IRRC No. 876
Typology of armed conflicts in international humanitarian law: legal concepts and actual situations
Reading time 11 min read
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International humanitarian law does not contain precise enough criteria to determine which situations fall within its material field of application, as the reality of armed conflict is more complex than the categories anticipated by IHL. This article sets out to show how these categories can be interpreted in light of recent international legal developments, and examines various controversial cases of application.