Subjects 2009
International Humanitarian Law 730872
- Credited Courses: Graduate Diploma in International Law 323; Graduate Diploma in Transnational Law 333; Master of Laws (LLM) 502; Master of Legal Systems 890; Master of Public and International Law 511
Prerequisite
Successful completion of Principles of International Law or equivalent.
Objectives
A student who has successfully completed this subject should:
- Be conversant with the international legal principles regulating the conduct of armed conflict
- Understand the principal institutional structures for the implementation of international humanitarian law
- Be aware of the influence of legal principles on military strategy and deployment
- Understand the key issues for further development of the law and current initiatives for change
- Appreciate the existence of critiques of the efficacy of the legal principles and be able to evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of the law.
Syllabus
Principal topics will include:
- The historical development of international humanitarian law and its rationale in a broader context
- The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977 and developments in customary international law
- The unique role of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in armed conflict
- The relationship of international humanitarian law to other related areas of international law, such as the use of force, arms control and disarmament, human rights and international criminal law
- Implementation of the law, through case studies
- Current issues for development of the law, such as cluster munitions, child soldiers, the protection of women in armed conflict, the law of occupation and terrorism.
