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ALLA TYMOFEYEVA
CYIL 6 ȍ2015Ȏ
1. Introduction
In ancient Greece and Rome, when war was commonplace, people had already
considered the necessity of peaceful coexistence.
1
One of the first symbols of peace,
an olive branch, derives from that time. At present, we meet it more often in the
display of the flying dove of peace, which holds in its beak an olive branch. The eagle
on the national emblem of the United States of America also holds this branch in its
right claw.
2
The father of international law, Hugo Grotius, is the author of the manuscript on
the Law of War and Peace.
3
The book should be probably renamed the Laws of Peace,
as this was the main aim of his study. The other important event on the international
level was the Peace of Westphalia of 1648.
4
The series of treaties concluded in this year
established the first historical precedent of peace by means of diplomatic
congress.
In modern history, the first important peace treaty appeared thanks to the Emperor
of Russia, Nicholas II. In 1899 he convened the First Peace Conference
5
in the
Hague.
6
As a result of this conference, the Convention (I) for the Pacific Settlement
of International Disputes (Hague I) was adopted on 29 July 1899. Article 1 of this
convention sets forth: “With a view to obviating, as far as possible, recourse to force
in the relations between States, the Signatory Powers agree to use their best efforts to
insure the pacific settlement of international differences.”
7
In 1907 the second Hague
peace conference took place. The treaty in question was amended there and a number
of other documents connected to peace and war were revised and adopted.
8
None of
them, however, forbade a war as a way of settling disputes. The rule did not exist in
respect of states, nor state officials.
The first step on the way of international individual criminal liability was made
with the approval of the Versailles Treaty on 28 June 1919.
9
In accordance with
Article 227 of this treaty a special tribunal had to be constituted to try William II
1
FINE, John V. A.
The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History
. Oxford University Press, 1985, p. 639. ISBN
9780674033146.
2
RAY, Mark.
The Eagle court of honor book: the complete guide to scouting’s greatest moment
. Louisville, KY,
2nd ed., 2004, p. 59.
3
GROTIUS, Hugo.
Hugo Grotius on the Law of War and Peace
: Student Edition. Cambridge University
Press, 2012.
4
WILSON, Peter H.
The Thirty Years War: Europe’s Tragedy
. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
2009.
5
Final Act of the International Peace Conference. The Hague, 29 July 1899.
6
The conference opened on 18 May 1899, the Tsar‘s birthday.
7
Hague Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes of 29 July 1899.
8
See, for example, the Convention with respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land, Hague,
18 October 1907.
9
ŠTURMA, Pavel. Význam přijetí Statutu Mezinárodního trestního soudu.
Právní rozhledy,
1/1999, s. 8.