The International Law Commission and International Disaster Law

Abstract

International Disaster Law (IDL) does not provide a uniform legal framework contained in a single instrument. Instead, it comprises various treaties, customary international law, general principles of law, and soft law instruments. In order to forge a uniform instrument for regulating disaster relief and disaster risk reduction, the International Law Commission (ILC), upon the recommendation of the UN General Assembly, incorporated “Protection of persons in the event of disasters” into its program of work in 2007. ILC appointed Eduardo Valencia-Ospina (Colombia) as the Special Rapporteur for the topic. Finally, ILC adopted the Draft Articles on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters (DAPPED) in 2016 and recommended the UN General Assembly consider the possibility of developing a Convention based on it in the same year. Now, DAPPED is under the consideration of the Sixth Committee of UNGA. DAPPED added a novel discourse to IDL. The present chapter will, following introductory words, highlight the drafting history of DAPPED. Then, it will provide an overview of the contents of DAPPED and its normative framework, respectively. The final section of this chapter will deal with the possibility of convening a Convention based on DAPPED and its prospects as other sources of international law.KeywordsInternational Disaster LawInternational Law CommissionDraft Articles on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters