Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of August 12,1949

This volume contains the official texts of the two Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, as adopted on 8 June 1977 by the Diplomatic conference on the reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed Conflicts (Geneva,1974-77). It also includes extracts from the Final Act of the Conference and the texts of the substantive resolutions adopted at the fourth session in 1977. The Final Act, to which the two Protocols were annexed, was deposited with the Swiss Federal Council, the depositary of the 1949 Conventions. By 1 January 1996, 143 States had agreed to be bound by Protocol I and 134 by Protocol II. The protocols came into force on 7 December 1978.