ONE YEAR ADVANCED DIPLOMA IN INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

COURSE STRUCTURE

1.1. INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

I. Introduction

• IHL and Public International Law
• Jus in bello and jus ad bellum

II. Definition and Concept of International Humanitarian Law:

• Fundamental Principles of IHL
• Sources of IHL
• Ancient Indian and Oriental Philosophies on the Law of War
• Eastern and Western Philosophies on the Law of War
• History of International Legal Instruments on the Laws of War

III. Application of IHL

• Definition of War (Traditionally viewed as an International Conflict)
• The Concepts of International and Internal Armed Conflicts
• Applicability of IHL in Various Conflict Situations & Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions: Its Applicability and the question of threshold

IV. IHL and Human Rights

• Origin, Development and Scope of Human Rights Law
• A Comparative Study of the Two Bodies of Law - Similarities, Differences and Areas of Overlap
• Application of Human Rights Provisions in Conflict Situations - Conditions and Provisions for Derogation
• Applicability of Human Right's Norms to Internal Disturbances and Tensions
• Treatment of Detainees and others Deprived of Liberty - Applicable Norms
• Developments concerning a Declaration of Minimum Humanitarian Standards.

1.2. PROTECTION OF VICTIMS OF WAR AND ARMED CONFLICTS

I. Introduction

II. The General Obligation of Humane Treatment

III. Protection to the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked

• Medical personnel
• Medical objects
• Work of Relief Societies. Importance of the Emblems

IV. Participants in the Conflict: Definitions of Combatants and Non-combatants

V. Protection of Prisoners of War

• Determination of Status
• Treatment, supervision and repatriation

VI. Protection of Civilians

• Protection against arbitrary treatment
• Protection of Women and Children. Question of Child Soldiers.
• Protection of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
• Civilians in Occupied Territories

VII. Activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross in favour of victims of armed conflicts.

1.3. LIMITATIONS ON MEANS AND METHODS OF WARFARE

I. Introduction

• Protection of civilians against effects of hostilities

II. General Limitations on Means and Methods of Warfare

• Principles applicable to means and methods of warfare
• Definition of military objectives and civilian objects

III. The Law Relating to Naval Warfare

IV. The Law Relating to Air Warfare

V. Specific Weapons Regimes

• Some early developments
• Chemical, Biological and Bacteriological Weapons
• Nuclear Weapons
• Conventional Weapons (Conventional Weapons Convention and its Protocols)
• Anti-personnel Landmines
• Recent Developments (Small Arms, Unexploded remnants of armed conflicts, etc.)

VI. Protection of Environment in Times of Armed Conflicts

VII. Protection of Cultural Property in Times of Armed Conflicts

1.4. IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

I. Introduction

II. National Implementation of IHL

• Role of national legislations
• Other national measures for IHL implementation

III. International Implementation of International Humanitarian Law

• Role of the United Nations
• System of Protecting Powers
• Role of the ICRC
• International Fact-finding Commission

IV. International Criminal Law Mechanisms for Implementation of IHL

• Introduction to the general concept of war crime trials
• Early War Crimes Trials - Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials
• The ad hoc War Crimes Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda
• Developments Concerning Creation of a Permanent International Criminal Court

V. Special Issues Concerning Implementation of IHL in Times of Internal Armed Conflicts