The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea was adopted in June 1994 by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law after a series of round table discussions held between 1988 and 1994 by diplomats and naval and legal experts. It is "the only comprehensive international instrument that has been drafted on the law of naval warfare since 1913."

Overview

The manual is a legally recognized document but is not binding on states. The Manual is a codification of

customary international law Customary international law consists of international legal obligations arising from established or usual international practices, which are less formal customary expectations of behavior often unwritten as opposed to formal written treaties or c ...

, an integration of existing legal standards for naval conflict with the

Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...

of 1949 and

Protocol I Protocol I (also Additional Protocol I and AP I) is a 1977 amendment Protocol (diplomacy), protocol to the Geneva Conventions concerning the protection of civilian casualty, civilian victims of international war, including "armed conflicts in ...

of 1977. The Manual is broken into six parts that each discuss a different section of the law, these being: * General provisions, which deals with the scope of the law, various international naval events and the law, and definitions. * Regions of operations, which discusses the legal aspects of conflict in

internal waters According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a nation's internal waters include waters on the side of the baseline of a nation's territorial waters that is facing toward the land, except in archipelagic states. It includes wa ...

, territorial seas, archipelagic and international straits,

exclusive economic zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

s, the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

, and the

high seas The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regiona ...

. * Basic Rules and target discrimination, which places limits on who and what can be targeted, warnings, exemptions offered to civilians and neutral states, and so on. * Methods and means of warfare at sea, which details the conditional use of

missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es, mines,

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...

s, blockade zones and ruses of war. * Measures short of attack: interception, visit, search, diversion and capture, which discusses the requirements to board and seize enemy and neutral ships, as well as cargo (also sometimes known as

prize law A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

). * Protected persons, medical transports, and medical aircraft, which discusses protections offered for craft and people of this nature.

Application

2010 Gaza flotilla raid

The San Remo The San Remo is a cooperative apartment building at 145 and 146 Central Park West, between 74th and 75th Streets, adjacent to Central Park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was constructed from 1929 to 1930 and was desi ...

Manual was cited by the Israeli government to justify its boarding and seizure of ships trying to break the Gaza blockade (see

Legal assessments of the Gaza flotilla raid Multiple legal assessments of the Gaza flotilla raid were published subsequent to the event. International law experts (and non-lawyers) differed over the legality of the action by Israel. The force necessary to respond to violent resistance and w ...

), as well as by the

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a United Nations Regional Gro ...

's international fact-finding mission to support their finding that the seizure was illegal. In 2011 the UN-Secretary-General's Panel of Inquiry came to the conclusion that the Gaza blockade had been "imposed as a legitimate security measure", and that the flotilla should not have acted in a way that escalated the potential for conflict. Paragraph 67 of the Manual states that belligerents may attack merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral states outside of neutral waters if they "are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...

or breaching a blockade, and if after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture". Paragraph 146 states that it is permitted to capture neutral merchant vessels outside neutral waters if they are engaged in any of the activities referred to in paragraph 67. Further, while article 102 of the San Remo Manual states that a blockade is prohibited if it has the sole purpose of starving the civilian population or denying it other objects essential for its survival, the Inquiry panel found that there was a legitimate military objective (to prevent the influx of weapons). However, the report also noted that Israel's use of force against the passengers was excessive, and recommended that Israel immediately report its use of force to the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

so it could find a permanent solution, as is required of Israel by the United Nations Charter.

References

External links

San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea
12 June 1994 {{DEFAULTSORT:San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable To Armed Conflicts at Sea Blockades Law of the sea 1994 in international relations 1994 in Italy International humanitarian law