Source: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/por/docs/v2_cou_au_rule15
Timestamp: 2020-02-28 00:51:10
Document Index: 390281667

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 556', '§ 5', '§ 6', '§ 548', '§ 846', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 2', '§ 548', '§ 5', '§ 2', '§ 3']

Customary IHL - 15. Precauções no ataque
2. Prática\Precauções no ataque
Norma 15 (current)
Australia’s Defence Force Manual (1994) states: “In the conduct of military operations, constant care must be taken to spare the civilian population and civilian objects to the maximum extent possible.”
Australia, Manual on Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 – Interim Edition, 1994, § 556.
Australia’s LOAC Manual (2006) states that “in the conduct of military operations, constant care must be taken to spare the civilian population and civilian objects to the maximum extent possible.”
Australia, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Doctrine Publication 06.4, Australian Defence Headquarters, 11 May 2006, § 5.61; see also §§ 6.26 and 8.50.
In 2009, in a ministerial statement before the House of Representatives on the situation in Sri Lanka, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs stated: “Australia calls on all those involved in the fighting to make protecting civilians an absolute priority … All parties must ensure that civilians can leave the conflict zone safely.”
Australia, House of Representatives, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ministerial statement: Situation in Sri Lanka, Hansard, 5 February 2009, p. 623.
Australia, Statement by the permanent representative of Switzerland during a UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict made on behalf of the Group of Friends on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, namely Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Uruguay, 12 February 2014, p. 2.
Belgium, Statement by the permanent representative of Switzerland during a UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict made on behalf of the Group of Friends on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, namely Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Uruguay, 12 February 2014, p. 2.
All reasonable precautions must be taken to avoid injury, loss or damage to civilians and civilian objects and locations. It is therefore important to obtain accurate intelligence before mounting an attack. While LOAC recognises that civilian casualties are unavoidable at times, a failure to take all reasonable precautions to minimise such damage may lead to a breach of those laws. The same principles apply to the risk of damage or injury to any other protected persons, places and objects.
Australia, Manual on Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 – Interim Edition, 1994, § 548; see also § 846.
5.39 Commanders must take all practicable precautions, taking into account military and humanitarian considerations, to keep civilian casualties and damage to a minimum consistent with mission accomplishment …
5.53 … All reasonable precautions must be taken to avoid injury, loss or damage to civilians and civilian objects and locations. It is therefore important to obtain accurate intelligence before mounting an attack. While the LOAC recognises that civilian casualties are unavoidable at times, a failure to take all reasonable precautions to minimise such damage may lead to a breach of those laws. The same principles apply to the risk of damage or injury to any other protected persons, places and objects.
Australia, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Doctrine Publication 06.4, Australian Defence Headquarters, 11 May 2006, §§ 5.39 and 5.53.
Australia’s Defence Force Manual (1994) defines feasible precautions as “precautions which are practicable or practically possible taking into account all circumstances ruling at the time, including humanitarian and military considerations”.
Australia, Manual on Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 – Interim Edition, 1994, p. xxiv.
Australia’s LOAC Manual (2006) states that “all feasible precautions must be taken to gather relevant intelligence and ensure attacks are directed against military objectives”.
Australia, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Doctrine Publication 06.4, Australian Defence Headquarters, 11 May 2006, § 5.1; see also § 2.9.
The manual further states that the duties of Australian Defence Force commanders include “taking all feasible precautions, in the choice of means and methods of attack, to minimise collateral damage”.
The manual’s Glossary defines “feasible precautions” as: “Precautions which are practicable or practically possible taking into account all circumstances ruling at the time including humanitarian and military considerations.”
Australia, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Doctrine Publication 06.4, Australian Defence Headquarters, 11 May 2006, Glossary.
All reasonable precautions must be taken to avoid injury, loss or damage to civilians and civilian objects and locations. It is therefore important to obtain accurate intelligence before mounting an attack … Accordingly, the best possible intelligence is required concerning:
a.concentrations of civilians;
b.civilians who may be in the vicinity of military objectives;
c.the nature of built-up areas such as towns, communities, shelters, etc.;
d.the existence and nature of important civilian objects and specifically protected objects; and
e.the environment.
Australia, Manual on Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 – Interim Edition, 1994, §§ 548 and 549.
The manual also refers to the declarations made by Australia upon ratification of the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the effect that “military commanders and others responsible for planning, deciding upon, or executing attacks, necessarily have to reach their decisions on the basis of their assessment of the information from all sources, which is available to them at the relevant time”.
Australia, Manual on Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 – Interim Edition, 1994, Chapter 5, Annex A.
5.53 … All reasonable precautions must be taken to avoid injury, loss or damage to civilians and civilian objects and locations. It is therefore important to obtain accurate intelligence before mounting an attack …
5.54 Accordingly, the best possible intelligence is required concerning:
• concentrations of civilians;
• civilians who may be in the vicinity of military objectives;
• the nature of built-up areas such as towns, communities, shelters, etc;
• the existence and nature of important civilian objects and specifically protected objects; and
Australia, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Doctrine Publication 06.4, Australian Defence Headquarters, 11 May 2006, §§ 5.53–5.54; see also § 2.9.
The manual also refers to the declarations made by Australia upon ratification of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, to the effect that “military commanders and others responsible for planning, deciding upon, or executing attacks, necessarily have to reach their decisions on the basis of their assessment of the information from all sources, which is available to them at the relevant time”.
Australia, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Doctrine Publication 06.4, Australian Defence Headquarters, 11 May 2006, Chapter 5, Annex A.
Upon ratification of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, Australia stated:
In relation to Articles 51 to 58 inclusive it is the understanding of Australia that military commanders and others responsible for planning, deciding upon, or executing attacks, necessarily have to reach their decisions on the basis of their assessment of the information from all sources, which is available to them at the relevant time.
Australia, Declarations made upon ratification of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, 21 June 1991, § 3.