International Humanitarian Law

Please note	There are no lectures of IHL on 8 and 15 April.
Teaching mode	Lecture on site, Podcast
Dozent/in	Dr. iur. Monika Plozza
Veranstaltungsart	Vorlesung
Code	FS251146
Semester	Frühjahrssemester 2025
Durchführender Fachbereich	Öffentliches Recht
Studienstufe	Master
Termin/e	wöchentlich (Di), ab 18.02.2025, 12:15 - 14:00 Uhr, 4.B47
Weitere Daten	April 10: Study visit in Geneva
Umfang	2 Semesterwochenstunden
Inhalt	Despite the fact that the UN Charter prohibits the use of force, armed conflicts 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 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 and suffering 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 analysed in the light of current developments, recent events and challenges to IHL.Highlight of the course is a study visit to the Museum of the International Red Cross in Geneva on 10 April 2025.
E-Learning	https://lms.uzh.ch/auth/repositoryentry/17675780180/infos/0
Lernziele	Students are able to identify, analyse 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	Benotete schriftliche oder mündliche Prüfung / 5 Credits
Hörer-/innen	Ja
Kontakt	monika.plozza@unilu.ch
Literatur	Essential teaching materials • Course reader “International Humanitarian Law”; • Treaty collection “International Humanitarian Law”. These materials will be available at the Studiladen and on OLAT. Further Reading Further reading can be done on the basis of any book on International Humanitarian Law. Treaties required for the exam • Geneva Conventions I-IV; • Additional Protocols I-III.