International Humanitarian Law

International Humanitarian Law (IHL), also known as the Law of Armed Conflict, is a set of rules that seeks to balance military priorities when engaging in armed conflict with humanitarian concern for those who are impacted by such operations. This body of law comprises at its core the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and the two 1977 Additional Protocols, as well as a myriad of associated treaty and customary international law that dates back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This course will investigate the humanitarian strategy that influenced the development of this body of law and will seek to assess its effectiveness. While international case law will be examined, the course will have a decidedly Australian perspective. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) applied this law to its fullest during involvement in the 2003 Iraq campaign and it continues to have application in operations conducted by the ADF in Afghanistan. Specific topics to be covered include:
-the dichotomy between the rules applicable to resort to force (jus ad bellum) and the rules applicable when engaging in armed conflict (jus in bello);
-the rules of distinction and proportionality;
-the intersection with international human rights law;
-the domestic legal incorporation of IHL;
-the normative interplay between law applicable to international and non-international armed conflict;
-the role of ethical/moral values when advising military command on the application of the law in the battlefield.
The course is designed for those who seek an introduction to the architecture of the law applicable to armed conflict, though it will also vigorously tackle the practical implications of the theoretical and doctrinal topics addressed.