Event information

11 April 2022, 18:00-19:30

Weapons Law

Military Briefings

A missile A missile

Among the many aspects of warfare it aims to regulate, international humanitarian law (IHL) establishes rules on what kind of weapons can be used on the battlefield, and how they can be used.

This is usually referred to as the prohibitions or restrictions regarding the ‘means of warfare’. In general, IHL prohibits any weapon ‘of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering’, or weapons that may have indiscriminate or excessively injurious effects--this includes biological and chemical weapons, as well as landmines to a certain extent. But while some weapons are banned altogether, some are authorized under certain circumstances. In practice, this area of the law regulating armed conflicts involves a variety of international legal instruments, ranging from the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols to specific sectoral conventions. Accordingly, given its critical impact on the battlefield, it is crucial for IHL practitioners to understand this area of law.

This Military Briefing will give an overview of the applicable legal frameworks and the contemporary challenges in this area and will also focus on recent events in the armed conflict in Ukraine.

Speaker

A Captain in the French Navy reserve, Eric Steinmyller is currently the head of the Coast Guard division for the Atlantic Ocean's French area of responsibility. He is in charge of all law enforcement issues in this area, including regarding drug trafficking, piracy, illicit fishing, protection of the environment, as well as search and rescue operations. Prior to this assignment, Mr Steinmyller had a long career in the French armed forces, where he most notably served as head of the law of armed conflict section at the French Ministry of Defense, and as military adviser to the French ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament. He joined a private shipping company in 2013 as a security and safety manager. Since 2016, he is also working as a consultant and lecturer on IHL and Law of the Sea for several military and civilian institutions, especially in the Middle East.

About the Military Briefings

Military Briefings are a unique series of events relating to military institutions and the law. They aim to improve our students’ knowledge of military actors and operations and build bridges between the military and civilian worlds.

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

Ambassador Jürg Lauber News

Opening Lecture by the President of the Human Rights Council

24 February 2025

Following his election as President of the Human Rights Council, we had the honour of welcoming Ambassador Jürg Lauber for the Geneva Academy's Spring Semester Opening Lecture.

Read more

News

Apply to Our Online Executive Master - MAS in International Law in Armed Conflict

4 February 2025

Applications for the upcoming academic year of our Online Executive Master – MAS in International Law in Armed Conflict - are now open. They will remain open until 30 May 2025, with courses starting at the end of September 2025.

Read more

Event

Strengths and Challenges of Inter-State Applications Before the European Court of Human Rights

12 May 2025, 18:30-20:00

In this Geneva Academy Talk Judge Lətif Hüseynov will discuss the challenges of inter-State cases under the ECHR, especially amid rising conflict-related applications.

Read more

Warzone Event

Advanced IHL Seminar for Academics and Policymakers

25-29 August 2025, 09:00-17:30

Co-hosted with the ICRC, this event aims to enhance the capacity of academics to teach and research international humanitarian law, while also equipping policymakers with an in-depth understanding of ongoing legal debates.

Read more

A destroyed camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Khor Abeche, South Darfur, Project

Understanding the Relationship between Conflict, Security and the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment

Started in May 2023

This project will develop guidance to inform security, human rights and environmental debates on the linkages between environmental rights and conflict, and how their better management can serve as a tool in conflict prevention, resilience and early warning.

Read more

A session of the UN Human Rights Council Project

IHL Expert Pool

Started in January 2022

The IHL-EP works to strengthen the capacity of human rights mechanisms to incorporate IHL into their work in an efficacious and comprehensive manner. By so doing, it aims to address the normative and practical challenges that human rights bodies encounter when dealing with cases in which IHL applies.

Read more

Cover of the 2023 Geneva Academy Annual Report Publication

Annual Report 2023

published on July 2024

Read more