Protocol V CCW

Protocol V is an additional protocol to the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), formally titled the Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War. It was adopted in Geneva on 28 November 2003 and entered into force on 12 November 2006, becoming the first multilateral instrument to require parties to clear, remove, or destroy explosive remnants of war (ERW) after the cessation of active hostilities.

The protocol addresses two categories of hazard:

• Unexploded ordnance (UXO) — munitions that were fired, dropped, or launched but failed to detonate.
• Abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO) — munitions left behind by an armed force, often in depots or retreat.

Landmines are excluded because they are governed separately by Amended Protocol II of the CCW and by the 1997 Ottawa Convention.

Key obligations include: clearing ERW in territory under a party's control after a conflict ends (Article 3); providing technical, material, and financial assistance to affected states that do not control the territory where their munitions landed (Article 3(1) and Article 8); recording and sharing information on explosive ordnance used, to facilitate clearance (Article 4 and the Technical Annex); taking feasible precautions to protect civilians and humanitarian missions (Article 5); and warning civilian populations about ERW risks (Article 5).

Protocol V applies to situations described in common Article 2 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and its scope was later extended by states parties to non-international armed conflicts via amendment to CCW Article 1 (adopted 2001, in force 2004 for the framework convention).

Implementation is monitored through annual Meetings of States Parties under the CCW framework in Geneva, supported by the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs. National reporting is required under Article 10. The protocol complements, but is narrower than, the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which addresses a specific category of ERW-prone weapon.