18 Non-International Armed Conflict

Subject(s):

Armed conflict, international — Armed conflict, non-international — International criminal law, victims — Warfare, land — Weapons, biological — Weapons, chemical — Weapons control — Weapons, conventional

This chapter considers how the law of weaponry applies to Non-International Armed Conflict (NIAC). Some object to the idea that a State can bind the rebels as to the law that is to be applied in a NIAC. These objections are considered. Of course, arms control treaties with their comprehensive, all-embracing prohibitions apply equally in both classes of conflict. The CCW’s scope has been extended for participating States and customary law applies, occasionally unequally, to both IACs and NIACs. Nevertheless, important differences remain and this chapter explores these differences, and notes the tendency for the law applying to IACs and NIACs to converge. The chapter then addresses what would need to change to achieve total convergence.