Sources, Scope, and Application of the Law on Legitimate Targets in Armed Conflicts

Abstract

Several branches of international law must be consulted to establish which targets are considered legitimate in armed conflict. 1 First, we must consider not only international humanitarian law, specifically designed to regulate the methods and means of warfare and the protection vested in persons and objects in armed conflict, but also international human rights law, the purpose of which is to protect human rights and freedoms both in the time of peace and in armed conflict.These two branches of law differ significantly. Their roots and origins are different, as is the scope of their regulation (geographical, temporal, material, and personal), method of enforcement, formulation of norms, 2 fundamental principles, and the essential approach to the very existence of armed conflict. 3 It is therefore a challenge to find a conceptual area where both international humanitarian law and international human rights law concede that certain specific persons and objects are legitimate targets in armed conflict.