Normative and Legal instruments
Print this pageYou will find below an overview of normative and legal instruments relevant to disaster preparedness and response.
The specific pages of this section provide information on and links to:- General normative guidance;
- Normative guidance on specific issues (such as Urban Search and Rescue, Civil Military Relations, Internal Displacment, etc.); and
- International conventions (hard law) (including UN-specific conventions, regional conventions, etc.).
Overview of the normative and legal instruments relevant to disaster preparedness and response
Whereas International Humanitarian Law (IHL) provides the legal framework for humanitarian assistance in a conflict situation, the overarching legal framework for humanitarian response to disasters is international human rights law, including in some circumstances the law of refugees and internally displaced persons. (For further information, see on OHCHR's International Human Rights Law webpage.) International human rights law has become over the last decades a fairly comprehensive body of law. It has recently been translated into "operational guidelines" addressed to humanitarian actors and endorsed by the IASC.
International human rights law, however, does not directly address the operational aspects of disaster relief. This is a body of law, including "soft law", which is now often referred to as "international disaster response law" or "international disaster relief law" (commonly abbreviated as "IDRL").
It is worth mentioning that the term "IDRL" has mainly been shaped by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) who set up a specific "IDRL Programme" (see at www.ifrc.org/idrl) . The programme seeks to promote the implementation and strengthening of the laws, rules and principles that ensure a timely, adequate and efficient international response to disasters, where international involvement is needed (in other words, "legal disaster preparedness"). For more information on the "Guidelines for the Domestic Facilitation and Regulation of International Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance", which were adopted in November 2007 by the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, see also the page Institutional and Legal Frameworks.
The normative framework in which international disaster response efforts take place is far more comprehensive and complex than what is covered by the (small) hard core of legally binding instruments. A lot of norms can be found in documents adopted by NGOs, the UN or other international organisations internally, by groups of organisations, such as the Inter-Agency Standing Committee or NGO consortia (ICVA, Inter-Action), by international conferences, etc. The documents are often adopted in the form of resolutions or decisions and are given names such as guidelines, standards, norms or other. Depending on the inclusiveness and legitimacy of the body that adopted the document, these norms carry different normative weights. A UN General Assembly resolution for example carries more weight and is more authoritative than some standards adopted by a group of humanitarian actors in a country. This is however not to undermine the importance of the latter as it might well be possible that such standards are much more complied with than a UN GA resolution. All such normative documents of a non-legally binding nature are generally referred to as "soft law". The paradox is that "soft law" is often better complied with than "hard law".
For disaster response efforts of the United Nations and its agencies, the most relevant conventions remain the UN Charter, the UN Conventions on the Privileges and Immunities both of the UN and of the Specialised Agencies as well as the Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel. These documents govern the every day life of UN humanitarian operations as they lay down the legal framework within which the UN can exercise its activities. General Assembly resolution 46/182 is also a core normative document for UN humanitarian operations as it spells out the "Guiding Principles" of humanitarian action. It is often referred to as establishing the basic framework within which international disaster relief activities are undertaken. It dedicates a specific part III on "Preparedness". Last but not least, come all the norms elaborated and endorsed by different levels of the organisation or of coordination bodies. Most of these norms, such as IASC Guiding Principles, etc. do not represent "hard law" but are a central element of the normative framework in which we operate as UN operations are measured against these norms.