Written By: Peter Trobec
Supervised By: Giustiniano Cesare Vasey
Edited By: Alice O’Donnell
ABSTRACT
During armed conflicts, international humanitarian law (IHL) or the laws of armed conflict restrict the freedom of parties to use certain weapons. The first instruments of modern IHL related to weaponry concerned and regulated bullets. The Saint-Petersburg Declaration of 1868 and the Declaration (IV,3) concerning Expanding Bullets of 1899 imposed limitations with regard to explosive and expanding bullets, respectively. However, ever since the 19th century, war evolved significantly.
In this first paper of this two-part series, the evolution and current status of the regulation of explosive and expanding bullets will be analysed. In this first part, the rules concerning explosive bullets will be analysed. It will examine the background of the Saint-Petersburg Declaration and the contemporary meaning of the rule. The main point of the first part is that, while contemporary military practice extensively uses explosive bullets, this reflects a changing military reality rather than a rejection of the underlying rule and humanitarian principle.
