International law has lacked a widely-accepted definition of armed conflict despite the essential human rights and other rules dependant on such a definition. During armed conflict, government forces have combatant immunity to kill without warning. They may detain enemy forces until the end of the conflict without the requirement to provide a speedy and fair trial. Governments may have asylum obligations or neutrality obligations. To fill this gap in the law, the International Law Association formed a study committee to report on the meaning of armed conflict. This book contains the initial report of that committee and papers delivered at an inter-disciplinary conference to help the committee better understand how we understand armed conflict in our world today.

Mary Ellen O'Connell holds a chair at the University of Notre Dame. She earned law degrees at Cambridge and Columbia Universities and is the author of numerous publications, including, The Power and Purpose of International Law (OUP 2008) and Redefining Sovereignty (with Bothe and Ronzitti, Transnational 2005).