Governing warfare concerns not only soldiers and lawyers but also practitioners and scholars of international affairs. Is it permissible to make a civilian acting as a human shield the object of an attack? What makes the use of unmanned combat vehicles and lethal autonomous weapons so controversial? Should a long-term occupier be forbidden to repeal local laws even when these laws stifle the occupied territory’s economic and social development? Is conferring legal standing and ownership upon non-state organised armed groups the solution to their uneven compliance with war rules?
Responding intelligently to these and other questions requires familiarizing oneself with the manner in which war is to be normatively regulated. This course’s six sessions described below introduce participants to the law of armed conflict, also known as jus in bello or international humanitarian law (IHL). Rather than superficially peruse IHL’s vast landscape, participants will acquire a solid understanding of its two core functions, namely: (a) how it facilitates and restrains belligerent conduct, and (b) how it ensures the protection and humane treatment of war victims. Throughout this course, we will maintain our focus on the broader historical and normative frameworks within which the law operates (the “why’s”), rather than the details of its technicalities (the “what’s”).
- Professor: Nobuo Hayashi