Related Rule
France
Practice Relating to Rule 4. Definition of Armed Forces
Section A. General definition
France’s Disciplinary Regulations (1975), as amended in 1982, states:
Soldiers in combat must not consider members of the armed forces or volunteer militias, including organized resistance movements, as combatants unless they are under a responsible command, wear a distinctive sign, carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war.
France, Règlement de Discipline Générale dans les Armées, Decree No. 75-675 of 28 July 1975, replacing Decree No. 66-749, completed by Decree of 11 October 1978, implemented by Instruction No. 52000/DEF/C/5 of 10 December 1979, and modified by Decree of 12 July 1982, Ministère de la Défense, Etat-Major de l’Armée de Terre, Bureau Emploi, Article 9 bis (1); see also Manuel de droit des conflits armés, Ministère de la Défense, Direction des Affaires Juridiques, Sous-Direction du droit international humanitaire et du droit européen, Bureau du droit des conflits armés, 2001, pp. 39 and 70–71.
France’s LOAC Teaching Note (2000) states: “Every member of a paramilitary force or a partisan recognizable by a fixed distinctive sign and carrying arms openly is considered as a combatant.”
France, Fiche didactique relative au droit des conflits armés, Directive of the Ministry of Defence, 4 January 2000, annexed to the Directive No. 147 of the Ministry of Defence of 4 January 2000, p. 2.
The instructions given to the French armed forces for the conduct of Opération Mistral, simulating a military operation under the right of self-defence or a mandate of the UN Security Council, state: “Armed forces that are subject to the law of war consist of all organized units and their personnel, under a command which is responsible for the conduct of its subordinates.”
France, Etat-major de la Force d’Action Rapide, Ordres pour l’Opération Mistral, 1995, Section 5.
