Ensuring compliance with the law of armed conflict has always been a challenge. Additional Protocol I of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 improved the prospects for greater respect for international humanitarian law, providing for the establishment of a Fact-Finding Commission. However, it took states until 1991 to set up this Commission, and it took until 2017 for the Commission to obtain its first mandate.

Tonight, we will discuss how law and diplomacy can work together to ensure better compliance with international humanitarian law.