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ANA POLAK PETRIČ CYIL 5 ȍ2014Ȏ
Programme) was launched in the framework of the IFRC. The project mandate,
which was most recently renamed to ‘Disaster Law Programme’, is primarily to
advocate for the development, improvement and faithful application of international
disaster response law, through the identification, compilation and publication of
the existing international laws and regulations and the evaluation of their actual
effectiveness in humanitarian operations. Within the framework of this programme,
the IFRC has undertaken extensive research, collection and analysis of the existing
legal documents and other instruments in disaster response; today, it possess
a database of more than 600 full-text international and national documents related
to disaster relief.20 The intensive project work resulted in 2007 in the adoption of the
Guidelines for the Domestic Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster
Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance (IDRL Guidelines)21 and subsequently in 2011
of the Model Act for the Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief
and Initial Recovery Assistance.22
Additionally, within the framework of the UN, recently significant efforts have
been invested to present a comprehensive collection of rules dedicated to the field
of disaster response. This task was entrusted to the main UN organ dealing with
international law, notably the International Law Commission (ILC), which is tasked
with the promotion of progressive development and codification of international
law. Due to the urgency of the matter and major legal dilemmas arising from it,
in 2007, the topic ‘Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters’ was introduced to
the ILC programme of w
international community expressed in the UN General Assembly’s Sixth Committee,
the ILC has proceeded ambitiously with the preparation of a comprehensive set of
draft articles on this topic. Once completed and if agreed by States, these could be
presented in the form of an international legal instrument, i.e. a draft convention.
For the time being this remains unclear. The purpose and the goal of this exercise are
20 Database is available at:
21 Available at:
%20-%20en.pdf. The IDRL Guidelines are based on the existing international laws, treaties and
documents and aim to help States strengthen their own national legal, administrative and institutional
frameworks for international disaster assistance, especially as regards reducing visa, customs, taxation
and other legal barriers to the entry of goods and personnel, ensuring adequate oversight and monitoring
of international assistance according to international standards, and establishing procedures and plans
in advance to be used for foreign assistance when disasters strike. They are designed as a practical tool
aimed at helping States in concrete operational matters of disaster response.
22 Available at: The aim of this new tool is
to assist States in incorporating the recommendations of the IDRL Guidelines into their national law.
The Model Act includes specific proposals of statutory language that is intended to serve as a reference
and example to lawmakers as they develop legislation on disaster relief, tailored to their national
circumstances. It can serve as the basis of a stand-alone act or as the basis for amendments and additions
to the existing laws addressing various regulatory questions at issue in international relief operations.