Forgotten, but nevertheless relevant! Gustave Moynier’s attempts to punish violations of the laws of war 1870–1916

Abstract

Legal historians at law faculties or law schools and historians of law at arts faculties often take different approaches when looking at the past development of law in general and international law in particular (Klippel 2002; Segesser 2013). Starting from this assumption and taking into account recent studies on the history of international criminal law (Bergsmo et al 2014/15; Lewis 2014) this presentation aims to analyse and discuss the almost forgotten proposals made by leading jurist and long-term ICRC-president Gustave Moynier in regard to the punishment of violations of the laws of war in the period between the Franco-Prussian War and the first two years of the First World War. The interplay between the principle of state sovereignty and that of bringing about justice in international relations will be at the centre of this presentation, trying to bring a historical analysis of legal developments into dialogue with a legal perspective that wonders about the relevance of history for present day law.