What is The Hague Convention?

1899 and 1907 A series of conventions, declarations and other documents adopted by The Hague Peace Conference. Also known as The Hague Regulations. At the end of the First Hague Conference and the Convention 19, imperialist countries expanded their armies to prepare for war on a large scale and stepped up their military alliances, with the aim of repartitioning their colonies and competing for world hegemony. Due to domestic economic difficulties and other reasons, Russia is unable to compete for hegemony among big countries. In order to gain time and limit opponents, Russian Emperor Nicholas II proposed to hold a peace conference in The Hague, the Netherlands, in August 1898, and invited independent countries from Europe, Asia and North America to participate. Although countries have different attitudes towards Russia's initiative, they have not rejected it based on their respective diplomatic needs. Under this historical background, the first Hague Peace Conference was held in The Hague from May 6 to July 29, 1999. Twenty-six countries including China, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the United States and Austria-Hungary participated in the conference. The meeting declared that its main purpose was to limit armaments and guarantee peace, but in the end it failed to reach any agreement, only three conventions and three declarations on the peaceful settlement of international disputes and the codification of the laws of war were signed. These conventions are: Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes (1899 Hague ConventionNo. 1), Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land (1899 Hague Convention No.2) and its annexes, Regulations on the Laws and Customs of War on Land and principle 1864 of the Geneva Convention. Declaration on the Prohibition of Throwing Projectiles and Explosives from Balloons or Other New Similar Methods (Hague DeclarationsNo. 1, 1899), Declaration on the Prohibition of Using Projectiles Specially Used for Spreading Asphyxiating or Toxic Gases (Hague Declarations No.2, 1899), and the prohibition of using projectiles that are easy to expand or deform in the human body. After the Second Hague Conference and the First Hague Peace Conference of the Convention, the arms race between imperialist countries intensified. The Second Hague Peace Conference was held in The Hague from June 6th to June 5th to1October 6th, 2008. Representatives from 44 countries attended the conference, including all the countries that participated in the first Hague Conference. This meeting is the continuation of the first Hague conference. 1904 ~ 1905 After the Russo-Japanese War, countries were eager to supplement and formulate laws and regulations on naval and land warfare. The meeting revised 19' s three conventions and 1 declaration (declaration 1), and newly formulated 10 conventions, totaling 13 conventions and 1 declaration. Namely: the Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes (1907 Hague Convention 1), the Convention on the Limitation of the Use of Force to Claim Contractual Debts (1907 Hague Convention 2), the Convention on the Beginning of War (1907 Hague Convention 3) and the Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land. And its annexes: Regulations Concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, Convention on the Rights and Duties of Neutral Countries and People on Land (Hague Convention No.5 1907), Convention on the Status of Enemy Merchant Ships at the Beginning of War (Hague Convention No.6 1907) and Convention on the Conversion of Merchant Ships into Warships (No.7 1907) Convention on the Laying of Automatic Triggered Mines (Hague Convention No.8 1907), Convention on Maritime Bombing in Time of War (Hague Convention No.9 1907) and Convention on the Applicability of the Principles of the Geneva Conventions to Wartime (Hague Convention No.8 1907). 65438+ 1907 Hague Convention), Convention on the Rights and Duties of Neutrals in Naval Warfare (65438 China Qing Government and Beiyang Government ratified or acceded to all conventions except the Hague Convention 1907, but the Hague Convention did not come into force. The main contents of The Hague Conventions can be roughly divided into three categories according to their contents: ① Peaceful settlement of international disputes, including the Hague ConventionNo. 1899, the Hague ConventionNo. 1 907 and the Convention No.2. According to these conventions, the contracting States have assumed the general obligations of "peaceful settlement of international disputes" and "avoiding resorting to force as much as possible", and decided to achieve this goal through good offices, mediation, international investigation committees and international arbitration, which has made important contributions to limiting the "right to resort to war" in traditional international law. (2) categories of rights and obligations of war and neutral countries, including Hague Conventions No.3, No.5, No.6 andNo. 1907 ... Convention No.3 formally established the system of declaration of war for the first time in history, stipulating that declaration of war is illegal; Convention No.6 stipulated the protection system for enemy merchant ships at the beginning of the war; Conventions No.5 and No.5 13 codified in detail the laws and practices of the rights and obligations of neutral countries and their people on land and in naval battles. (3) The law of war, treaties other than the above two categories belong to this category. This kind of treaty is the main part of The Hague Convention, which restricts the means and methods of warfare from different aspects, such as land war, naval battle and air battle, and further clarifies and improves the treatment of combatants, prisoners of war and the wounded and sick. The most important of these is the Hague Convention 1907 and its annexes. The Convention contains the basic principles and specific norms of the law of war, and its wording is almost the same as that of 1899 Hague Convention II and its annexes. Originally, the former was intended to replace the latter, but because some States parties to the Hague Convention 1899 did not sign and ratify the Hague Convention 1907, the two coexisted. The preambles of the two conventions contain an important clause: in cases not covered by this convention, civilians and combatants are still protected and governed by the principles of international law, "these principles come from the practices among civilized countries, humanitarian laws and regulations and the requirements of public conscience." This is the famous "Ma Erdun Clause", which is of great significance to the validity of the laws of war. Later, many treaties on the law of war reiterated this content. Another treaty of great significance is the Hague Declaration 1899. The declaration is the only international air combat treaty, valid for 5 years. It was revised at the Second Hague Peace Conference in 1907, with exactly the same content, and it was stipulated to be valid until the Third Hague Peace Conference. As the third Hague Conference has not yet been held, the treaty is still legally valid. However, since the First World War, the scope of aircraft bombing by belligerents has become wider and wider, and the provisions of the Declaration have actually been completely destroyed. 192 1 ~ 1922 The Washington Conference entrusted a committee composed of jurists from the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands to study and draft air combat rules. The draft air combat rules drafted by The Hague Committee have not been accepted by all countries. The Historical Significance of The Hague Conventions 1899 and 1907 Many conventions compiled by The Hague Conference are still valid today, which laid the foundation for the later compilation and development of the laws of war and promoted the implementation of humanitarian principles in war. The Hague Convention has universal effect. Although each convention includes provisions that can only be applied when all belligerents are contracting parties, many principles and rules included in these conventions are recognized international practices, so they are applicable to all countries. The Nuremberg International Military Tribunal and the Tokyo International Military Tribunal not only apply The Hague Convention to contracting parties (such as Germany) but also to non-contracting parties (such as Czechoslovakia), and convict and punish war criminals who violate the laws of war according to the principles of the Convention. However, with the development and change of the international situation, the progress of science and technology and its military application, many contents of The Hague Convention are out of date. In order to meet the needs of modern warfare, 1949 Geneva Conventions and 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions confirmed, revised and developed many laws of war included in The Hague Conventions.