Status of armed conflicts

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Introduction Characterising an armed conflict as international or non-international is the first, preliminary step in determining the applicable humanitarian treaty law framework. As is well-known, international armed conflicts are governed by the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 – ratified by 194 States at the time of writing – and by Additional Protocol I if binding on the parties involved. Non-international armed conflicts are regulated by Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions and by Additional Protocol II if ratified by the State in question. The distinction between international and non-international armed conflicts remains relevant. Not only are the treaty rules applicable to international armed conflicts vastly more developed than those governing non-international armed conflicts, but the status of the parties is also different. In international armed conflicts members of the armed forces of States are combatants who have the right to take a direct part in hostilities and are entitled to prisoner of war status upon capture. This, among other things, means that they may not be prosecuted by the detaining State for lawful acts of war, but for grave breaches or other serious violations of the laws and customs of war they may have committed. In an internal armed conflict the only legitimate forces are those of the State. While the parties are equally bound to respect humanitarian law, members of the non-State party remain liable to criminal prosecution under domestic law for all acts committed during the conflict, whether lawful or unlawful under humanitarian law.