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date: 25 January 2021

Abstract and Keywords

Normally, states parties to an armed conflict settle the financial consequences of that conflict in the traditional way, if ever they reach agreement, by concluding comprehensive treaties that embrace also all the claims that their nationals may have acquired on account of the conflict. The most common form of reparation consists of lump sum payments that do not differentiate between the different groups of victims. Remedies for individuals are not available within the framework of international humanitarian law (IHL) at the international level. This chapter explores state responsibility and the individual right to compensation before national courts, in particular violations of IHL. It looks at compensation claims before the courts of the alleged wrongdoing state, as well as those claims outside the alleged wrongdoing state. It considers national reparation programmes, tort claims arising from military operations during non-international armed conflict, tort claims arising from international armed conflict, the territorial clause, jus cogens versus jurisdictional immunity, implications for public policy, and universal jurisdiction for reparation claims.

Keywords: armed conflict, state responsibility, compensation, national courts, international humanitarian law, tort claims, military operations, jus cogens, reparation claims, jurisdictional immunity

Christian Tomuschat

Christian Tomuschat is Professor of International and Constitutional Law at Humboldt University Berlin. He was a member of the Human Rights Committee under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights from 1977-1986 and a member (and chairman) of the International Law Commission (1985-1996).

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