Dr Patricia Palacios NAB6.34

This course is available on the MSc in Human Rights, 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 law governing the conduct of hostilities (jus in bello, also known as the law of armed conflict (LOAC) or international humanitarian law (IHL)). This course can be taken alone or together with LL4A8: International Law and the Use of Force. The course will take a critical and historical perspective on the international regulation and facilitation of armed conflict. It covers both the laws governing the means and methods of warfare (sometimes known as 'Hague' law) and those regarding 'protected' groups hors de combat ('Geneva' law) in times of armed conflict and occupation. The course will further consider the practice of 'lawfare' more generally: that is, recourse to law as an aspect of waging war.

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

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

Required texts: Yoram Dinstein, The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of Armed Conflict (Cambridge, 2010, Second Edition); David Kennedy, Of Law and War, (Princeton, 2006); Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars (Basic Books, 1977). 

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