The Law of International Disaster Response: Overview and Ramifications for Military Actors

• Author: David Fisher
• Position: Senior Legal Research Officer for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' program on International Disaster Response Laws, Rules and Principles
• Pages: 293-320

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The Law of International Disaster Response:

Overview and Ramifications

for Military Actors

David Fisher*

Asmilitary lawyers are well aware, the international legal framework for the

protection and assistance of civilians in conflict situations is well developed

and deeply integrated into the ways lawyers and laypeople think and talk about

war. The Geneva Conventions of 1949, the cornerstone of international humani-

tarian law (IHL), have now achieved universal adhesion; 1over seventy nations

have formed national commissions on IHL;2and IHL is being studied and written

about in universities, military academies and other forums around the world. In

contrast, the law of international disaster response, referred to in recent years as

"International Disaster Response Laws, Rules and Principles" or "IDRL," has been

described as "neglected"3and "far from complete," 4with no centralized regime

equivalent to the Geneva Conventions, few academic resources dedicated to the is-

sue and, until recently, little attention from the international disaster relief

community.

*Senior Legal Research Officer for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent

Societies' program on International Disaster Response Laws, Rules and Principles. The views

and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily represent

those of the International Federation.

The Law ofInternational Disaster Response

Yet, over the last thirty- five years, there have been over fourteen thousand non-

conflict disasters worldwide, resulting in more than 2.3 million deaths and affect-

ing an astonishing 5.8 billion persons.5In the overwhelming majority of these di-

sasters, the governments, civil society and communities of the affected States have

borne the brunt ofrelief and recovery themselves. However, international response

activities have also necessarily been frequent6and are increasing in proportion to

the growing number and severity of disasters in recent years. 7Moreover, interna-

tional disaster operations can sometimes be just as legally challenging as conflict

relief, commonly involving barriers to the entry and effective use of relief person-

nel, goods, equipment and transport vehicles, as well as regulatory dilemmas for af-

fected States—particularly in light of the growing number and diversity of

international disaster responders.

For their part, military actors have long been engaged in disaster relief,8but their

involvement at the international level also appears to be on the rise. This increased

engagement has led to a greater concern among military lawyers about the legal

pitfalls involved,9as well as concerns in the humanitarian community about the

consequences of the "militarization" of international disaster assistance.

This paper will sketch the history and broad outlines of the current interna-

tional legal framework for transborder disaster relief and recovery10 and discuss

some of the most common legal problems that arise in international operations. It

will then look—from acivilian's perspective—at some of the ramifications for mil-

itary actors. It will conclude with some thoughts on where the international com-

munity might choose to go from here.

Historical Background

While there are early precedents for international relief in peacetime, it was not un-

til the mid-nineteenth century that momentum slowly began to build toward in-

ternational systems to address national calamities. 11 For example, in 1851, France

convened the first of aseries of international sanitary conferences to negotiate

agreements to combat the cross-border spread of diseases. 12 In 1869, aresolution

of the second International Conference of the Red Cross affirmed the role of na-

tional Red Cross societies in providing relief "in case of public calamity which, like

war, demands immediate and organized assistance." 13 In the late nineteenth and

early twentieth centuries, multilateral telegraph and telecommunications treaties

were adopted with specific provisions about emergency communications, 14 and

maritime agreements were reached codifying customary norms on rescue and as-

sistance to vessels in distress. 15

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