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2.6 HONORHonor demands a certain amount of fairness in offense and defense and a certain mutualrespect between opposing forces. 1052.6.1 Honor – Background and Notes on Terminology. Honor has been vital to thedevelopment of the law of war, which was preceded by warriors’ codes of honor. 106 Honorcontinues to be vital to giving the law of war effect today.Honor is also called chivalry. Chivalry is often associated with a specific historicalcontext—a code of behavior for knights in Europe during the Middle Ages. Honor may be morereadily understood as incorporating warriors’ codes from a variety of cultures and time periods.2.6.2 Certain Amount of Fairness in Offense and Defense. Honor requires a certainamount of fairness in offense and defense. Honor forbids resort to means, expedients, or conductthat would constitute a breach of trust with the enemy. 1072.6.2.1 Acceptance That Belligerent Rights Are Not Unlimited. In requiring acertain amount of fairness in offense and defense, honor reflects the principle that parties to aconflict must accept that certain limits exist on their ability to conduct hostilities. For example,parties to the conflict must accept that the right of belligerents to adopt means of injuring theenemy is not unlimited. 108 Here, honor does not address what those limits are so much asrequires that parties accept that there are legal limits that govern their conduct of hostilities. 109105 See, e.g., LAUTERPACHT, II OPPENHEIM’S INTERNATIONAL LAW 227 (§67) (chivalry “arose in the Middle Agesand introduced a certain amount of fairness in offence and defence, and a certain mutual respect”); 1958 UKMANUAL 3 (“The development of the law of war has been determined by three principles: … and thirdly, theprinciple of chivalry, which demands a certain amount of fairness in offence and defence, and a certain mutualrespect between the opposing forces.”); 1914 RULES OF LAND WARFARE 9 (“The development of the laws andusages of war is determined by three principles. … Third, the principle of chivalry, which demands a certain amountof fairness in offense and defense and a certain mutual respect between opposing forces.”); UNITED KINGDOM WAROFFICE, MANUAL OF MILITARY LAW, Chapter XIV, The Laws and Usages of War on Land, 234 (3) (1914) (“Thedevelopment of the laws and usages of war is determined by three principles. … And there is, thirdly, the principleof chivalry, which demands a certain amount of fairness in offence and defence, and a certain mutual respectbetween the opposing forces.”).106 See, e.g., LESLIE C. GREEN, THE CONTEMPORARY LAW OF ARMED CONFLICT 20-23 (2000) (describing referencesto warrior codes from ancient Israel, China, India, Greece, Rome, and Islam).107 1940 RULES OF LAND WARFARE 4(c) (chivalry “denounces and forbids resort to dishonorable means,expedients, or conduct”); 2001 CANADIAN MANUAL 202(7) (“An armed conflict is rarely a polite contest.Nevertheless, the concept of chivalry is reflected in specific prohibitions such as those against dishonourable ortreacherous conduct and against misuse of enemy flags or flags of truce.”).108 See, e.g., 1899 HAGUE II REG. art. 22 (“The right of belligerents to adopt means of injuring the enemy is notunlimited.”); HAGUE IV REG. art. 22 (same); CCW preamble (noting “the principle of international law that the rightof the parties to an armed conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited”). Consider AP I art.35(1) (“In any armed conflict, the right of the Parties to the conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is notunlimited.”).109 Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, 1996 I.C.J. 583, 585 (11) (DissentingOpinion of Judge Higgins) (“The legal principle by which parties to an armed conflict do not have an unlimitedchoice of weapons or of methods of warfare… [is intended] to ensure that weapons, both in the context of their use,and in the methods of warfare, must comply with the other substantive rules.”).66