The Contribution of the International Criminal Court Towards Conflict Classification from Lubanga to Ongwen: Demystifying or Muddying the Notion of ‘protracted armed conflict’ Under Article 8(2)(f) of the Rome Statute?

This chapter presents an examination of the intensity threshold of Article 8(2)(f) of the Rome Statute and the consequences of the introduction of the notion of ‘protracted armed conflict’ in the second part of this provision. Article 8(2)(f) of the Rome Statute determines the scope of application, that is, the arena in which the types of war crimes listed in Article 8(2)(e) of the Rome Statute must be committed in order for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to exercise jurisdiction over such violations. With regard to the broader theme of this volume, which relates to child soldiers, it should be noted that the type of war crimes listed in Article 8(2)(e) of the Rome Statute includes the conscripting or enlisting of children under the age of 15 years into an armed force or group or using them to actively participate in hostilities. The inclusion of the phrase ‘protracted armed conflict’ in the second sentence of Article 8(2)(f) possibly creates a requirement for a threshold of violence higher than the minimum intensity of violence associated with protracted armed violence and could, in fact, institute a new category of non-international armed conflicts in the context of the Rome Statute.