Armed Conflict and International Law

Overview

An introduction to the international legal regulation of the use of force and armed conflict based on the analysis of two key areas of international law: the legal obligations with respect to the peaceful settlement of disputes and the legal regulation of specific conduct during armed conflict.

Course Trailer


Detailed Course Description:*

This is an unusual course. It is about how law tries to limit and constrain humanity’s greatest scourge: war. It is about how law (the product of human reason) responds to mass violence (the failure of reason, often on a societal level).

This course has two main components. The first, addressing the so-called jus ad bellum, examines when states may lawfully resort to armed force against one another. This part of the course will cover international legal obligations with respect to the peaceful settlement of disputes; the general ban on the use of force in international relations and the related prohibition of forcible intervention in internal conflicts; the legal concept of “aggression”; and exceptions to the general ban on the use of force, both recognized (ie, the collective security architecture of the UN Charter; self-defence) and disputed (ie, humanitarian intervention).

The second part of the course addresses the so-called jus in bello (sometimes also called “the law of armed conflict” or “international humanitarian law”). This section will cover how violence may lawfully be used during armed conflict, including treatment of civilians, combatants, and prisoners of war; and permissible and impermissible means and methods of warfare.

* This description draws on the syllabi of Professor John Currie, who originally developed this course.

Teaching Method

This is a “flipped” course that emphasizes active and experiential learning. Lectures are delivered in on-line podcasts and videos. The course Brightspace page contains subject-matter “modules” in the course. These modules are built around the video lectures, the readings, and simulated conflicts. These features of the course are “asynchronous”" and done in advance of the synchronous sessions.

Upon successfully completing the asynchronous this aspect of the course, you will be able to:

1. explain in broad terms the historical origins and development of the main bodies of international law currently regulating resort to, and conduct in, international armed conflict;

2. describe the fundamental distinction between, as well as the key characteristics and fundamental principles of, the jus ad bellum and the jus in bello;

3. identify the main sources of each of the jus ad bellum and the jus in bello;

4. articulate and apply key substantive doctrines of international law relating to resort to the use of force in international relations;

5. articulate and apply key substantive doctrines of international law regulating specific conduct during armed conflict;

6. identify legal issues in various fact scenarios and analyze such issues to provide well-reasoned, persuasive international legal advice; and

7. engage in critical and informed debate concerning the nature, reality, content, strengths and shortcomings of the main bodies of international law currently regulating resort to, and conduct in, international armed conflict.

Then, in class, we apply this doctrine to simulated conflicts, best described a “reality-proximate”. That is, these conflicts are built around near-real events or possible events.

The classroom sessions leverage bespoke video imagery and AI, built on a video game sandbox platform. There are two active-learning simulated conflicts: first, Operation BALTIC SHIELD, a high-intensity conflict in Latvia involving Russia and NATO; second, the Sahara Crisis, a low-intensity conflict involving various belligerents in the north African region. The focus in the first scenario is “operational lawyering” in an imagined military legal advisor capacity. The focus in the second is on an investigative mandate in which an imagined UN investigator is charged with unearthing events.

This courses, in its very nature, is about violence. The video imagery is not gratuitous, but students will be working with material that is rated “M” for mature audiences.

By the end of the active learning component of the course, you should be able to:

• identify international law concepts relevant to real-world international disputes;
• apply international law concepts to complicated, real-world facts as part of a process of “operational” lawyering;
• assess the merits of international law claims arising in real-world international disputes;
• analyze the relevance of international law to real-world international disputes; and,
• construct basic predictions concerning the trajectory of real-world international disputes.

It is not possible to pursue a passive learning strategy in this class.

Prior International Law Courses not Required

There is no formal prerequisite to this course. Students who have not taken an introductory course in international law (and those who wish a refresher) will be directed to a short sequence of "primer" video explainers that they should complete in advance of the course. This will give students a sufficient background to under the terminology and context for the material in this course.

Students who have taken other, more specific courses *at the law school* in international humanitarian law (IHL) should not take this course. (For example, International Humanitarian Law, 1105D, offered in 2022 and before.) This is because much of the content of this course will be the same, even if the approach to the material is different. I will consider the possibility of JD students who nevertheless wish to take this course registering in it, and also completing the requirements typically assigned to graduate students, described below. Please contact the professor at cforcese@uottawa.ca to discuss.

NB: This proviso about duplicative courses does not extend to IHL course that students may have taken outside of a law school, in their other academic programs. Nor does it include courses where IHL was present, but not the focus.

If you wish to discuss the degree of overlap with past courses to confirm whether enrolment is advisable, please contact the professor at cforcese@uottawa.ca. I will generally support students inclined to build expertise in this area, and will only advise against enrolment where there is a preponderance of material that overlaps.

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