Editing Collateral damage (section)

==International humanitarian law==
[[Military necessity]], along with [[distinction (law)|distinction]] and [[proportionality (international humanitarian law)|proportionality]], are three important principles of [[international humanitarian law]], governing the [[laws of war|legal use of force]] in an [[armed conflict]]. Offensives causing collateral damage are not automatically classed as a war crimes. They are war crimes when the objective is excessively or solely collateral damage.

[[Luis Moreno-Ocampo]], [[Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court|Chief Prosecutor]] at the [[International Criminal Court]], investigated allegations of [[war crime]]s during the [[the International Criminal Court and the 2003 invasion of Iraq|2003 invasion of Iraq]] and published an open letter containing his findings. A section titled "Allegations concerning War Crimes" elucidates this usage of ''military necessity'', ''distinction'', and ''proportionality'':

{{blockquote|Under international humanitarian law and the [[Rome Statute]], the death of civilians during an armed conflict, no matter how grave and regrettable, does not in itself constitute a war crime. International humanitarian law and the Rome Statute permit belligerents to carry out proportionate attacks against military objectives,<ref>Article 52 of ''Additional [[Protocol I]] to the [[Geneva Conventions]] provides a widely accepted definition of military objective: "In so far as objects are concerned, military objectives are limited to those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage" (Source: [[Luis Moreno-Ocampo]] [[#References|References]] page 5, footnote 11).</ref> even when it is known that some civilian deaths or injuries will occur. A crime occurs if there is an intentional attack directed against civilians (principle of distinction) (Article 8(2)(b)(i)) or an attack is launched on a military objective in the knowledge that the incidental civilian injuries would be clearly excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage (principle of proportionality) (Article 8(2)(b)(iv).

Article 8(2)(b)(iv) criminalizes intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term, and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated.

Article 8(2)(b)(iv) draws on the principles in Article 51(5)(b) of the 1977 Additional [[Protocol I]] to the 1949 [[Geneva Conventions]], but restricts the criminal prohibition to cases that are "''clearly''" excessive. The application of Article 8(2)(b)(iv) requires, ''[[inter alia]]'', an assessment of:
* the anticipated civilian damage or injury
* the anticipated military advantage
* whether (a) was "clearly excessive" in relation to (b).<ref>[[Luis Moreno-Ocampo]] [http://www2.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/F596D08D-D810-43A2-99BB-B899B9C5BCD2/277422/OTP_letter_to_senders_re_Iraq_9_February_2006.pdf OTP letter to senders re Iraq] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327061739/http://www2.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/F596D08D-D810-43A2-99BB-B899B9C5BCD2/277422/OTP_letter_to_senders_re_Iraq_9_February_2006.pdf |date=27 March 2009 }} 9 February 2006. "Allegations concerning War Crimes" Pages 4, 5</ref>}}