The book collects a series of contributions by well known scholars and practitioners on the problem of the applicability of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights to the increasing number of Non-State Actors involved in contemporary armed conflicts.
The notion of Non-State Actors is a very broad notion in which Non Governmental Organizations, Private Military Companies, but also rebels, terrorist groups, sea pirates are included.
A wide spectrum of issues - including the questions of accountability of Non-State Actors and of the affordability of initiatives which could lead organized armed groups to abide by the existing international norms - are extensively explored not only from a strictly legal perspective.

The International Institute of Humanitarian Law is an independent, non-profit humanitarian organisation founded in 1970. Its headquarters are situated in Villa Ormond, Sanremo (Italy). Its main objective is the promotion and dissemination of international humanitarian law, human rights, refugee law and migration law. Thanks to its longstanding experience and its internationally acknowledged academic standards, the International Institute of Humanitarian Law is considered a centre of excellence and has developed close co-operation with the most important International Organizations. Forty years of meetings and intense academic activity addressing the main topics of humanitarian law, under the auspices of the Institute, have created what has universally become known as "humanitarian dialogue in the spirit of Sanremo".