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AbstractCommon Article 3 to the four Geneva Conventions encourages the parties to a non-international armed conflict to bring into force international humanitarian law provisions through the conclusion of special agreements. Since armed groups are ever more frequent participants in contemporary armed conflicts, the relevance of those agreements as means to enhance compliance with IHL has grown as well. The decision-making process of special agreements recognizes that all the parties to the conflict participate in the clarification and expansion of the applicable rights and obligations in a way that is consistent with the principle of equality of belligerents. This provides incentives for armed groups to respect the IHL rules they have themselves negotiated. However, even upon the conclusion of such agreements, it remains unclear which legal regime governs them. This paper will argue that special agreements are governed by international law instead of domestic law or asui generislegal regime.

"Through its careful consideration of the status of armed groups within a complex legal landscape, this insightful book identifies and examines the tensions that arise due to their actions existing across a spectrum of legality and illegality. Considering the number of armed groups currently exercising governance functions and controlling territory and population in the world, its analysis is especially topical. Armed Groups and International Law provides essential peer-reviewed analyses of the place of armed groups in the legal framework. A collaborative effort between eminent scholars from different disciplines, it summarises various points of contention within the study of these armed actors, detailing examples that are highly relevant to the contemporary world, such as Afghanistan and Syria. Addressing law-making, rebel governance and accountability, this illuminating book will be of great benefit to students of international humanitarian law, human rights law, international criminal law, and public international law seeking to expand their understanding of the treatment of armed groups within the international legal system. It will also serve as a useful resource for practitioners working in the area of civilian protection and academics conducting research on armed conflict from a variety of disciplines"--

Chapter 1. Introduction: The Functions and Interactions of Non-State Actors in the Realm of International Humanitarian Law -- Part I. The Proliferation of NSAs Involved in Armed Conflicts -- Chapter 2. What Are 'Armed Non-State Actors'? A Legal and Semantic Approach -- Chapter 3. Beyond Banning Mercenaries: The Use of Private Military and Security Companies under IHL -- Chapter 4. The Legal Protection of Personnel of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Times of NIAC -- Part II. The Regulation of NSAs Involved in Armed Conflict beyond IHL -- Chapter 5. Chemical Weapons and Non-State Actors -- Chapter 6. Automatic Criminal Liability for Unlawful Confinement (Imprisonment) as a War Crime? A Potential Consequence of Denying Non-State Armed Groups the Power to Detain in NIACs -- Chapter 7. Detention by Non-State Armed Groups in NIACs: IHL, International Human Rights Law and the Question of Right Authority -- Chapter 8. Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Armed Groups: An Assessment Based on Recent Practice -- Chapter 9. Post-Conflict Justice: Extending International Criminal Responsibility to Non-State Entities -- Part III. The Development of IHL by NSAs -- Chapter 10. Uses of IHL by the International Court of Justice: A Critical Approach towards Its Role in the International Legal Arena -- Chapter 11. The Development of IHL by Human Rights Bodies -- Chapter 12. Targeting Members of Non-State Armed Groups in NIACs: An Attempt to Reconcile International Human Rights Law with IHL's (De Facto) Status-based Targeting -- Part IV. The Emergence of Horizontal Interactions between NSAs -- Chapter 13. Generating Respect for the Law by Non-State Armed Groups: The ICRC's Role and Activities -- Chapter 14. Compliance with Humanitarian Rules on the Protection of Children by Non-State Armed Groups: the UN's Managerial Approach -- Chapter 15. Non-State Actors Engaging Non-State Actors: Geneva Call's Experience in NIACs

In the last few decades, the un Security Council has increasingly implemented enforcement measures in the context of many non-international armed conflicts. Both in those cases and in international conflicts, certain resolutions explicitly impose rights and obligations upon all the parties, without making a legal distinction between States and non-State actors, including armed opposition groups.
This paper aims to explain some consequences of the approach adopted by the Security Council. Mainly, two issues are dealt with: (a) how does the Security Council address armed opposition groups and to what extent its resolutions impose rights and obligations upon them; (b) if these non-State actors are in fact bound by those resolutions and why. In order to achieve an explanation that grasps the complexity of these issues, the article adopts a systemic approach, which includes the application of the principle of equality of belligerents to Security Council resolutions.