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AIGP

RFC-027: IHL-Aligned Governance — Protected Persons and Humanitarian Context — 14. The Martens Clause — Default Governance

AIGP Specification › RFC-027: IHL-Aligned Governance — Protected Persons and Humanitarian Context › 14. The Martens Clause — Default Governance

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14. The Martens Clause — Default Governance

14.1 The Principle

“In cases not covered by this Protocol or by other international agreements, civilians and combatants remain under the protection and authority of the principles of international law derived from established custom, from the principles of humanity, and from the dictates of public conscience.” — AP I Art. 1(2)

14.2 AIGP Implementation (Martens Default)

When an AI invocation in IHL context encounters a novel/ambiguous situation where no specific rule matches:

{
  "decision": "DENY",
  "reason": "MARTENS_CLAUSE: Novel situation in IHL context. Defaults to human authority per principles of humanity and public conscience.",
  "required_action": "HUMAN_REVIEW",
  "escalation": "MANDATORY"
}

The “when in doubt, stop and ask a human” rule — elevated from best practice to legal requirement.

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