Legal restrictions in the choice of methods and means of warfare

Abstract

The article examines legal restrictions in the choice of methods and means of waging war. The relevance of the topic is due to the need to limit and prohibit the use of certain methods and means of warfare in the modern world. The subject of the study is the legal norms that applied during armed conflicts, which limit the methods and means of waging war. The methodological basis of the research is a system of scientific methods (general, private and special) and various logical methods and tools that contribute to the knowledge of the problem. The research was carried out based on the dialectical method of cognition using historical, comparative-legal, systemic-structural and formal-logical methods, which made it possible to investigate issues in a holistic relationship. The main international treaties in this area served as a normative basis: the Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land, the Declaration on the Elimination of Explosive and Incendiary Bullets, the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, the Convention on the Prohibition or Restriction of the Use of Specific Types of Conventional Weapons, which can be considered as causing excessive damage or having an indiscriminate effect and other acts. It is noted that the evolution of norms of international humanitarian law on the methods and means of waging war is due to the emergence of new types of weapons and military equipment as a result of the scientific and technical revolution and the improvement of operational art. The purpose of the restrictions is to protect civilians and minimize the suffering of service members. It is indicated that the systematic implementation of the norms of international humanitarian law on prohibited methods and means of waging war by NATO member states in relation to the Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims of 1949 and Additional Protocols I, II to them in 1977 year is the result of the effective application of the implementation mechanism taking into account the peculiarities of national legal systems, the use of means of civil control over compliance with such norms. Further research with new types of weapons regarding the destruction of combat equipment and weapons, the destruction of enemy personnel, the possibility of their use in armed conflicts and the degree of severity of the consequences of their use do not have an assessment of states for compliance with the principles and norms of international law, but they need to be carried out.