Article

New challenges to the classification of armed conflicts

Veronika Bílková

• Recueils de la Société internationale de droit militaire et de droit de la guerre, 20, 2015, p. 287-304

English

International humanitarian law has been always prone to various challenges stemming from such factors as the evolution of weaponry and changes in international relations. One of these challenges, which has been on the agenda for several decades already but has recently got even more prominent, relates to the classification of armed conflicts. This topic has been extensively written about. Despite that, it is worth revisiting. After all, the classification of armed conflicts is crucial for international humanitarian law (IHL) because which rules apply in a certain conflict depends exactly on the type of conflict. Moreover, several new initiatives have recently emerged with respect to the topic that merit deeper scrutiny. After briefly recalling the traditional dichotomous classification of armed conflicts, the paper discusses two alternative approaches - a plurality approach that would introduce new categories of armed conflicts and a unity approach that seeks to subject all armed conflicts to a uniform legal regime.

• Full text : only from ICRC headquarters

• Recueils de la Société internationale de droit militaire et de droit de la guerre / Société internationale de droit militaire et de droit de la guerre
• Recueils de la Société internationale de droit militaire et de droit de la guerre [20, 2015] / Société internationale de droit militaire et de droit de la guerre