International humanitarian law-also known as the Law of Armed Conflict or the law of war _ applies to armed conflicts and has A two-fold purpose :to regulate the conduct of hostilities and to protect the victims of armed conflicts . It dose not however answer the question of whether or not a particular war is lawful. This is dealt with by the charter of united nations . international humanitarian law applies to all types of armed conflicts, whether lawful or not, and must be respected by all parties to conflict.