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to administer the conquered territory, form and introduce the legal framework, and
so on, if the rudiments of statehood are to be seen. The Islamic state, for example,
tries to regulate agriculture and environmental protection. Fishermen, for example,
are forbidden to use electric current or dynamite to catch fish. Tax collection under
the Islamic state is set at 2.5 per cent on real estate, clothes, food, vehicles and so on.
The Islamic state sets the prices of rent in houses, drugs in pharmacies, treatment of
children in hospitals etc.
21
There are also rules of warfare. The Islamic state attempts
to apply Islamic law to armed conflict. Rules which allow for striking enemy
combatants, their torture or killing were published. Other rules regulate ransom for
non-Muslim hostages. The Islamic state promulgated rules which the UN branded
as breaking the international humanitarian law.
22
Provided we considered the Islamic
state a
de facto regime,
we have to consider various concepts of the form of the
de
facto regimes
that exist in legal doctrine. In Frowein’s conception,
de facto regimes
are
various unrecognized entities, that, however, are
relatively stable and control certain
territory
. The states of the internationally community, however, refuse to recognize
them as states, i.e. subjects with complete international subjectivity.
23
It is also
important to distinguish a
de facto regime
from national liberation movements that
aim at liberating a suppressed nation.
According to van Essen, it is necessary to distinguish between a
de facto regime
and
guerrilla fighting and insurgent groups.
The difference lies in the degree of political
organization of the group. Guerilla fighters and insurgents do not always have
political motives or effective organization for reaching their targets as is the case in
de
facto regimes.
24
This means that fighters or insurgents gain the status of
de facto regimes
only under certain conditions (provided these groups perform a certain degree of
political authority and are well-organized). These groups cannot be automatically
considered
de facto regimes
.
Van Essen states that a
de facto regime
is a politically organized entity which exercises
effective control over some parts of state territory with the objective of becoming the
official government of the state. As this regime is still not part of the international
community, it exercises its powers
de facto
(which indicates its illegal or, at least,
extra-legal basis). Within the framework of this definition the individual
de facto
regimes
exist in various forms and can also change over time.
Considering that the Islamic state controls parts of the territory of Iraq and Syria,
it can be said that it shows certain features of so called
de facto regimes
. Provided we
21
MARCH, Andrew, F., REVKIN, Mara. Califhate of Law. ISIS¨Ground Rules. Accessible at: http://
www.
Foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2015-04-15/caliphate-law(Viewed 2 November 2015).
22
Ibid
.
23
FROWEIN, J., A.
Das de facto-Regime imVolkerrecht-Eine Untersuchung zur Rechsstellung „nichtanerkannter
Staaten“ und ahnlicher Gebilde.
Koln/Berlin: Carl Heymanns Verlag, 1968, p. 194.
24
VAN ESSEN, J. De facto Regimes in International Law.
Utrech Journal of International and European
Law
. 2012, volume 28, p. 33.