Regulating Conventional Weapons in the Future — Humanitarian Law or Arms Control?
| DOI | 10.1177/002234338702400307 |
| Date | 01 September 1987 |
| Author | Ove Bring |
| Published date | 01 September 1987 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Regulating
Conventional
Weapons
in
the
Future
—
Humanitarian
Law
or
Arms
Control?*
OVE
BRING
Legal
Adviser,
Ministry
for
Foreign
Affairs,
Sweden
Weapon
regulations
are
difficult
to
achieve,
but
when
they
exist
they
seem
to
be
respected
in
the
practice
of
States.
The
prohibitions
against
the
use
of
expanding
bullets
and
biological
weapons
have
always
been
effective.
So
has
the
prohibition
against
the
use
of
chemical
weapons,
until
the
fourth
year
of
the
Iran-Iraq
conflict.
The
customary
rules
on
recording
of
emplaced
land-mines
for
postwar
publication
functioned
during
the
Falklands
conflict.
All
in
all,
international
humanitarian
law
in
this
field
has
demonstrated
a
potential
that
should
be
used
in
the
future.
The
article
analyzes
the
historical
evolution
of
the
concept
of
’superfluous
injury
or
unnecessary
suffering’
and
suggests
some
areas
where
new
restrictions
or
prohibitions
should
be
striven
for
The
article
throughout
indicates
the
existence
of
a
fruitful
relationship
between
international
humanitarian
law
and
disarmament.
The
author
feels
that
this
relationship
should
be
explored
more
vigorously
in
the
future.
ISSN
0022-3433
Journal
of
Peace
Research,
vol.
24,
no.
3,
1987
1.
Introduction
An
obvious
approach
in
weapon
nego-
tiations
is
to
try
to
remove
certain
weapons
completely
from
the
arsenals,
or
to
reduce
the
quantity
of
specific
weapons,
or
to
stop
or
slow
down
new
dangerous
developments
in
the
qualitative
arms
race.
This
dis-
armament
or
force
reduction
approach
has
not,
however,
led
to
any
binding
multilateral
treaties.
There
is
no
treaty
banning
the
pro-
duction
of
a
specific
category
of
conventional
weapons;
nor
is
there
today
any
treaty
on
quantitative
restrictions
on
deployment
of
conventional
weapons.
1
In
the
quest
for
a
safer
and
more
decent
world,
there
is
also
another
approach
to
weapon
negotiations;
to
lay
down
rules
of
a
humanitarian
nature
restricting
or
prohib-
iting
the
use
of
specific
weapons.
The
efforts
to
outlaw
the
use
of
excessively
inhumane
means
and
methods
of
warfare
started
and
were
inspired
in
the
late
19th
century
by
the
work
of
Henry
Dunant.
This
humanitarian
approach
has
been
noticeably
more
success-
ful,
taking
into
account
that
a
number
of
regulations
are
in
force
and
that
they
more
often
than
not
work
in
practice.
The
present
article
will
therefore
focus
on
the
potential
of
international
humanitarian
law
applicable
*
The
views
expressed
m
this
article
are
personal
and
do
not
necessarily
reflect
the
views
of
the
Swedish
Government.
in
armed
conflict,
but
in
doing
so
it
will
note
the
connection
between
humanitarian
law
and
arms
control/arms
limitation.
The
pur-
pose
is
in
one
case
humanitarian
and
related
to
individuals,
in
the
other
security
oriented
and
related
to
States.
But
the
point
is,
that
humanitarian
agreements
can
also
generate
confidence
between
states
and
thus
have
a
bearing
on
international
security.
The
con-
cept
of
arms
control
should
then
not
exclus-
ively
relate
to
disarmament
efforts.
Conceptually,
the
term
’arms
control’
includes
humanitarian
regulations
on
specific
weapons,
as
well
as
regulations
expressing
a
mix
of
humanitarian
and
security
concerns.
Such
regulations
could
well
be
labelled
’humanitarian
arms
control’
when
the
humanitarian
element
is
dominant
or
significant.
Of
course,
the
value
of
these
terminological
remarks
is
only
evident
if
the
thinking
behind
them
is
transferred
to,
and
mirrored
by,
practical
politics.
2.
Conventional
Weapons
and
International
Law in
Historical
Perspective
In
1868
the
St.
Petersburg
Declaration
was
adopted,
a
text
which
laid
down
a
standard
valid for
all
subsequent
negotiations
on
rules
for
armed
conflicts.
The
St
Petersburg
con-
ference
was
assembled
by
Czar
Alexander
II.
At
the
conference
seventeen
nations
adopted
a
Declaration
which
was
seen
as
a
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