After two years of tortuous negotiations and despite support for a total ban on anti-personnel mines by nearly half of the 51 States participating in the final session of the Review Conference of the 1980 United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), held in Geneva from 22 April to 3 May 1996, only minimal restrictions on the use of antipersonnel landmines were finally adopted. Nine years after entry into force of amended Protocol II, anti-personnel mines will have to be detectable and those scattered outside of marked minefields, by air, artillery or other means, will have to self-destruct after 30 days. However, long-lived mines will remain available for production, export and use — including indiscriminate use. Regrettably, this modest legal response to a major international humanitarian crisis, though adopted by consensus, is unlikely to significantly reduce the horrendous level of mine casualties.