JUS361 International Humanitarian Law – 7,5 credits

Course Summary and Schedule

 

Part One: Substantive Law

1.   Week 1, Monday, Aug 21, a. Course introduction and administration. Fundamentals of international law, sovereignty and the state system, and the framework of the United Nations Charter. b. History and development of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

2.   Wednesday, Aug 23, History and fundamentals of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law through 1946.  The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg

3.        Week 2, Monday, Aug 28, Law of The Hague and the Law of Occupation

4.        Wed., Aug 30,. The Genocide Convention and current issues in Africa

5.        Week 3, Monday, Sept 4, The Law of Geneva, including the 1977 Protocols

6.        Wed., Sept 6,  a. Modern methods of warfare and conventional weapons, including mines.

 

Part Two: Accountability Mechanisms

7.        Week 4, Mon., Sept 11,  Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda 

8.        Wed.,  Sept 13, International Criminal Court

9.       Week 5, Mon., Sept 18, . Alternative mechanisms, including truth commissions.

 

Part Three: Implementation and Exercises

10.     Sept 20, Wed. Exercise #1  International Criminal Court (ICC). Contrasting European and American views.  Discussion of the impact of US opposition.

11.      Week 6, Mon. Sept 25,. Humanitarian Law Implementation: Somalia

12.      May 3,  Wed. Sept 27  Exercise #2  Israel and the Palestinians a. The building of the barrier wall b. Forced demolitions, including homes of families of suicide bombers.

13.      Week 7, Mon. Oct 2,  Humanitarian Law Implementation: Bosnia

14.      Oct 4, Wed. Exercise #3  Landmines and the Ottawa Convention. Contrasting European and American views. Discussion of US policy and the need for landmines.

15.      Week 8, Mon. Oct 9,  Humanitarian Law Implementation: Kosovo

16.      Oct 11, Wed. Course wrap up and final review.

 

Overview:

 

International Humanitarian Law, sometimes called the Law of Armed Conflict, is a branch of Public International Law. The course will begin with an introduction to the basic principles of international law and the historical development of rules developed by civilized nations protect the victims of armed conflict, including the Geneva Conventions.  The international criminal tribunals will be reviewed, as well as the current status of the Yugoslav Tribunal (ICTY), and the new court in Sierra Leone.  The International Criminal Court (ICC) will be the subject of a discussion: How to explain the different views about international justice between Europe and America?  Case studies will include Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo, based on the lecturer’s experience in those conflict zones. The course will include a combination of lecture and classroom discussion, and role playing “exercises” in which students will present arguments from different points of view.  The exercises will include the ICC, the Ottawa Convention and the current conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The fundamentals of international law will be presented; previous courses in the law are not required.

 

Teaching Objectives:

 

1.        To review the history and development of international law.

2.        To understand the challenges in the protection of victims of armed conflict.

3.        To understand the dynamic relationship between politics, human rights, and international law.

4.        To appreciate the difficulty of applying the international law to particular factual situations.

  1. To sharpen the analysis of current events, and how the law works in its daily practical application.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

 

REQUIRED TEXTS:

 

Crimes of War, Editors Roy Gutman and David Rieff, W.W. Norton and Company 1999  Paperback ISBN 0-393-31914-8  The book is designed as an A to Z guide to war crimes, and formatted as both a reference book for individuals in the field and as a visual and vivid source book for a wide variety of audiences, including the general reader. Crimes of War contains 140 original articles by some 90 journalists, jurists and scholars, as well as photographs which graphically underscore the authors' words. The text (less photographs) is available on-line at the web site www.crimesofwar.org 

 

Documents on the Laws of War, Third Edition, Adam Roberts and Richard Guelff, Oxford University press, 2000.  ISBN 0 19 876390 5.  The text is valuable because it provided the text of virtually all the important treaties, as well as concise summaries of the law and its history in the form of introductory comments. Note:  This text may be optional, if not easily available in Norway.  Most of the text is available on-line as the text of relevant treaties.

 

Reading assignments:  The text assignments are spread out over the quarter, some chapters may be optional.  Refer to the weekly assignments for details. All other reading material will be on electronic reserve (ERES): Items will be filed in a separate folder for each week, and should be completed in advance of the week required.  There will be no extra readings in the first two weeks, see the list below for all readings in the first two weeks of class. New items may be added to the ERES folder up to the Monday before the week required (one week in advance).  Some additional readings may be assigned in class or by e-mail.

 

OPTIONAL AND RECOMMENDED READING LIST: Will be posted on ERES during the second week of class, some of the material can be used for exercise preparation.

 

CURRENT EVENTS: It will be your responsibility to keep up with current events and international sources of news.  Some sources are provided as links below. This will provide a good source for classroom discussion and assist with the research for your papers and exercises.

 

LINKS: This document will be filed on ERES and you should be able to use the hyperlinks to go directly to web based resources. In some cases the article may be available only on electronic reserve.

 

One of the most useful sites is the one maintained by the Crimes of War Project. It has resources devoted to the current conflict in Iraq. The official site of the US State Department has a wealth of information, including current statements of public officials. US Department of State – Home Page  The United Nations has an excellent site at www.un.org.  There are sections concerning international law, international courts, and the campaign against terrorism. You will find useful sites for NGOs such as the campaign to ban landmines Home - International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the European Union Europa - The European Union On-Line. Also see Amnesty International - Working To Protect Human Rights Worldwide and Human Rights Watch - Defending Human Rights Worldwide

 

The New York Times is a good source of material, the on line version is The New York Times on the Web  Another good source is the Economist in London. Economist.com  There are a number of alternate news sources, and it is essential to get the views expressed in the media of the countries that you are researching.  For example, you can go to:

Arabic News Front Page for 9/25/2002 or the Al Jazeera site Aljazeera.Net English - Home Page

 

Weekly Assignments:

 

Week 1  Reading: 

Read the following short articles in Crimes of War:

Preface, Page 8

Foreword, Page 14

Act of War, Page 24

Combatant Status, Page 97

Customary Law, Page 113

Jus ad Bellum/Jus in Bello, Page 223

Just and Unjust War, p 224

Protected Persons, Page 295

 

Week 2 Reading: From Documents read the introduction, page 1 to page 46.

 

Read the short articles in Crimes of War: For Monday

International Humanitarian Law, An Overview, p 18

Belligerent Status, page 42

Civilian Immunity, page 84

Command Responsibility, page 98

Military Necessity, page 251

Military Objectives, page 253

Soldiers, Rights of, page 342

 

For Wednesday: Read the short articles in Crimes of War

Crimes Against Humanity, p 107

Crimes Against Peace, p 109

Due Process, p 127

Grey Areas in International Humanitarian Law, p 158

Total War, p 355

 

Week 3 Reading: On Electronic Reserve (ERES) under my name and this course title, Go to ERES folder week 3.

 

For Monday: Read the short articles in Crimes of War

Civilians, Illegal Targeting of, p 85

Collateral Damage, p 88

Collective Punishment, p 89

Mines, p 256

War Crimes, Categories of, p 374

 

For Wednesday: Read the short articles in Crimes of War

Genocide, p 153

Incitement to Genocide, p 192

Refoulement, p 304

 

COURSE PART TWO: ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS

 

Week 4 Reading: Go to ERES folder week 4 

 

Week 5 Reading: Go to ERES folder week 5                                                                                            

 

COURSE PART THREE: EXERCISES

 

On Wednesdays between week 5 and week 8 there will be three “exercises” in which students will play the roles of States and organizations facing difficult issues of international humanitarian law. There will be two opposing teams with approximately three people on each side.  The required paper will be a “position paper” that will state the position of the person writing the paper, it should be coordinated with the others on the team, and group effort is permissible and encouraged.  Exercises will be held on Wednesdays and the paper is due to be e-mailed to me before class on the Monday before the exercise.  This will allow me to post it on ERES and for students to see it before class on Wednesday. A “hard copy” needs to be turned in to me in class Monday so I can return it to you with a grade.

 

During the exercise each team will have about thirty minutes to state its position, this is often divided up by the team into three ten minute presentations. More information on exercise procedure will be provided in class, but the basic order and ground rules will be set by students. Students can sign up for roles beginning on the second day of class and sign up must be completed by the second week of class. Consider signing up for a role you may not necessarily agree with, you are bound to learn more in the process. You will have to sign up for a particular role, such as Exercise 3, Team A, Policy, and a sign up sheet will be used and posted on ERES. There may be some flexibility in assigning particular roles, if students have suggestions to add or modify certain subjects or roles. Each team should present a unified position, and it would be helpful to elect a spokesperson for each team. Each team should generally divide the responsibilities into three areas, policy, legal, and factual/technical/historical.

 

Information on exams and writing assignments will be provided in a later edition of this syllabus.