Recommendation 6

HM Government · verbatim extract Not Addressed

20. We agree that the UK’s Armed Forces have invaluable experience of applying IHL in extremely challenging environments, that military-to-military (mil-mil) training on IHL is an effective approach to promoting compliance and that the UK military has an important role to play. 21. The United Kingdom provides specialist training on the rule of law to foreign governments and armed forces, with a focus on 3 themes: IHL, the military justice system (which is crucial to maintaining discipline and integrity), and international agreements. With the support of the British Red Cross (BRC), the United Kingdom enhances knowledge and strengthens the application of IHL, and reinforces dialogue on IHL issues. This includes promotion of the establishment of weapons reviews, encouraging discussion and effective implementation of IHL within the Commonwealth, including hosting a Commonwealth Conference on IHL compliance, and attending and contributing to the International Conferences of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. 22. Most International Defence Training courses, delivered in the UK and overseas, contain modules on IHL. The short course on ‘Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context’, which we provide to a large number of countries, has a number of IHL-related elements. The Ministry of Defence’s (MoDs) UK-based training including Initial Officer Training, courses at the Defence Academy and the programme for senior officers at the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) contain IHL modules and are attended by international officers as a part of our engagement and cooperation programmes. The FCDO has also delivered sessions on humanitarian access and protection for UK and international senior military officers, diplomats, civil servants and industry officials participating on the RCDS Global Strategy Programme. 23. Permanent and short-term military training teams run by MoD, which are a fundamental Defence Engagement offering across the globe, include IHL training as well as subject matter specific training with a view to enhancing IHL compliance. The United Kingdom also provides technical training and policy support on the integration of Human Security into Defence. This entails training on the concepts and their application and integration into military operational planning. Furthermore, the United Kingdom sponsors participants from partner countries to attend the Human Security in Military Operational Planning course at MoD Shrivenham to broaden awareness and uptake of these concepts. 24. In addition, the UK MoD’s Joint Service Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict which sets out the UK’s interpretation of IHL remains available on the government’s website together with amendments. A MoD programme to update this publication is underway. It will draw upon Service, Government, and external academic legal experts to ensure that the new manual will be comprehensive and authoritative. 25. The FCDO and MoD, supported by the British Red Cross, worked together to develop and publish the Conflict, Hunger and International Humanitarian Law: A Practitioner’s Legal Handbook, launched on 6 May 2025, which sets out rules relevant to addressing conflict-induced hunger, including rules on humanitarian access. This provides clear information on the law and how to follow it, with suggestions for good practice. In October 2024, we also published the second edition of the UK’s Voluntary Report on the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law at Domestic Level (following the first edition published in 2019). The report sets out an updated picture of the UK’s domestic implementation of IHL and includes new topics such as the protection of civilians in armed conflict, mutual legal assistance, human security in military operations, media professionals in armed conflict, public curiosity, cyber warfare, outer space and autonomous weapons systems, in a single document for non-legal experts and the public. 26. Meanwhile, the UK Government continues to collaborate with the British Red Cross to provide practical assistance to selected States, which wish to produce their own voluntary reports on IHL implementation at the domestic level. The UK has published an updated toolkit (featuring a Guidance document and Templates – available on the Government’s website) to enable other States to research and draft their reports more easily. 27. The UK is also an active member of the ICRC’s Global Initiative on IHL aimed at galvanising political commitment to IHL. This Initiative aims to raise the profile and understanding of IHL globally, and in turn improve compliance and provide support for accountability efforts. The UK is co-chairing one of the seven workstreams of the Global Initiative, bearing testament to the work of the UK’s National Committee on IHL, established over 25 years ago.