The changing character of armed conflict and the implications for refugee protection jurisprudence

This article focuses on a key aspect of the EC Qualification Directive, namely, the grounds of eligibility for subsidiary protection. These grounds rest on a test for the risk of ‘serious harm’ were the applicant to be returned to his or her country of origin. If a genuine risk of harm is found, then the applicant would qualify for protection. Article 15 of the Directive defines ‘serious harm’ in terms of (a) the death penalty, (b) torture or degrading treatment, and (c) ‘serious and individual threat’ to a person arising from a situation of armed conflict. This article examines how English and French judicial authorities have applied the third paragraph (that is, Article 15(c) of the Qualification Directive) in recent asylum cases. In such cases, English and French judicial authorities have had to assess (1) the severity of the armed conflict and (2) the individual risk to asylum seekers. Such assessments must be informed by an understanding of the changing character of armed conflict, which has increased the threat to civilians, and by the human security paradigm, which offers a new way of conceptualising the threats to individuals in and from conflict