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Q&A;: Does intent play into the qualification of a conflict?

Does intent play into the qualification of a conflict? For example, if Syria accidentally shoots a rocket into Turkey, is it automatically an international armed conflict because there are two State actors?

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PHAP Online Learning Series on Humanitarian Law and Policy: Qualification of Armed Conflict and Determining the Applicable Law

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Disclaimer
This note is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should always seek advice from an appropriately qualified legal professional on any specific legal enquiry.

Answers

Noëlle Quenivet
12 July 2015

Common Article 2 to the Geneva Conventions defines an international armed conflict as an ‘armed conflict … between two or more of the High Contracting Parties’. It does not provide any threshold of applicability and the ICRC Commentary suggests that the Conventions apply even when there ‘is only a single wounded person as a result of the conflict’. The intention of the parties is not taken into consideration as the aim of the Geneva Conventions is to protect those affected by the conflict. This also explains why border skirmishes trigger the applicability of the Geneva Conventions (and the Additional Protocol I, if ratified by the State Party/ies). That being said, in practice, such a situation, that of border skirmishes or of unintentional hostile act, is unlikely to be treated by the parties as an international armed conflict triggering the applicability of international humanitarian law.

About the author
Noëlle Quénivet is Associate Professor in International Law at the University of the West of England.