International Humanitarian Law

This course is designed to provide candidates with a comprehensive introduction to the regulation of international and non-international armed conflicts within international law (otherwise known as the jus in bello, in contrast to the jus ad bellum (or the international legal regulation of force)).

One of the guiding themes shall be the historical evolution of and assumptions behind this law, spanning from some of the original articulations of this field (1863 Lieber Code) to where things stand today. A brief introduction to moral, military and cultural philosophy shall be followed by an assessment of the basic framework for regulation established by the four Geneva Conventions of August 1949 and their Additional Protocols of June 1977. We shall then investigate key components of this law—the system for distinguishing between lawful and unlawful combatants, the protections offered to prisoners of war in the Third Geneva Convention, and the scope of so-called ‘fundamental guarantees’ contained in the First Additional Protocol. We shall also consider the principles governing targeting decisions during hostilities, and the means (e.g. nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, landmines and laser weapons) and methods (e.g. sexual violence and starvation) of warfare.

Throughout, our classes shall be informed by a series of case studies (e.g. the conditions of Guantánamo Bay; the treatment of prisoners-of-war during the Ethiopian–Eritrean War (1998–2000); the targeting decisions during Operation Desert Storm (1991) and Operation Allied Force regarding Kosovo (1999)) and consideration shall be given to specific fields of protection (e.g. the environment, cultural property and belligerent occupation) and the burgeoning jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice in this area (e.g. Israeli Wall Advisory Opinion (2004), Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion (1996)). Our classes shall conclude by an examination of the evolution in thinking on the implementation and enforcement of this law in all its many manifestations—the role of belligerent reprisals, the system of protecting powers, the phenomenal rise of international criminal law and the prospect of amnesties as envisaged by international humanitarian law.

Tutor: Prof Kritsiotis