• To provide students with an understanding of the methods and means of warfare regulated by the law of armed conflict.
• To examine how the law of armed conflict treats the victims of war, including the wounded, sick, ship wrecked, prisoners of war and civilians.
• To examine how individuals are held accountable for breaching the law of armed conflict.

• An appreciation of the basic aim and function, and structure of the law of armed conflict.
• An understanding of the how the law of armed conflict seeks to restrict the means and methods of warfare.
• An understanding of how the law of armed conflict protects belligerents and victims.
• An ability to apply the law of armed conflict to hypothetical case studies.

• History and sources of the law of armed conflict.
• Basic principles of the law of armed conflict, e.g. distinction and proportionality; Customary and Treaty law; Applicability of the law of armed conflict; the armed forces of the belligerents including insurgents and terrorists.
• Conduct of Hostilities; Methods and means of warfare: Target restraints; Prohibited practices and weapons; Command responsibility; Air Operations; Maritime Warfare.
• Protection of victims: Prisoners of War; Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked; Civilians and Occupation of Territory.
• N egotiations between belligerents
• Humanitarian rules during internal armed conflict; `Asymmetric'' conflicts; Terrorism and the jus in bello .
• Application of the law of armed conflict during peace keeping and peace enforcing operations.
• Enforcement of the law of armed conflict; Role of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
• War crimes: definitions; State jurisdiction under national and international law; defences.
• International criminal tribunals: Nuremberg, Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Court.
• Incorporation of international law of armed conflict into national law and use of national courts for the prosecution breaches of the laws of armed conflict.

• Rogers, Law on the Battlefield , 2 nd ed, Juris Publishing, 2004.
• Dörmann, Doswald-Beck, and Kolb, War Crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Sources and Commentary , Cambridge University Press, 2003
• Provost, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law , Cambridge University Press, 2002
• Bouchet-Saulnier, The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law , Rowman & Littlefield, in conjunction with Médecins Sans Frontères , 2002
• Ratner & Abrams, Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities in International Law - Beyond the Nuremberg Legacy , 2 nd ed, Oxford University Press, 2001.
• Kalshoven, Constraints on the waging of war , Geneva, International Committee of the Red Cross, 2001
• Roberts & Guelff, Documents on the Laws of War , 3 rd ed , Oxford University Press, 2000
• Fleck, Dieter, ed., The Handbook of Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict, Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Sassoli & Bouvier, How does Law protect in War? Cases, Documents and Teaching Materials, on Contemporary Practice in International Humanitarian Law, Geneva, 1999
• International Committee of the Red Cross, Human Rights and the ICRC: International Humanitarian Law, Geneva, 1993.
• Kalshoven, Frits & Yves Sandoz, eds., Implementation of International Humanitarian Law, Dordrecht: Nijhoff, 1989.
• Moir, The Law of Internal Armed Conflict , Cambridge University Press, 2002.
• Green, The Contemporary Law of Armed Conflict , Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1987.
• Durham, The Changing Face of Conflict and the Efficacy of International Humanitarian Law , Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1999.
• Gardam, Humanitarian Law , Dartmouth, 1999.
• Strawson, Law after Ground Zero , GlassHouse, 2002.
• Swinarski (ed.), Studies and Essays on International Humanitarian Law and Red Cross Principles in honour of Jean Pictet , Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1984.
• Sunga, Individual criminal Responsibility on international law for serious human rights violations , Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1992.

Masters in International Relations ; Masters in Globalisation; MA in International Security and Conflict Studies