The legal framework of humanitarian action

Abstract

In addition to the differing domestic legal regimes international law also provides a legal regime for humanitarian action. The international community has adopted a set of rights and duties, guarantees, warrants and obligations in particular in the area of humanitarian assistance. States have adopted such regulation both directly and specifically as well as indirectly in a broader sense. By way of example, in the case of providing humanitarian assistance in the situation of an international armed conflict "[t]he Parties to the conflict shall protect relief consignments and facilitate their rapid distribution" (Article 70 para. 4 Additional Protocol I-AP I). In a broader sense, however, the prohibition to make the civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, the object of attack in an armed conflict is an integral part of the legal framework of humanitarian assistance. Relief workers or journalists reporting from an area of armed conflict are civilians under international humanitarian law and enjoy protection as civilian persons in armed conflict.