The Law of Armed Conflict in The Era of Cyber Technology: Assessing The Legal Challenges and Response in Tanzania

Abstract

The development of cyber technology has brought
challenges to various aspects of life. Legal regime regulating
the means and methods of warfare stands amongst the
most affected regimes due to such advancement. The
existing puzzle is on whether there is a need to conclude a
new Convention on international humanitarian law to
address the challenges of cyber technology or not. While
discussing issues relating to this puzzle, this article
examines the legal regime in Tanzania and its rapport to the
rules of international humanitarian law (IHL) including cyber
warfare. The article observes out that, the Tanzanian legal
framework insufficiently addresses the challenges of cyber
warfare. Apart from relying on the ordinary crimes approach
in interpreting and prosecuting IHL breaches, this article
concludes that necessary legislative measures need to be
taken by Tanzania to fill the gaps brought by cyber
technology to the rules of IHL.

Keywords: Armed Conflict, Cyber Technology, Cyber Warfare,Law of Armed Conflict, Ordinary Crimes Approach,
Tallinn Manual.