ICRC databases on international humanitarian law
Treaties and Documents
1949 Conventions and Additional Protocols, and their Commentaries
Historical Treaties and Documents
The Laws of War on Land. Oxford, 9 September 1880.
Part I : General principles - Art. 1.
Article 1. The state of war does not admit of acts of violence, save between the armed forces of belligerent States.
Persons not forming part of a belligerent armed force should abstain from such acts.
' This rule implies a distinction between the individuals who compose the "armed force" of a
State and its other ' ressortissants '. A definition of the term "armed force" is, therefore, necessary. '