The Rule of Law in Crisis and Conflict Grey Zones : Regulating the Use of Force in a Global Information Environment

This book attempts to clarify what targeting and weaponry rules apply to the use of force in situations of irregular armed conflict and violence. In particular, it focuses on developing objective criteria for determining where the shift from a law and order paradigm to an armed conflict occurs; developing improved objective criteria for determining civilian direct participation in hostilities and de facto membership in an organized armed group; examining how existing rules are being applied to unconventional conflicts within civilian populated areas by key state players as well as by international and regional human rights mechanisms.

This book responds to ongoing calls for clarification and consensus regarding the meaning, scope and interplay of humanitarian law and human rights law in the ‘grey zones’ of unconventional operational environments such as counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations. It contributes to the debate in this area by developing objective criteria for determining where the shift from the legal framework of law enforcement to that of non-international armed conflict occurs in relation to targeting law and weaponry law; by developing improved objective criteria for determining what constitutes direct participation in hostilities and de facto membership in an organised armed group; by taking stock of how existing targeting and weaponry rules are being applied to unconventional conflicts within civilian populated areas by key state players as well as by international and regional human rights mechanisms; by arguing for the progressive realisation of targeting and weaponry law so that they are more fitting for operational environments that are increasingly urbanised and civilianised; by seeking to understand how global networked connectivity may affect our understanding of the operational theatre of war and the geographical reach of the legal framework of non-international armed conflict.