Hague Convention 1907

The Hague Convention of 1907 refers to the body of treaties produced by the Second Hague Peace Conference, held from 15 June to 18 October 1907 in The Hague at the initiative of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and Russian Tsar Nicholas II. Forty-four states participated, making it one of the broadest diplomatic gatherings before the League of Nations era. The conference built on the First Hague Conference of 1899 and produced thirteen conventions plus a final act and several declarations.

The most influential instruments include:

• Convention I on the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, which reorganized the Permanent Court of Arbitration originally established in 1899.
• Convention III on the Opening of Hostilities, requiring a formal declaration of war or conditional ultimatum.
• Convention IV on the Laws and Customs of War on Land, whose annexed Regulations remain the canonical codification of land warfare rules, including treatment of prisoners, prohibited weapons, and occupation duties.
• Convention V on the rights and duties of neutral powers in land war, and Convention XIII on neutrality in naval war.
• Conventions VI–XI governing naval warfare, including the laying of automatic submarine contact mines and bombardment by naval forces.

The Martens Clause, carried over from 1899, appears in the preamble of Convention IV and remains a touchstone for customary international humanitarian law, invoking "the principles of humanity and the dictates of public conscience" where treaty law is silent.

The Nuremberg Tribunal in 1946 held that the Hague Regulations of 1907 had passed into customary international law and were binding on all states regardless of ratification. The conventions remain in force and are frequently cited alongside the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional Protocols of 1977. A planned Third Hague Conference for 1915 was cancelled due to the First World War.