This commentary provides critical insight into the negotiating history that led to the adoption of the international elements of war crimes. It also presents existing jurisprudence relevant to the interpretation of the war crimes in the ICC Statute. It serves as a tool in the implementation of international humanitarian law in cases dealing with war crimes and offers practitioners (judges, prosecutors and lawyers) and academics critical information on the substance of the crimes.

The San Remo Manual is a contemporary restatement - together with some progressive development - of the law applicable to armed conflicts at sea, and has been drafted by an international group of specialists in international law and naval experts convened by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law. The last such restatement was undertaken by the Institute of International Law in 1913, and for the most part treaty law has not incorporated developments in the law since 1907. The accompanying Explanation is written in the form of a commentary and indicates the sources used by the experts for each of the provisions of the Manual and the discussion that led to their adoption. The work is based on treaty law of continuing validity and State practice and takes into account developments in related areas of international law, in particular, the effect of the UN Charter, the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, air law and environmental law. The Manual and Explanation represent a unique effort of experts from different parts of the world to establish the present state of the law. This document will be of major contemporary, future and historical importance, and will help shape generally accepted international law regulating armed conflicts at sea. There is no other book like it.

In 1995, the International Committee of the Red Cross, along with a range of renowned experts, embarked upon a major international study into current state practice in humanitarian law in order to identify customary law in this area. This book (and its companion, Volume 2: Practice) is the result of that study. Volume 1 is a comprehensive analysis of the customary rules of international humanitarian law applicable in international and non-international armed conflicts.