How to legally assess the situation when humanitarian actors in non-international armed conflicts are arbitrarily denied access to the affected civilian population? The book answers this question from the perspective of the five main actors involved in humanitarian relief in non-international armed conflicts: the affected State, non-State armed groups, humanitarian actors, non-belligerent States and the affected civilian population. It examines the legal regulations and consequences for each of these actors. In doing so, the book not only draws attention to existing legal gaps and challenges, but also encourages readers to rethink outdated legal concepts and discuss new approaches.

The open access publication of this book has been published with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation.


Table of Contents:
List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 Current Situation 2 Conditions for Providing Humanitarian Relief 3 Can Consent to Relief Operations Be Withheld? 4 Aims of This Book 5 Structure of the Book Part 1 International Humanitarian Relief in Non-international Armed Conflicts 1 Actors Involved in Relief Actions 1 Affected State 2 Non-state Armed Groups 3 Humanitarian Actors 4 Non-belligerent States 5 Civilians 2 Legal Framework 1 Overview 2 Relevant Laws and Principles 3 The Concept of Humanitarian Relief 1 Historical Perspective 2 Defining Humanitarian Relief 3 Implementation of International Humanitarian Relief 4 Dilemma: Principle of ‘Do No Harm’ 4 Situation of Non-international Armed Conflicts 1 Definition 2 Distinction from Internal Tensions and Disturbances 3 Distinction from International Armed Conflict Part 2 Rights and Duties of the Actors Involved in Relief Actions 5 Introduction 6 Rights and Duties of the Affected State 1 State’s Sovereignty as a Core Principle 2 Rights and Duties 7 Rights and Duties of Non-state Armed Groups 1 Bound to International Law 2 Rights and Duties 8 Rights and Duties of Humanitarian Actors 1 Adherence to Humanitarian Principles 2 Rights and Duties 9 Rights and Duties of Non-belligerent States 1 Cooperation with Humanitarian Actors 2 Rights and Duties 10 Rights and Duties of Civilians 1 Right on Respect and Protection 2 A Right to Receive Humanitarian Relief? 3 Duty Not to Take Part in Hostilities and Impede Relief Actions Part 3 Arbitrary Withholding of Consent to Relief Operations 11 Characteristics of Withholding of Consent 1 Withholding and Withdrawing of Consent 2 Forms of Expression 12 Prohibition of Arbitrary Withholding of Consent 1 Legal Basis 2 Assessing Arbitrariness 13 Violation of Other International Obligations 1 Relevant Breaches of Law 2 Breaches of ihl Obligations 3 Breaches of ihrl Obligations 4 Breaches under International Criminal Law Part 4 Legal Consequences of Arbitrary Withholding of Consent 14 Introduction 15 Accountability of the Affected State 1 State Responsibility 2 Responsibility for Violation of Human Rights Treaties 3 Individual Responsibility under Criminal Law 16 Accountability of Non-state Armed Groups 1 No Direct Responsibility of the Armed Group 2 Determination of Breaches within Monitoring Mechanisms 3 Individual Responsibility of the Members of the Armed Group 17 Remedies for Humanitarian Actors 1 Possibility of Providing Relief without Consent? 2 Bilateral Dialogues and Public Pronouncement 18 Remedies for Non-belligerent States 1 Obligation and Entitlement to Act 2 Non-judicial Mechanisms 3 Judicial Mechanisms 19 Remedies for Civilians 1 Human Rights Complaint Procedures 2 Claims Commissions 3 Rights as Victims before the icc Part 5 Legal Gaps and Required Developments 20 Introduction 21 Currently Existing Gaps in the Law 1 Law Governing Humanitarian Relief 2 Legal Status of Non-state Armed Groups 3 Legal Remedies 22 Developments Needed 1 Enhancing Knowledge of the Applicable Law 2 Further Legal Regulations 3 Independent International Body for Assessing Arbitrariness 4 Integration of Non-state Armed Groups 5 New Enforcement Mechanism  Conclusion 1 Summary 2 Closing Remarks Reports, Resolutions and Statements Table of Cases Bibliography Index