Introduction

Hilaire McCoubrey wrote one of the first contemporary textbooks for university students on international humanitarian law; it is also one of the first to be called by that name. One review of the book concluded ‘in writing this book McCoubrey has made an outstanding contribution towards a better understanding of international humanitarian law’. The term ‘international humanitarian law’ is now widely used and recognized by states internationally, and increasingly, at national level. However, this was not always the case. The original term, ‘laws of war’ is still used and the expression ‘law of armed conflict’, often abbreviated as ‘LOAC’, remains in use by the British military, and by the armed forces of other countries. As noted by Hilaire, ‘“international humanitarian law” as a term of art is of relatively recent date, having gained recognition largely through the work of Jean Pictet’. It was indeed Dr Pictet, an influential lawyer and senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who did much to popularize the term. IHL emphasizes the humanitarian purpose of the international rules, established by treaties or custom, which protect the victims of armed conflict and regulate the conduct of hostilities. The fact that Hilaire used ‘International Humanitarian Law’ as the title of his then innovative book contributed to establishing the respectability of the term among academics and others in the United Kingdom, and perhaps elsewhere in the English-speaking world.