Workshop on “The Geneva Conventions at 75: Exploring Changing Contexts, Implementation, and Enduring Relevance” on March 12–13, 2024 at Harvard Law School

Co-sponsors

The Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict (HLS PILAC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Delegation for the United States and Canada, and the Lieber Institute for Law & Warfare of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point

Information

This workshop aimed to explore select issues pertaining to the changing contexts, implementation, and enduring relevance concerning the Geneva Conventions of 1949. With nearly 200 States parties, the four Geneva Conventions represent some of the most, and perhaps the most, widely subscribed-to treaties in history. In signing the instruments on August 12th, 1949, the Plenipotentiaries of the Governments represented at the Diplomatic Conference held at Geneva sought to revise three instruments — one on the wounded and sick in armed forces in the field; a second on maritime warfare; and a third on prisoners of war — as well as to establish a new convention for the protection of civilian persons in time of war. The resulting combined 429 articles lay down an array of obligations that cut across diverse areas. The extent to which these provisions have and have not been respected in practice has entailed significant and wide-ranging implications for scores of individuals and populations affected by numerous armed conflicts.