3 Principles of the Laws of Armed Conflicts

1. Distinction: the parties must distinguish between civilians/combatants and civilian objects/military objectives at all times — only military objectives attackable (AP I's definitions: the effective-contribution/definite-military-advantage test for objects; the civilians' immunity; the direct-participation "revolving door" for individuals — the civilian's temporary loss of protection while directly participating); 2. Proportionality: the prohibition of attacks expected to cause incidental civilian harm excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated (AP I's formula) — the commander's ex ante assessment, the feasible precautions' duty (warnings, means-and-methods choice), the "excessive" judgment's tragic arithmetic (not a balance of civilian-vs-military lives as such but of harm-vs-advantage); 3. Military necessity: the measures not forbidden by IHL and necessary for achieving the legitimate military purpose — the subordination of devastation to purpose (no wanton destruction; the Hague's "not justified by military necessity" formulas) — necessity as limiting, not licensing: the commander's necessity can never justify the prohibited (the prohibition's priority over necessity the modern IHL's settled hierarchy); 4. Unnecessary suffering (the Martens-era principle): the prohibition of weapons/methods of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering (the Hague's inheritance; the expanding-bullet's and poison's classic bans; the blinding-laser and the CCW's modern applications) — the suffering's necessity-benchmark: no more harm than the military purpose requires even to lawful combatants; 5. The supporting rules: the humanity principle…