A Look into the Principles of an International Armed Conflict.

Learn how to classify a conflict under International Humanitarian Law.

IHL was brought about as a legal code of conduct, in which its central goal strives to limit the behaviour of parties in war-like situations, referred to as 'armed conflict' under treaty law.

How do we define an armed conflict under IHL?

IHL only regulates situations which have reached a specific threshold of armed conflict and violence; either between states, states and non-state actors, or between non-state actors themselves. These non-state actors are entities not affiliated with governmental organisations, but possess significant political or economic influence within a society.

As such, IHL is not applicable to internal disturbances or tensions falling below this threshold. Circumstances such as riots, isolated or sporadic acts of violence, or acts of terror would be appurtenant not to the ordinance of IHL, but to Human Rights Law and Domestic Law legislation.

There are two branches of IHL, each governed by a different set of rules and legislation:

(IACs have a more extensive set of laws than NIACs)

1. International Armed Conflicts (IACs)

• these conflicts occur between two or more states.

• an international armed conflict often involves belligerent occupation, which by its very nature is not 'unlawful' under international law.

2. Non-International Armed Conflicts (NIACs)

• these conflicts are often labelled as civil wars, which generally occur within a single given state.

• there must be a certain intensity of prolonged armed violence taking place.

• the participating actors must indicate a certain degree of organisation.

This post will focus on International Armed Conflicts (IACs)

Characteristics of IACs - how to identify them

Traditionally, wars were typically initiated through a formal declaration. Today however, IACs are presumed to exist as soon as a state uses armed force against another state, party to a conflict.

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Legislative Bodies

IACs are primarily codified in the 1907 Hague Regulations, the Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocol I (supplemented by Customary International Law).

Common Article 2 to the Geneva Conventions provides that the conflict must be between states to be classified as an International Armed Conflict, and even if one state does not recognise a state of war.

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IACs should be determined objectively, exclusively using verifiable facts. IHL also only applies where actual combat is in occurrence; however if a nexus or special ink to the area of actual combat exists, it may act as an exception.

A conflict ends when military operations cease, though despite this, IHL can still apply during post-war and combat situations. For instance, prisoners of war are protected by IHL up until their point of repatriation, even if the combat has long ceased.

Belligerent occupation during IACs

Common Article 2, paragraph 2 of the Geneva Conventions issues that "IHL applies to all cases of partial or total occupation of a territory,". Whether a state has effective control (determining factor as to whether a state is legally occupied or not) depends on the occupier's ability to ensure public security, and law and order.

The occupier must take over the core functions of an original government, however it must be temporary. The end of occupation can be brought about by the loss of effective control, withdrawal, political settlement, or consent of the supplanted sovereignty and civilians. Succinctly, the act of belligerent occupation is in fact not unlawful, under the precondition that it must be temporary and abide by the aforementioned requirements.

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Thus, the classifications for an international armed conflict to subsist remain rather low; much unalike the nature of non-international armed conflicts, international armed conflicts lack a minimum threshold of violence for classification. Generally, wherever hostile armed force exists between two states, there is an international armed conflict.