A blurring of the boundaries: the application of international humanitarian law by human rights bodies

The blurring of boundaries between different fields is a feature of modern international law. This has been identified by Antonio Cassese, who explained that specialized areas of laws which used to make up "tight legal compartments" are "gradually tending to influence one another...and international courts are coming to look upon them as parts of a whole." 1 This Article will examine this phenomenon with respect to the interaction between human rights law and international humanitarian law. 2 While commentators have for some time discussed the influence of human rights upon humanitarian law, 3 this Article will instead concentrate upon how human rights treaty bodies are breaking down the barriers between the two areas of law by applying or referring to humanitarian law