Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and Additional Protocol

Abstract

The Geneva Conventions of 1949 together form one of the key pieces of international humanitarian law. This four‐part, multinational treaty consolidated and expanded upon key provisions for the conduct of war. In an important expansion of the international humanitarian law, the Fourth Geneva Convention extends protections from the consequences of war to civilian populations and noncombatants. To address the evolving nature of armed conflicts, two protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions were added on June 8, 1977. As a corollary to the Convention IV, the Additional Protocols I and II reiterate and expand on the provisions set forward in Convention IV for protections of victims of international (Protocol I) and non‐international (Protocol II) armed conflicts.