红十字国际委员会《〈日内瓦第二公约〉评注》修订版:揭秘海上武装冲突法

The Updated ICRC Commentary on the Second Geneva Convention:Demystifying the Law of Armed Conflict Sea

自1949年四部日内瓦公约的评注和1977年两个附加议定书的评注分别于20世纪50年代和80年代出版以来,它们已经成为适用和解释这些公约的重要参考。为记录其发展并对条约文本提供最新解释,红十字国际委员会与一个著名专家团队一道对这些评注进行了修订。本文首先对修订方法和程序以及《日内瓦第二公约》的历史背景进行概述,随后阐述了该公约的适用范围、所保护的船舶类型(特别是医院船和沿岸救护艇)以及《日内瓦第二公约》与保护海上受难者之其他国际人道法和国际法渊源之间的关系。本文还概述了《日内瓦第一公约》和《日内瓦第二公约》的异同,包括《〈日内瓦第二公约〉评注》(以下简称《评注》)修订版是如何反映出这些异同的。最后,本文强调了《日内瓦第二公约》中的某些实体义务,并阐释了《评注》修订版如何处理这些义务所引发的解释问题。

Since their publication in the 1950s and 1980s respectively,the Commentaries on the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 have become a major reference for the application and interpretation of those treaties.The International Committee of the Red Cross,together with a team of renowned experts,is currently updating these Commentaries in order to document developments and provide up-to-date interpretations of the treaty texts.Following a brief overview of the methodology and process of the update as well as a historical background to the Second Geneva Convention,this article addresses the scope of applicability of the Convention,the type of vessels it protects(in particular hospital ships and coastal rescue craft),and its relationship with other sources of international humanitarian law and international law conferring protection to persons in distress at sea.It also outlines differences and commonalities between the First and the Second Conventions,including how these have been reflected in the updated Commentary on the Second Convention.Finally,the article highlights certain substantive obligations under the Convention and how the updated Commentary addresses some of the interpretive questions they raise.