The Application To Non-State Armed Actors Under Common Article Three Of The Geneva Conventions

Common Article Three of the Geneva Conventions of1949is defined as the minimum standard for parties in non-international armed conflicts (NIAC). Based on the development of international law after World War Ⅱ， Common Article Three has been universally accepted as part of customary international law. The application of Common Article Three has become an essential issue and needs more respect since NIAC has come to be main-stream in the world. Common Article Three is remarkable for the first time to involve NIAC. It is referred as’convention within the conventions’with fundamental rules in the field of NIAC which cannot be cut down.Non-state Armed Actor (NSA) is subject to NIAC and is obviously bound by Common Article Three. However, there are obstacles for the humanitarian protection requirements from the Article to bind NSA. The obstacles will have serious negative impacts on the development of law of armed conflicts. This thesis will mainly discuss the relation between NSA and Common Article Three, and provide solutions to eliminate the obstacles. This thesis is organized in the following for chapters.The first chapter briefly introduces the definition of Common Article Three, and reviews the historical background during the contracting conference. From the review of historical background, it can be found in the shadow of Common Article Three there lurked competitions of state interests, and left the gap in application of Common Article Three.The second chapter discusses two principal issues in Common Article Three: definition and ambiguity of NIAC, and theoretical basis for the Article to bind NSA. Three main theories will be introduced: customary law theory, the third-party consent theory, and legislative jurisdiction theory. And then the drawbacks of each theory will be analyzed.The third chapter states four main obstacles of applying the Article to NSA:unequal legal status of NSA and State, ambiguous definition of NIAC, NSA is lack of intent to obey the Article, and unmatched legal status of NSA to legally doing detention under the Article.The fourth chapter explores the solutions to guarantee NSA to comply with the Article. The domestic solutions gives recognition to the nature of humanity of the Article, and encourages the parties in NIAC to make special agreements to apply it. States are suggested to give conditional immunity to NSA, disseminate knowledge of humanitarian law within the State’s jurisdiction as possible, and obey the special agreements with NSA in good faith. ICRC, the UN, and international criminal institutions have built up regimes to assist NSA’s compliance with the Article.