JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS Editor; Sean M acbride S u m m e r1966 V o l. VII, No. 1 J ea n P ic t e t THE XXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE RED CROSS: RESULTS IN THE LEGAL FIELD 3 P a u lin e B. T ay lo r and TWO ASPECTS OF PRE-TRIAL M ic h a e l C s iz m a s PROCEDURE IN EASTERN EUROPE 20 T h om as Bu erg en tha l THE DOMESTIC STATUS OF THE EURO­ PEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: A SECOND LOOK 55 E d o u a r d Z e l l w e g e r THE SWISS FEDERAL COURT AS A CON­ STITUTIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE 97 L ucian G. W ee r a m a n tr y DIGEST OF JUDICIAL DECISIONS ON AS­ PECTS OF THE RULE OF LAW 125 International Commission of Jurists (1CJ) Geneva, Switzerland INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS - GENEVA r. The International Commission of Jurists; is a non-governmental organization which has Consultative Status with the United Nations and UNESCO. The Commission seeks to foster understanding of and respect for the Role of Law. The Members of the Commission are: JOSEPH T. THORSON Former President of the Exchequer Court of Canada (Honorary President) VIVIAN BOSE Former Judge of the Supreme Court of India (President) A. J. M. VAN DAL Attomey-at-Law at the Supreme Court of the Nether- (Vice-President) lands JOSE T. NABUCO Member of the Bar of Rio de Janeiro* Brazil ((Vice-President) SIR ADETOKUNBO A. ADEMOLA Chief Justice of Nigeria ARTURO A. ALAFRIZ Former Solicitor-General of the Philippines; Attomey- at-Law, Manila GIUSEPPE BETTIOL Member of the Italian Parliament; Professor of Law at the University of Padua DUDLEY B. BONSAL United States District Judge of the Southern District of New York; past President of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York PHILIPPE N. BOULOS Deputy Prime Minister, Government of Lebanon; for­ mer Governor of Beirut; former Minister of Justice U CHAN HTOON Former Judge of the Suppreme Court of the Union Oi Burma , ELI WHITNEY DEBEVOISE Attorney-at-Law, New York; former General Counsel* Office of the USA High Commissioner for Germany MANUEL G. ESCOBEDO Professor of Law, Univerrsity of Mexico; Attomey-at- Law; former President of the Barra Mexicana - PER T. FEDERSPIEL Attorney-at-Law, Copenhagen; Member of the Danish Parliament; former President of the Consultative As­ sembly of the Council of Europe T. S. FERNANDO Judge of the Supreme Court of Ceylon; former Attor­ ney-General and former Solicitor-General of Ceylon ISAAC FORSTER Judge of the International Court of Justice, The Ha­ gue;, former Chief of Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Senegal FERNANDO FOURNIER Attomey-at-Law; former President of the Bar Asso­ ciation of Costa Rica; Professor of Law; former Am­ bassador to the United States and to the organization of American States OSVALDO ILLANES BENfTEZ Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Chile HAN S-HEINR1CH JESCHECK Professor of Law; Director of the Institute of Compar­ ative and International Penal Law of the University of Freiburg/B. RENE MAYER Former Minister of Justice; former Prime Minister ol France SIR LESLIE MUNRO Former Secretary-General of the International Commis­ sion of Jurists; former President of the General Assembly of the United Nations; former Ambassador' of New Zealand to the United Nations and United States LUIS n e g r On -f e r n An d b z Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico PAUL-MAURICE ORBAN Professor of Law at the University of Ghent, Belgium; former Minister; former Senator STEFAN OSUSKY Former Minister of Czechoslovakia to Great Britain and France; former Member of the Czechoslovak ; Government MOHAMED A. ABU RANNAT Chief Justice of the Sudan EDWARD ST. JOHN Q.C., Barrister-at-Law, Sydney, Australia THE RT. HON. LORD SHAWCROSS Former Attorney-General of England SEBASTIAN SOLER Attorney-at-Law; Professor of Law; Former Attorney- General of Argentina KENZO TAKAYANAGI Chairman, Cabinet Commission on the Constitution; Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University; Member,’.Legis­ lative Council of Japan PURSHOTTAM TRIKAMDAS Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India; some- \ time Secretary to Mahatma Gandhi H. B. TYABJI Barrister-at-Law, Karachi, Pakistan; former Judge of the Chief Court of the Sind. TERJE WOLD Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway Secretary-General: SEAN MACBRIDB s.c.» Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ireland c Executive Secretary: VLADIMIR M. KABES ^ LL.D., M.C.L. INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS 2, QUAI DU CHEVAL-BLANC GENEVA# SWITZERLAND THE XXth INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE RED CROSS: RESULTS IN THE LEGAL FIELD by J ea n P ic t e t * Editor's Note. The basic principles underlying the protection of human rights are by now incorporated in a series of international conventions and declarations: the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Draft Covenants of the United Nations on Human Rights, the Genocide Convention, I.L.O. Conventions, the European Convention on Human Rights, and other international conventions. Among these conventions there are some which, though universally accepted, are often not. asso­ ciated in the public mind with the emerging international law con­ cerning human rights: among these are the Red Cross Conventions of Geneva. The antecedents of the Hague Convention of 1907 and of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 go back to 1864 when, in Geneva, on the initiative of the newly created International Committee of the Red Cross the original “Geneva Convention” was adopted. This first international treaty in this field established the broad funda­ mental principles for the protection of wounded and sick combat­ ants, which remained unshaken and are now universally accepted. It gave impetus to the Red Cross movement throughout the world. The Conference of 1868 made an attempt to extend these rules to maritime warfare; however this extension was not accomplished. A recommendation by the First Hague Peace Conference in 1899 raised the question of further revisions. The 1906 Diplomatic Con­ ference of the Red Cross established a revised text which recast and considerably developed the 1864 Convention. In 1907, the Hague Convention adapted the principles of the Geneva Convention to maritime warfare. After World War I, the Diplomatic Conference of 1929 recast the provisions of the Geneva Convention in the light of the war experiences, and adopted a Convention on the * Director, International Committee of the Red Cross. Treatment of Prisoners of War. The experience of World War II necessitated a new revision which was accomplished in 1949, and resulted in the present Geneva Conventions of 1949. The Hague Convention of 1907 contained provisions calling for respect for individual life and precluding punishment for the acts of others. The Geneva Conventions of 1949 contain detailed provisions requiring that persons in captivity shall be treated humanely and not be subjected to treatment likely to cause injury or death. The taking of hostages or reprisals is prohibited. The First Convention concerns the care of the wounded and the sick, the defenceless combatants; the Second Convention extends the provisions of the First Convention to Maritime Warfare; the Third Convention concerns Prisoners of War and submits all aspects of captivity to humanitarian regulation under international law. The Fourth Convention supplements Sections II and III of the Fourth Hague Convention of 1907 concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land in respect to the civilian population. These conventions have been ratified (as of June, 1966) by 109 countries. Since 1949 the Red Cross has devoted growing attention to the protection of the civilian population in war as well as in civil war and internal strife, as provided for by article 3 of each of the 1949 Conventions. This is reflected in the activities of the XXth Inter­ national Conference of the Red Cross, held in October 1965, which are analyzed below by an eminent specialist, the Director of the International Committee of the Red Cross. By publishing this im­ portant article, the International Commission of Jurists wishes to contribute to a better understanding of the problems involved - problems which are of immediate concern not only to every jurist but to the whole of mankind. In its Bulletin no. 21 (December 1964), the International Commission of Jurists drew attention to the alarming fact that in many armed conflicts which have been taking place recently in different parts of the world, fundamental rights of persons detained or captured by opposing forces are not being recognized. Instances of killing and other inhuman treatment of prisoners or civilians - including the taking and killing of hostages - are only too frequent. The Commission believes that the principle of humanitarianism enunciated by the Red Cross should bind all nations and groups of belligerents and should apply to all persons coming under their control. With this end in view, it was suggested that, whenever an internal conflict or disturbance arises in any part of the world, the Secretary General of the United Nations or some other United Nations authority should specifically and unequivocally bring to the notice of the belligerents the provisions of the “law of nations” as elaborated by the Geneva Conventions as well as the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In cases where the belligerents are receiving active support from outside states, these states should also be requested to use their best endeavours to en­ sure the proper application of these minimal humanitarian rules. They should be reminded that by Article 1 of the Geneva Conven­ tions they are bound not only to respect the Conventions them­ selves, but to ensure their respect in all circumstances.