law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law

The position is not so simple with regard to non-international arm ed conflicts. These are conflicts opposing a state and an organised armed group or two or more such groups. Again, ' non-international ' is not used as a geographic term. Although these tend to be internal conflicts, they can easily have a cross-border dimension. Īny use of force by states is thus regulated by international humanitarian law – even if they do not label it as war.

The ICTY Appeals Chamber in the Tadic decision seems to have taken a similarly expansive approach, holding that an international armed conflict exists and, consequently that international humanitarian law applies, ' whenever there is resort to armed force between states '. It is clear from provisions common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Commentary thereto as well as recent decisions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ( ' ICTY ' ) such a conflict exists whenever there is any difference arising between two States … leading to the intervention of armed forces … even if one of the Parties denies the existence of a state of war. It makes no difference how long the conflict lasts, or how much slaughter takes place. These are conflicts opposing two or more states. The word “international” is used to describe the parties fighting each other (ie inter-states) and not in a geographic sense. If we look to international humanitarian law treaties for guidance, while we do not find a definition, we do have provisions indicating when relevant conventions are applicable. International humanitarian law recognises two types of conflict: international armed conflicts a nd non-international armed conflicts. Different criteria determine the existence of these types of conflict, which are regulated by different rules. While in 1974 General Assembly adopted a definition of aggression, nowhere - neither in international humanitarian law instruments nor in any other body of international law – do we find a definition of armed conflict. B. When does international humanitarian law apply?Īs I stated earlier, international humanitarian law applies in times of armed conflict. This begs the deceptively simple question of “what constitutes an armed conflict”?

Law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law