The principle of equality of belligerents in international humanitarian law

Equality of belligerents is a principle which means that humanitarian law applies equally to all parties to an armed conflict, regardless of their motives for using force. This principle, whose origin coincides with the period when the just war doctrine was dominant, has been described as one of the fundamental and most important principles of humanitarian law. This is because it is believed that respect for this law cannot be maintained if everyone does not have the same rights and obligations. Despite this importance, the legal existence and validity of the principle of equality of belligerents has been debated in recent years. This is because, in practice, there are factors that make it difficult or impossible to observe the principle. Essentially, the origins of these factors can be traced back to the changes in the field of jus ad bellum and jus in bello immediately after the Second World War. However, since the effects of many of these changes on the principle of the equality of belligerents were not experienced in practice until the end of the Cold War, it was only recently that the relevant discussion could begin. Previously, the debate had been about whether, after the UN Charter of 1945 had prohibited the use of force in international relations, parties in breach of this prohibition and those defending themselves against it should be treated impartially under humanitarian law. It was concluded that the way to ensure both a minimum level of protection for all those affected by conflict and compliance with the rules of humanitarian law was to treat the belligerents as equals. This position still prevails. However, the blurring, sometimes deliberate and sometimes not, of the distinction between jus ad bellum and jus in bello, and the difficulties encountered in applying humanitarian law equally in conflicts where one of the parties is a UN peacekeeping forces undermine the principle.