| achr | American Convention on Human Rights |
| achpr | African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights |
| ACmHPR | African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights |
| ap i / ap ii | Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions |
| Appl No | Application Number |
| arsiwa | ilc Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts |
| art | article |
| c.s. | cum suis (and associates) |
| ca | Common Article (to the Geneva Conventions) |
| car | Central African Republic |
| cat | Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| cddh | Comité directeur pour les droits de l’homme (Council of Europe Steering Committee for Human Rights) |
| ced | International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance |
| c.f. | confer |
| cia | US Central Intelligence Agency |
| cil | customary international law |
| CoE | Council of Europe |
| Comm. No. | Communication Number |
| CtAT | Committee against Torture |
| CtED | Committee on Enforced Disappearances |
| CtEDAW | Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women |
| CtRC | Committee on the Rights of the Child |
| dec. | decision |
| dna | Deoxyribonucleic acid |
| doc | documents |
| DoD | United States Department of Defence |
| Dr. | doctor |
| echr | European Convention on Human Rights |
| ECmHR | European Commission on Human Rights |
| ecosoc | Economic and Social Council |
| ECtHR | European Court of Human Rights |
| edn | edition |
| eds | editors |
exempli gratia (for example) |
|
| et al. | et alia (and others) |
| etc | et cetera |
| ets | European Treaty Series |
| farc | Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) |
| ff | and following |
| fn | footnote |
| ft | Floris Tan |
| fyrom | Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia |
| gc | 1949 Geneva Convention |
| [gc] | Grand Chamber |
| hrc | Human Rights Committee |
| iac | international armed conflict |
| IACmHR | Inter-American Commission on Human Rights |
| IACtHR | Inter-American Court of Human Rights |
| ibid | ibidem |
| icc | International Criminal Court |
| iccpr | International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights |
| icescr | International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
| icj | International Court of Justice |
| icl | international criminal law |
| icrc | International Committee of the Red Cross |
| ictr | International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda |
| icty | International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia |
| ied | improvised explosive device |
| ihl | international humanitarian law (also, the law of armed conflict) |
| ihrl | international human rights law |
| ila | International Law Association |
| ilc | International Law Commission |
| ilm | International Legal Materials |
| imt | International Military Tribunal |
| ira | Irish Republican Army |
| is | Islamic State |
| isaf | International Security Assistance Force |
| loac | law of armed conflict |
| loiac | law of international armed conflict |
| Mr. | mister |
| mrta | Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru (Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement) |
footnote |
|
| nato | North Atlantic Treaty Organization |
| nb | nota bene |
| ngo | non-governmental organisation |
| niac | non-international armed conflict |
| no | number |
| nsag | non-State armed group |
| oas | Organization of American States |
| oau | Organisation of African Unity |
| osce | Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe |
| p. | page |
| para. | paragraph |
| pcij | Permanent Court of International Justice |
| pil | public international law |
| pkk | Partîya Karkerên Kurdistanê (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) |
| pow | prisoner of war |
| Res | Resolution |
| RoE | rules of engagement |
| sas | UK Special Air Service |
| ser. | series |
| St. | Saint |
| tcidt | torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment |
| trnc | Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus |
| udhr | Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
| UK | United Kingdom |
| ukts | United Kingdom Treaty Series |
| UN | United Nations |
| unama | United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan |
| unga | United Nations General Assembly |
| unsc | United Nations Security Council |
| unts | United Nations Treaty Series |
| US / USA | United States of America |
| usd | US Dollar |
| v | versus |
| vclt | Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties |
| vrs | Army of the Republika Srpska |