Dr Stephen Humphreys NAB5.12

This course is available on the MSc in Human Rights, MSc in Women, Peace and Security, Master of Laws and Master of Laws (extended part-time study). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course is capped at 30 students. Students must apply through Graduate Course Choice on LSEforYou.

Some prior knowledge of international law is useful but not essential.

This course covers the international law governing the conduct of hostilities (jus in bello, also known as the law of armed conflict (LOAC) or international humanitarian law)--as distinct from the law on the resort to force (jus ad bellum), which is covered in a separate course (LL4A8). The course will take a critical and historical approach to the international regulation and facilitation of armed conflict. As well as the laws governing the means and methods of war (‘Hague’ law), the ‘protected’ groups hors de combat (‘Geneva’ law), and the distinction between international and non-international armed conflict, the course will cover ‘lawfare’ more generally: the recourse to law as a means of waging war. It will examine the application of the laws of war, including occupation law, in historical, actual and ongoing conflicts, including recent wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, the 'war on terror', and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Students can expect to have a thorough grasp of the principles and regulations governing the conduct of hostilities, the context and efficacy of enforcement mechanisms, and a critical understanding of the normative and political stakes of international law in this area.

20 hours of seminars in the LT. 2 hours of seminars in the ST.

There will be a reading week in week 6. 

Students have the option of submitting a 2,000 word essay on a topic to be assigned during Lent Term. 

It is worthwhile acquiring the following book: Yoram Dinstein, The Conduct of Hostilities Under the Law of International Armed Conflict (Cambridge UP, 2nd ed., 2010 or 3rd ed., 2016). Other useful books include: Roberts and Guelff, Documents on the Laws of War (Oxford UP, 2000); Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars (Basic books, 4th ed. 2006); David Kennedy, Of Law and War (Princeton UP, 2006): Geoffrey Best, War and Law Since 1945 (Oxford UP, 1997). Detailed readings for each seminar will be made available on Moodle.

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the main exam period.