The RULAC project is intended to assist other actors that may want to classify situations of armed violence for their purposes.

The RULAC project focuses on the legal principles governing classification and the identification of parties to such conflicts and illustrates how these principles apply in practice by making a legal determination whether a situation of armed violence in the world qualifies as an armed conflict under international humanitarian law based on open source information. Moreover, contemporary armed conflicts are increasingly complex due to the multitude of state and non-state parties involved. Others apply international humanitarian law to situations that do not amount to an armed conflict under international humanitarian law. Some governments deny that they are involved in armed conflicts, arguing that they are engaged in counter-terrorism operations not governed by international humanitarian law. The classification of situations of armed violence is fraught with difficulties. Why a situation of armed violence in the world is an armed conflict pursuant to international humanitarian law criteria The legal framework governing armed conflicts The definition and categories of armed conflict under international humanitarian law The RULAC project aims to provide information about:

The RULAC project is a legal reference source for a broad audience interested in issues surrounding the classification of armed conflicts under international humanitarian law, including legal experts, government officials, policy makers in international organizations or NGOs, humanitarian practitioners, and journalists who work on humanitarian or security issues, and academics.īy using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. It aims to provide an independent and impartial classification of situations of armed conflict in the world based on open source information in a format that is accessible to a wide audience, including non-lawyers and non-specialists in international humanitarian law. The Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts project (RULAC) of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights is a unique online portal that identifies and classifies situations of armed conflict, provides information on the parties to these conflicts, and applicable international law.

How to cite the armed conflict database