A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces. International humanitarian law ( IHL) often referred to as the Laws of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity For the military meaning see Armed forces. For the Soviet sports society see Armed Forces (sports society Armed Forces The term is also often used colloquially to refer to people who are not members of a particular profession or occupation, especially by law enforcement agencies, which often use rank structures similar to those of military units. A colloquialism is an expression not used in formal speech, writing or Paralinguistics. Law enforcement agency ( LEA) is a term used to describe either an organisation that enforces the laws of one or more governing bodies or an organisation that actively and directly A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy

The International Committee of the Red Cross 1958 Commentary on IV Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War Article 4. "ICRC" redirects here For other uses see ICRC (disambiguation. The Fourth Geneva Convention (or GCIV) relates to the protection of Civilians during times of War " in the hands " of an enemy and under 4 states that "[e]very person in enemy hands must have some status under international law: he is either a prisoner of war and, as such, covered by the Third Convention, a civilian covered by the Fourth Convention, or again, a member of the medical personnel of the armed forces who is covered by the First Convention. There is no intermediate status; nobody in enemy hands can be outside the law. We feel that this is a satisfactory solution – not only satisfying to the mind, but also, and above all, satisfactory from the humanitarian point of view. "^[1] The ICRC has expressed the opinion that "If civilians directly engage in hostilities, they are considered 'unlawful' or 'unprivileged' combatants or belligerents (the treaties of humanitarian law do not expressly contain these terms). They may be prosecuted under the domestic law of the detaining state for such action". ^[2]

Article 50 in Chapter II: "Civilians and Civilian Population" of Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions defines that a civilian is not a privileged combatant. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts ( Protocol 1) Introduction A privileged combatant is a person who takes a direct part in the hostilities of an armed conflict within the Law of war and is someone who upon capture qualifies as a Prisoner Article 51 describes the protection that must be given to civilians (unless they are unprivileged combatants) and civilian populations. An unlawful combatant or unprivileged combatant/belligerent is a Civilian who directly engages in armed conflict under the International Humanitarian Law Chapter III of Protocol I regulates the targeting of civilian objects. Article 8(2)(b)(i) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court also prohibits attacks directed against civilians. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (often referred to as the International Criminal Court Statute or the Rome Statute) is the Treaty Not all states have ratified Protocol I or the Rome Statute, but it is an accepted principle of international humanitarian law that the direct targeting of civilians is a breach of the customary laws of war and is binding on all belligerents.

Under international maritime law and aviation law a distinction is made between passengers and crew that is similar to that of combatants and civilians under the laws of war. Admiralty law (also referred to as maritime law) is a distinct body of Law which governs maritime questions and offenses Aviation law is the branch of Law that concerns flight air travel and associated legal and business concerns The law of war (also law of armed conflict, LOAC) is Law concerning acceptable practices relating to war Under their own municipal law governments may extend the definition of who is a civilian to exclude those who work for the emergency services, because members of the emergency services may from time to time need additional legal powers over and above those usually available to ordinary citizens. Municipal law is an International law term used to denote the national domestic or internal Law of a sovereign State. Emergency services are organizations which ensure Public safety by addressing different emergencies

See also

• Laws of war
• Law of land warfare
• Unlawful combatant

References

Further reading

• US DoD definition of the term Civilian, refers to civilian law enforcement agencies
• Geneva Conventions for the protection of war victims