An Appraisal of The Legal Framework for The Protection of Civilians in Cyber-Warfare Under International Humanitarian Law

Abstract

This research paper appraises the legal framework for the protection of civilians in cyber warfare under International Humanitarian Law. The paper examines the existing rules of IHL on the protection of civilians in armed conflicts, their applicability or otherwise to cyber warfare, the existing gap in the law, with a view to making recommendations on more effective ways to protect the civilian population in armed conflicts. In doing this, the research methodology adopted is the doctrinal approach. Both primary and secondary sources of information were consulted and utilized in the course of this work. The primary sources include the four Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, the Commentaries on the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols, the Rome Statute etc. The secondary sources include textbooks, journals, articles, newspaper, and online material retrieved from the ICRC website and other relevant websites. This paper finds that although International Humanitarian Law provides for robust rules aimed at the protection of civilians in armed conflicts, these rules do not sufficiently afford protection to civilians in cyber warfare as the complexity brought about by these new means and methods of warfare were not captured at the time the rules were made. This work identifies some of the challenges posed to the protection of civilians in cyber warfare and establishes a case for the need for a treaty to specifically regulate cyber warfare and provide for the protection of civilians in cyber warfare. This work also recommends that International policy debates on cyber warfare should be geared towards streamlining the various national views on cyber-attacks.