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CREDIT HOURS: 3

This seminar explores the development and operation of International Humanitarian Law (also known as the Law of Armed Conflict) which is the body of public international law that regulates conduct during armed conflict. International Humanitarian Law has been an important component of international law for centuries. It is a body of preventive law which is intended to reduce net human suffering by limiting the right of parties to a conflict to use methods and means of warfare and to protect persons and property that may be affected by conflict. As states are less willing to accept restrictions on how they fight than to accept restrictions on how they treat victims of war and less willing to accept restrictions on how they treat internal opponents than to accept restrictions on how they treat the nationals of other states, the laws concerning protection of victims are more elaborate than those which affect war fighting and the laws for international conflicts are more elaborate than those which apply to non-international conflicts. There is a debate concerning the extent to which the law applies to transnational non-state actors (the Global War on Terror). The course will address how law purports to regulate conduct in extreme situations. It will also endeavour to assess how new legal approaches might be used to strengthen the law and provide enhanced protection to victims of war. Specific topics addressed may vary from year to year depending on student and instructor interest. This course touches on some of the topics referred to in International Criminal Law but there is very little duplication and students interested in the subject matter could benefit from taking both courses.

ENROLMENT: Limited to 16 students.

Prerequisite(s):Ìý±·´Ç²Ô±ð.
Co-requisite(s): Recommended but not mandatory; International Law (LAWS 2012).
Assessment Method: Class participation, in-course assignments and a major paper.
Restrictions:Ìý±·´Ç²Ô±ð.