In recent years, armed conflicts have changed in nature (civil war, ‘terrorism’) and the means used are increasingly technological (robotisation, cyberwar). Faced with these developments, some would claim International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is outdated. While these technological innovations present new challenges in the application of IHL, it still constitutes a relevant legal framework for armed conflicts and the conduct of hostilities. Indeed, the flexibility of IHL allows it to adapt to contemporary conflicts. Therefore, this shows that the statements about its obsolescence are primarily political in nature.

The paper is presenting the examination of the cyberwarfare phenomenon in its legal context. The cyberattacks are increasingly effective measures of modern combat and would probably become the most crucial dimension of forthcoming armed conflict. The role of the international humanitarian law is to determine whenever the cyberattack is reaching the threshold of an armed conflict. The aim of the article is to present the existing framework of ius in bello in terms of its temporal scope of applicability, especially in the light of the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare. It supported conclusion that the international law requires an revision of the armed conflict definition to sufficiently addressed the challenges arising from growing cyber activity. 

The protection of cultural property in non-international armed conflicts

In her article, the author points out that contemporary armed conflicts are often of a non-international nature. She provides the example of the ongoing conflict in Syria and Iraq as one in which cultural property of universal importance has been at risk of destruction. Based on the definition of non-international armed conflict, she notes that only a limited number of treaties belonging to the field of international humanitarian law include provisions aimed at protecting cultural property during an armed conflict. She praises the inclusion of rules concerning the safeguarding of cultural property to the general body of international customary law. She also notes that the introduction of the concept of individual responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law may pave the way for a more efficient exercise of rules concerning the safeguarding of cultural property in armed conflicts.