CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

ADAM GIERTL CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ disruption of the functioning of the society, posing a significant, widespread threat to human life, health, property or the environment etc . The cited definition shows that the emphasis was put on the element of disruption of the functioning of the society rather than the event itself. The reasoning of the ILC for the choice of its approach was based on the need for achieving necessary legal precision. 13 The cited definition of disaster clearly shows that not every disastrous event would qualify as disasters in the context of protection of victims of disaster as a matter of international law. The Draft Articles themselves cannot be considered as the source of international law (yet), however it adopts an approach of other instruments designed to govern the conduct of actors during disaster relief operations (including protection of victims of disaster) and sets the threshold, the crossing of which, shall initiate the applicability of international legal regime in scope of ratione materiae . The setting of such a threshold is important to distinguish a natural event (e.g. volcanic eruption, earthquake, cyclone) that occurs naturally and does not necessarily cause any loss, from an event (including a natural one) that is in a relation of causality with the negative consequences pointed out above (predominantly serious disruption of the functioning of society and widespread loss of lives). It is also crucial to set criteria of applicability based on the scope and seriousness of the mentioned consequences. Simply said, not every event generally described as disaster would qualify as a disaster in the context of international law (this approach is similar to provisions of conventions on international humanitarian law 14 ). The primary criterion for the event to be classified as calamitous is for it to be the cause of at least one of the above mentioned consequences. The language of the Draft Articles clearly indicates that the magnitude and gravity of the event has to be assessed in the first place to trigger the applicability of international legal regulation. 15 The idea that international aid is necessary in the event of a major disaster is not a novel one. In fact, the common sense that the assistance to the nation in a grave crisis is part of the moral obligation of the state towards those in need has been present in the international consciousness for some time. 16 The first attempt to create an international institution for 13 See: Draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters, with commentaries, adopted by the International Law Commission at its sixty-eighth session, in 2016, and submitted to the General Assembly as a part of the Commission’s report covering the work of that session (A/71/10), Article 3, par. 3. 14 For example, Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 defines the scope of application of humanitarian law ratione materiae on the basis of the magnitude and nature of violence. Compare: Article 1 par. 2 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 8 June 1977. 15 Compare: “The event is further qualified by two causation requirements. First, for the event, or series of events, to be considered “calamitous” in the sense required by the draft articles, it has to result in one or more of four possible outcomes: widespread loss of life, great human suffering and distress, mass displacement or large-scale material or environmental damage. Accordingly, a major event such as a serious earthquake, which takes place in the middle of the ocean or in an uninhabited area and which does not result in at least one of the four envisaged outcomes, would not satisfy the threshold requirement.” See: Draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters, with commentaries, op. cit .: Article 3, par. 5. 16 In the 18th century Emer de Vattel stated in his The Law of Nations or the Principles of Natural Law applied to the Conduct and to the Affairs of Nations and of Sovereigns “…when the occasion arises, every Nation should give its aid to further the advancement of other Nations and save them from disaster and ruin, so far as it can do so without 2. International Cooperation in Disaster response: The instruments of regulation

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