Protection of Private Property

Abstract

Abstract This chapter analyses the protection of property in occupied territories under Article 53 Geneva Convention (GC) IV, the prohibition of pillage under Article 33 paragraph 2, and the destruction and appropriation of property as a grave breach of GC IV under Article 147. It first delineates the scope of application of the general rule under Article 53, examining how the concept of military necessity operates as an exception to this rule. It considers those rules that regulate issues of confiscation, requisition, and seizure of private property, as well as the special international humanitarian law rules that address distinct categories of property. The two final sections address the extent to which those distinct rules analysed in international armed conflict may be considered relevant in non-international armed conflict; and the violations of those rules as grave breaches under Article 147 and other germane rules of international criminal law.