Is (or Was) Ukraine in a Non International Armed Conflict?
Publisher
Lawfare
Date
2014-2-21
In the wake of Thursday’s violence, many press reports began to state that the violence in Ukraine was heading toward---or constituted---a civil war. See here, here, and here. The press was using this term in the colloquial sense, not the legal sense. But it’s worth asking the legal question: Is (or was) Ukraine already in a non-international armed conflict (NIAC)? Protestors and the Yanukovich government struck a deal overnight. With any luck, the violence will cease and this post will never prove relevant. But the issue is worth thinking about, given how quickly the last truce broke down.
Citation
Ashley S. Deeks, Is (or Was) Ukraine in a Non International Armed Conflict?, Lawfare (February 21, 2014).