Abstract
Our blog mini-series, co-hosted with the ICRC, wraps up with a post by Associate Professor Rob McLaughlin, Co-Director of the ANU Centre for Military and Security Law. Dr McLaughlin shares his reflections on common article 2 and the important question of when IHL must be applied. The key threshold set out in the first part of Common Article 2 (CA2) of the Geneva Conventions (GC) is deceptively simple: In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peacetime, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them The most important component of this threshold given the absence of declarations of war as a formal diplomatic act since World War II is that of an armed conflict between two or more States (the High Contracting Parties). If this threshold is met, then an International Armed Conflict (IAC) is afoot and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) must be applied.
| Original language | English |
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| Publisher | ILA Reporter |
| Place of Publication | Australia |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |