Introducing International Humanitarian Law

Abstract

Humanitarian Law, as a branch of Public International Law, is not widely known by the general public. Likewise, if we look at the name, it causes a lot of confusion because it is a bit misleading. In order to eliminate doubts or misunderstandings, it is necessary to have an explanation or ‘confirmation’ on matters that fall under humanitarian law. This paper will explain the meaning of International Humanitarian Law (hereinafter abbreviated as IHL) and what its scope is. Several important international conventions are included in this paper to emphasize the existence of this IHL in International Law. Existing international conventions indicate a change in the term of this law, namely from the law of war to the law of armed conflict, and finally to international humanitarian law, so it cannot be denied that actually international humanitarian law is another name for the law of war.