Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This book provides a comprehensive account of how international law governs humanitarian assistance across all contexts in which it is delivered: armed conflict, situations of violence not amounting to armed conflict, disasters, mixed situations, and at sea. The book is divided into two main parts. Part II sets out the legal framework. It begins with an examination of the history, legal character, and normative content of the humanitarian principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence. It then explores the international legal rules applicable to humanitarian assistance in armed conflict, including both preventive assistance and emergency relief operations. The latter are addressed in depth, including practical modalities and arrangements; the applicable legal framework; how understanding of this framework has evolved in light of access challenges; and supplementary rules privileging certain types of assistance and relating to particular beneficiaries. Dedicated sections examine the unlawful impeding of relief operations and individual accountability and international responsibility for violations. Part II also considers the legal regulation of humanitarian assistance in peacetime, including in disaster, mixed, and maritime contexts. Part III examines the major categories of international humanitarian actor: the United Nations, including its coordination and funding architecture, norm-generating actors and bodies, and key operational entities; non-state actors, including the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs; and states. For each type of actor, the book explores its historical and contemporary engagement with humanitarian assistance and how international law regulates and facilitates its work, including protections for operations and personnel.</jats:p>