THE CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL LAW. A RELATION BETWEEN HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

Abstract

During an armed conflict, a change in the application of the human right regulations and international humanitarian law can be observed in the practice of contemporary international law. It is possible to observe at UN and International Courts’ levels an interesting trend in the sense of considering the application of both systems simultaneously in cases of international crisis as well as in internal conflicts. This innovation in contemporary international law can be observed initially in the change experimented by the legislation of the Human Rights’ European Court and specially and clearer in the Human Rights’ Inter American Court, which in cases against Honduras, Colombia, Paraguay and other countries, states that the State, being warrantor of the efficient protection of civil population, must apply and honor not only the Human Rights’ American Convention, but also the articles 13th and 14th of the II protocol of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. The convergence of both branches of the Law, and its application may help to achieve a better defense and efficiency of the fundamental rights of the human being.