Valluri Parthasarthi, ICFAI University
Classification of Cyber conflict
One of the concerns in international humanitarian law is that of the classification of Cyber conflict, Classification of conflict is the first step in international humanitarian law as the identification determines legal subjects which are to be applied to it. It is essential to determine the character of the Cyber conflict, whether international or Non-international in nature. But prior to the inception of Geneva convention, Lassa Oppenheim’s definition of war was well accepted, which stated, “war is a contention between two or more States , through their armed forces, for the purpose of overpowering each other an imposing such conditions of peace as the victor pleases to be”. The key element in the mentioned definition is that the, conflict must have happened between two States. However the interstate conflict within the State was considered a non-international conflict unless it reaches a certain degree of belligerency. The term ’belligerency’ and its implications have been discussed in United Kingdom’s ministry’s manual of Law and Armed conflict4. After the carnage of the Second World War the international community took a different step in recognizing war in technical and material sense, hence developed into international customary law. Articles 2, 3 which are common for all the four Geneva Conventions there are two certain criteria which can be established to determine the international armed conflict that there is a confrontation between two States and the hostilities shall amount to armed conflict. According to Article 3, the armed conflict is not of an international nature but occurring in the territory of one of the contracting parties. The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) in the year 1949 broadened the scope of international armed conflict by its additional protocol I and II to the Geneva Conventions. The nature of armed conflict and the acts under it which constitute is mentioned under this Article.
Geneva conventions and its additional protocols, conflict can be broadly classified into three categories they are:
a. International armed conflict between States.
b. worldwide outfitted clash including national freedom developments6.
c. Non-international armed conflict between a State and armed groups or organized armed groups.
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