Law Commons^™

Combatant Status: It Is Time For Intermediate Levels Of Recognition For Partial Compliance, Eric Talbot Jensen

Faculty Scholarship

Under current international law, combatant status is an all-or-nothing proposition. Either a fighting force qualifies under all the criteria of article 4 of the GPW and receives all the privileges and immunities of combatant status, or a force does not qualify, and is provided no protection above that of any other civilian in the area, and may even be disqualified from the protections afforded to civilians. Given the reality of today's battlefields where the conflict is seldom between the armed forces of two nations, these requirements are counterproductive and provide a disincentive for fighters to distinguish themselves from the civilian …