The relationship between international human rights law and international humanitarian law: Taking stock at the end of 2022?
| Author | Katharine Fortin |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/09240519221134723 |
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Column |
The relationship between
international human rights law
and international humanitarian
law: Taking stock at the end
of 2022?
Katharine Fortin
Department of International and European Law, Netherlands Institute of Human
Rights (SIM), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Abstract
Noting that 2022 marked the 45
th
anniversary of the Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva
Conventions –the first treaties that explicitly noted the relationship between international
human rights law and international humanitarian law - this column reflects on how the relationship
between these two bodies of law has developed since 1977. It demonstrates that while much pro-
gress has been made internationally towards understanding the relationship between two bodies
of law, there are still obstacles to be overcome if the goal is to apply the two bodies of law in a
complementary fashion and achieve the maximum protection of the human person.
Keywords
Human rights, international humanitarian law, armed conflict, complementary, separatism
1. INTRODUCTION
As 2022 draws to a close, I use this column to reflect on the relationship between human rights law
(IHRL) and international humanitarian law (IHL).
1
During this year, armed conflict has continued
Corresponding author:
Katharine Fortin, Department of International and European Law, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Utrecht
University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
E-mail: k.m.a.fortin@uu.nl
1. I am grateful for the helpful comments that I received from Marco Longobardo and Kushtrim Istrefion an earlier version
of this column. I would also like to thank the members of the Executive Editorial Board for their helpful review. The
column was completed in mid-September 2022 and emerges out of ideas presented in October 2021 entitled ‘Some
Developments and Thoughts on the Role of Human Rights Law in Military Operations’at the Conference Celebrating
Fifty Years of the Chair of Military Law at the University of Amsterdam’. This publication is part of the author’s
NWO Veni project ‘Dangerous Liaisons: civilian agency, armed groups and international law’.
Column
Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights
2022, Vol. 40(4) 343–353
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/09240519221134723
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