The Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949

This volume contains the official texts of the two Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, as adopted on 8 June 1977 by the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed Conflicts (Geneva, 1974-77). It also includes extracts from the Final Act of the Conference and the texts of the substantive resolutions adopted at the fourth session in 1977. The Final Act, to which the two Protocols were annexed, was deposited with the Swiss Federal Council, the depositary of the 1949 Conventions. Protocols I and II came into force on 7 December 1978. This volume also contains the official text of the Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (Protocol III), adopted on 8 December 2005. Protocol III came into force on 14 January 2007. By 1st April 2010, 169 States had agreed to be bound by Protocol I, 165 by Protocol II and 52 by Protocol III.