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Studia Iuridica

Protection of the Environment in Times of Non-international Armed Conflicts – a Gap to be Filled in

2018, 78, No. 1

Maria Magdalena Kenig-Witkowska

0000-0003-0176-2130

University of Warsaw, Faculty of Law and Administration

DOI

10.5604/01.3001.0013.2160

Publication date

29.05.2019

Publishing model

open access

License type

CC BY 4.0 Int.

Field

Law

Discipline

law

Language of publication

English

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PDF 378 KB

Article

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Abstract

Environmental protection in times of non-international armed conflicts is not subject to the sectoral or particular protection categories of environmental law and to date it has not been comprehensively regulated by international law. Except for generalities, it was also ignored in the 1992 Rio Declaration Principle 24 of which is not unambiguous in its expression. In fact, only the international humanitarian law of armed conflict contains norms which address the natural environment in times of armed conflicts. On the basis of a review of legal acts addressing the issues of environmental protection in times of non-international conflicts, negative conclusions de lege lata can be drawn as part of an attempt to answer the question whether international law ensures sufficient environmental protection in such circumstances. In the Author’s opinion, in international law there is a gap relating to the protection of the environment in times of non-international armed conflicts; the existing legal regulations which could be applied in these matters have a rudimentary characters.

Keywords:

Bibliography

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