Civil person
A civil person (also a civilian ; from the Latin civilis “concerning the citizen”, used here in contrast to the military) is a person who does not belong to any armed forces or other fighting organizations during an armed conflict . In contrast to the combatant ( soldier ), she does not wear a military uniform .
This distinction is important in times of war, as the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Land Warfare Regulations, as part of international martial law, set up special rules for the protection of the civilian population .
In order to make it possible to distinguish between civilians and combatants, civilians are prohibited from participating in combat operations. If they do so anyway, they are called partisans and can be convicted as war criminals . Exceptions are regulated in the Hague Land Warfare Regulations, e.g. B. Levée en masse . Civilians - like other non-combatants - have the right to self-defense .
In a broader sense, all non- emergency personnel are also referred to as civilians.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Meyer's Large Conversational Lexicon. 6th edition, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1905-1909. 1909, Retrieved January 3, 2018 .
- ^ Karl Ernst Georges : Comprehensive Latin-German concise dictionary. 8th, improved and increased edition, Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hanover 1913–1918. 1918, Retrieved January 3, 2018 .