings, from 15 May to 27 May 2019, the Commission considered the second report of the Special Rapporteur.
    • At its 3471st meeting, on 27 May 2019, the Commission referred draft principles 6 bis, 8 bis, 13 bis, 13 ter, 13 quater, 13 quinquies, and 14 bis, as contained in the second report of the Special Rapporteur, to the Drafting Committee, taking into account the plenary debate in the Commission.
    • At its 3475th meeting, on 8 July 2019, the Chair of the Drafting Committee presented the report of the Drafting Committee on “Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts” (A/CN.4/L.937). At the same meeting, the Commission provisionally adopted the entire set of the draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts on first reading.
    • At its 3504th to 3506th meetings, on 7 and 8 August 2019, the Commission adopted the commentaries to the draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts.
    • At its 3506th meeting, on 8 August 2019, the Commission decided, in accordance with articles 16 to 21 of its statute, to transmit the draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts, through the Secretary-General, to Governments, international organizations, including from the United Nations and its Environment Programme, and others, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Environmental Law Institute, for comments and observations, with the request that such comments and observations be submitted to the Secretary-General by 1 December 2020.
  • Discussion in Plenary: 3455th, 3464th, 3465th, 3466th, 3467th, 3468th, 3469th. 3470th, 3471st, 3475th and 3504th, 3505th and 3506th meetings, on 1 May and from 15 to 27 May, 8 July and 7 and 8 August 2019.
  • ILC Report, A/74/10, 2019, chap. VI, paras. 58–71
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/734)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventy-third session, 18 April to 3 June and from 4 July to 5 August 2022
    • The Commission had before it the third report of the Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/750Corr.1), as well as comments and observations received from Governments, international organizations and others (A/CN.4/749).
    • At its 3571st to 3578th meetings, from 28 April to 10 May 2022, the Commission considered the third report of the Special Rapporteur and instructed the Drafting Committee to commence the second reading of the entire set of draft principles, together with a draft preamble, on the basis of the proposals by the Special Rapporteur, taking into account the comments and observations of Governments, international organizations and others, as well as the debate in plenary on the Special Rapporteur’s report.
    • The Commission considered the report of the Drafting Committee (A/CN.4/L.968) at its 3584th meeting, held on 27 May 2022, and adopted set of draft principles, together with a preamble, on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts on second reading.
    • At its 3602nd to 3606th meetings, from 28 July to 2 August 2022, the Commission adopted the commentaries to the draft principles and the preamble.
    • At its 3606th meeting, on 2 August 2022, the Commission decided, in conformity with article 23 of its statute, to recommend that the General Assembly:
      • take note of the draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts in a resolution, to annex the principles to the resolution, and to encourage their widest possible dissemination;
      • commend the draft principles, together with the commentaries thereto, to the attention of States and international organizations and all who may be called upon to deal with the subject.
  • Discussion in Plenary: 3571st, 3572nd, 3573rd, 3574th, 3575th, 3576th, 3577th, 3578th (from 28 April to 10 May 2022), 3584th (27 May 2022), 3602nd, 3603rd, 3604th, 3605th, and 3606th (from 28 July to 2 August 2022) meetings.
  • ILC Report, A/77/10, 2021, chap. V, paras. 45–59

General Assembly Action

  • Resolution 68/112 of 16 December 2013
    • Took note of the decision of the International Law Commission to include the topic in its programme of work.
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/666)
  • Resolution 74/186 of 18 December 2019
    • Expressed its appreciation to the International Law Commission for the work accomplished at its seventy-first session, and noted the completion of the first reading of the draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts.
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/734)
  • Resolution 75/135 of 15 December 2020
    • Drew the attention of Governments to the importance for the International Law Commission of having their comments and observations on the draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts adopted on first reading by the Commission at its seventy-first session, and took note of the extension of the deadline to 30 June 2021 for Governments, , international organizations and others, to submit comments and observations to the Secretary-General.
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/734/Add.1)

Final Outcome

International Law Commission (73rd session, 2022)

  • The Commission adopted the draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts, together with commentaries.
  • The Commission decided, in conformity with article 23 of its statute, to recommend that the General Assembly:
    • take note of the draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts in a resolution, to annex the principles to the resolution, and to encourage their widest possible dissemination;
    • commend the draft principles, together with the commentaries thereto, to the attention of States and international organizations and all who may be called upon to deal with the subject. 
 

General Assembly

  • Resolution 77/104 of 7 December 2022
    • Welcomed the conclusion of the work of the International Law Commission on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts and its adoption of the draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts and commentaries thereto.
    • Took note of all the views and comments expressed in the debates of the Sixth Committee on the subject, including those made at the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly, as well as the comments and observations submitted in writing by Governments on the draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts.
    • Also took note of the principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts, the text of which was annexed to the resolution, with the commentaries thereto, brought them to the attention of States, international organizations and all who may be called upon to deal with the subject, and encouraged their widest possible dissemination.
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly