International Humanitarian Law

Dozent/in	Prof. Dr. iur. Martina Caroni, LL.M.
Veranstaltungsart	Vorlesung
Code	FS181424
Semester	Frühjahrssemester 2018
Durchführender Fachbereich	Öffentliches Recht
Studienstufe	Master
Termin/e	wöchentlich (Mo), ab 19.02.2018, 12:15 - 14:00 Uhr, 4.A05
Umfang	2 Semesterwochenstunden
Inhalt	Despite the fact that the UN Charter prohibits the use of force, armed con-flicts remain a reality in today's world. The special legal regime for situations of armed conflicts is provided by International Humanitarian Law (IHL). IHL neither addresses the reasons of nor the possible legal justifications of armed conflicts; instead it focuses on the protection of the victims of warfare. IHL aims at mitigating the effects of armed conflicts by constraining the means and methods of warfare and by obliging all parties to a conflict to protect persons not engaged in hostilities, mainly civilians and soldiers out of combat. Humanitarian law therefore aims at limiting harm caused by wars, thereby accepting the existence of armed conflict in today’s world. The course offers an introduction to IHL, its development, legal bases and challenges. It focuses on the two branches of international humanitarian law, the law of Geneva (protection of victims) and the law of The Hague (means and methods of warfare), the rules governing international and non-international armed conflicts as well as the implementation of those legal norms. These issues will be discussed and analyzed in the light of current developments, recent events and challenges to IHL.
Lernziele	Students are able to identify, analyze and assess issues relating to IHL when faced with situations of armed conflict.
Voraussetzungen	Basic knowledge of Public International Law and Human Rights Law recommended.
Sprache	Englisch
Abschlussform / Credits	Oral or written exam / 5 Credits
Hörer-/innen	Ja
Kontakt	martina.caroni@unilu.ch
Literatur	Essential teaching materials • The Course Reader „International Humanitarian Law“; • Copies of the four Geneva Conventions and the three Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions. These can be ordered for free from the International Committee of the Red Cross (http://www.icrc.org). The recommended literature will be available at the "Studiladen" at a special price. Further Reading Further reading can be done on the basis of any book on International Humanitarian Law. Legislation required for the exam • Geneva Conventions I-IV; • Additional Protocols I-III.