The use of landmines—both antipersonnel and antitank mines—is
governed, in principle, by Protocol II of the Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980 (Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons That May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects).

The provisions of Protocol II are widely agreed to be vague and unenforceable. "Preplanned" minefields, it stipulates, must be recorded and civilians are to be given warning of remotely delivered mines "unless circumstances do not permit." Some legal specialists argue that mines are unlawful under international customary law, which prohibits the use of weapons that are by their nature indiscriminate. Neither customary law nor the Conventional Weapons Convention have had any perceptible effect in controlling the growth of mine use, which has become widespread in the post–Cold War era, particularly in internal conflicts.

In 1997, after a worldwide campaign, a new agreement covering anti-personnel mines was concluded in Ottawa. The Ottawa Treaty, signed by over 125 countries and ratified, as of September 1998, by 41, is due to enter into force in 1999. It prohibits the production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of antipersonnel mines. It further obliges States party to it to clear mines they have laid and to make provisions for victims of mines. But major mine producers such as the United States, Russia, China, India, and Pakistan have not signed the Ottawa convention; it does not cover antitank mines; and non-State actors—rebels and insurgent groups—cannot be party to it.