Just Security, in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and EJIL:Talk!, presents this joint symposium on the ICRC’s recently updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention (GC IV) of 1949 on protection of civilians during war. Expert authors examine selected topics addressed in the updated Commentary and key interpretive issues that have arisen over decades of practice under GC IV, ranging from the treatment of civilian populations living under occupation, to humanitarian relief and access, to how emerging technologies impact the application of GC IV’s provisions.
We encourage you to visit this page regularly, as the Symposium will be updated with new installments as they are published.
Jean-Marie Henckaerts, Protecting civilians in good faith: a joint symposium on the updated ICRC Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention (Feb. 17, 2026)
Katharine Fortin, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”: the ICRC’s approach to Common Article 3 in its updated Commentary (Feb. 19, 2026)
Boyd van Dijk, Reading the Updated Commentary on GCIV in an Imperial Moment (Feb. 20, 2026)
Eliav Lieblich, Closing Loopholes Across Time: the ICRC’s New Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention (Feb. 23, 2026)
Srinivas Burra, The adoption of the 1949 Geneva Conventions: a humanitarian break and colonial continuity (Feb. 26, 2026)
Abhimanyu George Jain and Ellen Policinski, Subsequent practice in the ICRC’s updated Commentary on GC IV (Feb. 27, 2026)
Tom Dannenbaum, “Significantly Diminished”: Commenting Anew on Article 23 of Geneva Convention IV in a Transformed Legal Context (March 2, 2026)
Jelena Pejic, GC IV: Internment in Non-Occupied Territory (March 6, 2026)
Michael Schmitt, Technology and the ICRC’s GC IV 2025 Commentary (March 9, 2026)
Mona Rishmawi, Key Common Provisions and Protection of Civilians in the 2025 Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention (March 16, 2026)
Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Gender (re)balancing: the updated ICRC Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention (April 30, 2026)
