CYIL 2010

ARMED CONFLICTS AND THE USE OF FORCE LAW is widespread, resulting in death or serious destruction is not considered armed conflict because of the lack of organisation”. In many UN documents the term “war” has been deliberately replaced by “armed conflict”, mention is made of “situations of armed conflict” which “constitute war crimes”, as well as of “areas of armed conflict”, “conflict prevention and resolution”, the “root causes of armed conflict”, “conflict zones”, “post conflict situations” etc. The great majority of armed conflicts (more than 80 percent) are “internal” and involve non-state actors. This fact requires a new approach to the humanitarian protection of all victims of all armed conflicts. The ILA Committee’s final report will be called “The Definition of Armed Conflict under International Law”. There are always difficulties with the definition of any term or concept in international law. It would seem to be desirable, and possible, to redefine the term “armed conflict” in a general way that would be acceptable for the majority of states. A number of various definitions have already been submitted and the discussion on the desirability of particular definitions will continue. The determination of the existence of an “armed conflict” will always primarily rest on an evaluation of the particular circumstances involved.

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