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The International Review of the Red Cross, an academic journal produced by the International Committee of the Red Cross (icrc) and published by Cambridge University Press, traces its origins back more than 150 years. Throughout its existence, the publication has featured international humanitarian law (ihl) prominently. Because of this, it is possible to trace how the icrc was communicating publicly about ihl since 1869, allowing researchers to draw conclusions about how that body of law has evolved. In this article, the authors divide the history of the Review into five time periods, looking at trends over time as ihl was established as a body of law, was expanded to address trends in the ways war was waged, was disseminated and promoted to the international community, and how it is interpreted in light of current conflicts. Based on the way the law has been represented in the Review, the authors draw conclusions about the evolution of the law itself over time, and lessons this may provide for those who seek to influence the future development of the law regulating armed conflict.

I just want to go back to a normal life, resume my training and become a builder one day, like my father. Testimony by I. N., former child soldier 1 Eglantyne Jebb, drafter of the Declaration on the Rights of the Child and founder of Save the Children, said: "All wars, just or unjust … are waged against children." 2 During armed conflict and other situations of violence, children are especially vulnerable to a myriad of risks that deprive them of the opportunity to fully experience childhood. 3 They are often deprived of food, clean water, health care, and access to education; this is particularly troubling given the number of children who die of preventable illnesses, malnutrition, lack of safe shelter, or violence. Moreover, despite the protection afforded by international law, children are all too often drawn into hostilitiesdirectly as fighters, or indirectly, separated from their families, detained, recruited, forcibly driven from their homes, killed, injured, sexually abused or exploited in other ways. 4 In circumstances where survival becomes a daily struggle, children often lose any opportunity to study. Fortunately, children rarely give up their sense of hope, and their resilience should not be underestimated. Children have been affected by war throughout history, and this is still true in today's conflicts, where we continue to see terribly high levels of suffering. Gender, age, ethnic and cultural background, disability, beliefs and other factors can exacerbate specific vulnerabilities in a given context. 5 In light of this, more research is needed on the consequences that armed conflict has for children, as well as on the most suitable responses to their various needs and the challenges they face during and after armed conflict. For this reason, and as we have just marked the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Review has chosen to dedicate this issue to children and war.

This chapter aims to share the ICRC’s experience and insights in applying the treaty interpretation methodology set out in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties to the interpretation of the Geneva Conventions. It draws on the work accomplished in updating the first three Commentaries on the Geneva Conventions, focusing on the Third Geneva Convention. It explains how the rules for treaty interpretation have been applied in this process. It looks in particular at the requirement that an interpretation be carried out in good faith, the concepts of the “ordinary meaning of terms” and the “object and purpose” of a Convention. It further examines the impact of subsequent developments in practice and law on the interpretation of the Conventions and surveys the supplementary means of interpretation set out in the Vienna Convention. Finally, it examines how the Commentaries have drawn a distinction between the law as it stands today (lex lata) and the law as it should be (de lege ferenda).

Legal commentaries are a type of secondary source that provides clarity about the meaning of treaty provisions so they can be appropriately interpreted and applied by practitioners. Since 1870, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has produced such commentaries on each successive international humanitarian law (IHL) treaty or update to an existing treaty. Over time, who drafts these commentaries and the methodology behind them has evolved, from early commentaries written by a single jurist who had participated in the drafting of the treaty to multi-authored works based on extensive research and the methodology found in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The ICRC Commentaries have always been geared towards those tasked with applying IHL, but this audience has expanded over time, giving them a more global reach, and their reception has evolved accordingly. The most recent iteration of the ICRC Commentaries on the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols is currently being produced, with some changes in methodology to guarantee that they remain a practical tool for the interpretation and application of those instruments.