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A '''civilian''' under [[international humanitarian law]] is a person who is not a member of his or her [[country]]'s [[armed forces]]. The term is also often used [[colloquial]]ly to refer to people who are not members of a particular profession or occupation, especially by [[law enforcement agency|law enforcement agencies]], which often use rank structures similar to those of [[military unit]]s.
The [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] 1958 Commentary on [[GCIV|IV Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War]] Article 4.4 states that "[e]very person in enemy hands must have some status under international law: he is either a prisoner of war and, as such, covered by the Third Convention, a civilian covered by the Fourth Convention, or again, a member of the medical personnel of the armed forces who is covered by the First Convention. ''There is no'' intermediate status; nobody in enemy hands can be outside the law. We feel that this is a satisfactory solution – not only satisfying to the mind, but also, and above all, satisfactory from the humanitarian point of view."<ref> Jean Pictet (ed.) – [http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/COM/380-600007?OpenDocument Commentary: IV Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1958)] – 1994 reprint edition.</ref> The ICRC has expressed the opinion that "If civilians directly engage in hostilities, they are considered 'unlawful' or 'unprivileged' combatants or belligerents (the treaties of humanitarian law do not expressly contain these terms). They may be prosecuted under the domestic law of the detaining state for such action".<ref>[http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/terrorism-ihl-210705 The relevance of IHL in the context of terrorism] official statement by the ICRC [[21 July]] 2005</ref>
Article 50 in Chapter II: "Civilians and Civilian Population" of [[Protocol I|Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions]] defines that a civilian is not a [[privileged combatant]]. Article 51 describes the protection that must be given to civilians (unless they are [[unprivileged combatant]]s) and civilian populations. Chapter III of Protocol I regulates the targeting of civilian objects. Article 8(2)(b)(i) of the [[Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court]] also prohibits attacks directed against civilians. Not all states have ratified Protocol I or the Rome Statute, but it is an accepted principle of international humanitarian law that the direct targeting of civilians is a breach of the customary laws of war and is binding on all belligerents.
Under international [[maritime law]] and [[aviation law]] a distinction is made between [[passengers]] and [[crew]] that is similar to that of [[combatants]] and [[civilians]] under the [[laws of war]]. Under their own [[municipal law]] governments may extend the definition of who is a civilian to exclude those who work for the [[emergency service]]s, because members of the emergency services may from time to time need additional legal powers over and above those usually available to ordinary citizens.
==See also==
{{Wiktionary}}
*[[Law of land warfare]]
*[[Laws of war]]
*[[Unlawful combatant]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
*[http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList160/D89499AA0F2E88C0C1256B66005A784B Geneva Conventions for the protection of war victims]
*[http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/d5525_5.htm US DoD definition of the term Civilian, refers to civilian law enforcement agencies]
{{Human rights}}
[[Category:Laws of war]]
[[Category:Civilians in war]]
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