The recent Chatham House document proposes certain criteria to “Identifying co-parties to armed conflict in international law”. The document focuses prevailingly on international humanitarian law (IHL) as part of jus in bello. It prioritises the notion of a “(co)party” to an armed conflict, upon attaining which status the relevant entity arguably operates in the legal framework applicable to armed conflicts. On what grounds does that happen and do those grounds have to do exclusively with IHL or jus in bello?
