1 - Non-State Armed Groups, Legal Personality and Typology

Summary

Although the nature, organisation and behaviours of ‘non-State armed groups’ (NSAGs) are issues of increasing concern for the international community, in particular due to the participation of these entities in the majority of armed conflicts, relatively little is known about them within the legal realm. When compared to other actors affecting or being affected by different regimes, normative studies dealing with the way in which these non-State entities behave seem to be scarce. This chapter examines NSAGs’ limited position within the international legal architecture. This is because understanding what these actors are allowed to do, or rather are restricted from doing, is determined by a set of rules, the creation and further development on which NSAGs had, at least a priori, no say. This basis serves to assess later in the chapter how international law, political sciences, and different institutions and bodies address NSAGs. A typology of these actors is provided for the purposes of this book.