OVERVIEW

The course is devoted to the analysis of the rules of international law concerning armed conflicts and the international criminal responsibility of individuals, offering highly specialised knowledge and analytical skills for those who wish to collect and analyse data related to armed conflicts, as well as independently develop innovative solutions.

UN SDG: 16 (Rule of law and access to justice

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course shall offer students with theoretical and methodological instruments to comprehend and contextualise the international law of armed conflicts, and international criminal law within the context of the global arena. Acquired competences shall allow students to perform legal, critical and independent analysis over armed conflicts and over the consequences following the violation of rules concerning the use of force and protection of civilians in international law

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students will be able to

• Understand rules on the prohibition to use force and the exception to the rule;
• Analyse cases of use of force, and classify them as international or non-international armed conflicts;

• Determine the moment and the conditions from which rules of humanitarian law are applicable;

• Critically analyse and apply rules on land warfare; maritime warfare; air warfare; neutrality; suspension of hostilities;

• Propose new solutions to current challenges and new warfare approaches in the law of armed conflicts;

• Comprehend elements of crimes for core crimes, as well as conditions under which individual criminal liability arises under international law;

• Comprehend and critically assess the functioning of the ICC, also in light of its relationships with the UN Security Council;

• Determine the consequences following the commission of core crimes, as well as consequences connected to the “chain of command”.

PREREQUISITES

Basic knowledge of public international law and good command of English

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures and exams will be held in presence.

All lecturer’s communication will be done via Aulaweb (see link below).

The course consists of face-to-face in-person lectures for a total of 36 hours (equivalent to 6 credits CFU/ECTS), during which theoretical notions will be contextualised in the light of practical (historical and/or current) cases. Occasionally, guests may be invited for in-depth and/or professionalizing lectures.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The following topics will be dealt with during classes:

• Evolution of the prohibition of the use of force;

• Exceptions to the prohibition of the use of force in international relations;

• Collective defence;

• Status of military forces abroad;

• Classification of internal and international conflicts;

• Classification of 'combatant';

• Basic principles in the conduct of military operations;

• Rules concerning the use of armed force;

• Rules concerning the protection of civilians and non-military objectives;

• International crimes, and universal and international criminal justice

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For book in Italian, see the ‘Scheda insegnamento’ in Italian.

For students attending classes:

1) Christine Gray, The Limits of Force, Recueil des Cours, 2015, vol. 376, pp. 101-195, and 

2) Jean-Marie Henckaerts, ouise Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law Volume I: Rules, open access online, limited to the rules studied during classes.

For students not attending classes:

Y. Dinstein, The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict, Third ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2016, Capitolo da 1 a 8, pp. 1-69, 72-128, 135-262, 264-282, 287-297;

D. Guilfoyle, International Criminal Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2016, Capitolo 4 (pp. 95-122) e capitoli da 7 a 14 (pp. 183-417).

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

STEFANO DOMINELLI (President)

FRANCESCA MAOLI (President Substitute)

LAURA CARPANETO (Substitute)

MARIA ELENA DE MAESTRI (Substitute)

CLARA PASTORINO (Substitute)

FRANCESCO PESCE (Substitute)

ILARIA QUEIROLO (Substitute)

PIETRO SANNA (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

"International peacekeeping and humanitarian law" is a course of 72 hours, composed by: - The Law of International Organizations  (prof. Francesca Maoli) and  International law of Armed Conflicts (prof. Stefano Dominelli). 

The two parts shall be done in sequence. Hence, the Law of Armend conflicts will begin once classes of prof. Francesca Maoli are over. More in particular:

- Introductory lectures [11 February 2025]: 6 hours;

- The Law of International Organizations [14 February 2025]: 30 hours, Prof. Francesca Maoli;

- International law of Armed Conflicts [25 March 2025]: 30 hours, Prof. Stefano Dominelli;

- Students' presentations: 6 hours.

For the beginning of classes, see official calendar UniGe.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The examination is oral, held in person and only during official exam sessions. It usually consists of three questions on the topics of the programme, and lasts approximately 15 minutes.

The exam, as the course, is in English.

In addition, and exclusively for those who attend two-thirds of the lectures in person, the lecturer may possibly introduce one optional tests during the very last class (multiple choice questions) that exempts from the oral examination for the corresponding part.

It should also be noted that attending in-person at least 50% of the lessons allows students be examined on the programme for 'attending students'.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Exams aim to test whether the student is able to identify, understand and apply the rules of the law of armed conflicts of the programme, as well as to use appropriate legal terminology.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

For the office hours, check the teacher's personal page.

For DSA: interested persons must get in touch with the departmental contact person and not the lecturer.