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Chapter 3

Thai Version

PROTECTION
OF CIVILIAN POPULATIONS
AGAINST BOMBING FROM THE AIR
IN CASE OF WAR ¹

            The Assembly,

            Considering that on numerous occasions public opinion has expressed through the most authoritative channels its horror of the bombing of civilian populations;

            Considering that this practice, for which there is no military necessity and which, as experience shows, only causes needless suffering, is condemned under the recognized principles of international law;

            Considering, further, that, though this principle ought to be respected by all States and does not require further reaffirmation, it urgently needs to be made the subject of regulations specially adapted to air warfare and taking account of the lessons of experience;

            Considering that the solution of this problem, which is of concern to all States, whether Members of the League of Nations or not, calls for technical investigation and thorough consideration;

            Considering that the Bureau of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armament is to meet in the near future and that it is for the Bureau to consider practical means of undertaking the necessary work under conditions most likely to lead to as general an agreement as possible:

                I. Recognizes the following principles as a necessary basis for any subsequent regulations:

                            (1) The intentional bombing of civilian populations is illegal;

                            (2) Objectives aimed at from the air must be legitimate  military  objectives  and  must  be identifiable;

                            (3) Any attack on legitimate military objectives must be carried out in such a way that civilian populations in the neighbourhood are not bombed through negligence;

                    II. Also takes the opportunity to reaffirm that the use of chemical or bacterial methods in the conduct of war is contrary to international law, as recalled more particularly in the resolution of the General Commission of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments of 23 July 1932, and the resolution of the Council of 14 May 1938.

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¹    League of Nations Official Journal, Special Supplement No. 182, October 1938. Since the first World War, international community had failed to codify rules of air warfare. On 21 June 1938, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, stated in the House of Commons that three principles of international law were applicable to air warfare. During its 19th Ordinary Session on 12-30 September 1938, the League of Nations Assembly adopted the three principles as a resolution of the Assembly. Although the Resolution has no legal significance any more, the principles are recognized as customary international law. Back