The Humanitarian Principles: Relativity Revisited

Abstract The principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence are widely viewed as integral to humanitarian assistance. Yet, despite shaping the work of many humanitarians, the international legal status of these principles is unclear. This article revisits recent scholarship that presents the bindingness of these humanitarian principles as “relative.” Through a close reading of the British Columbia Court of Appeal case of R v Rajaratnam , a decision that, to date, has received only limited scholarly attention, this article points to the role of national court decisions in the development of these humanitarian principles in international law. It explores how such decisions can help elaborate the legal meaning of the humanitarian principles and be integral to the crystallization of the humanitarian principles in customary international law. Far from merely theoretical, and with diverse humanitarian crises ongoing worldwide, this article’s inquiry into the Rajaratnam decision underlines the wide-ranging implications of national decisions on humanitarian practice in public international law.