LAW 487 - Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War

This course will examine the legal regimes and moral theories that govern the conduct of international and internal armed conflicts (jus in bello). In particular, the course will examine the historical origin and application of international agreements that seek to establish parameters for the conduct of armed conflicts, to include the Geneva Conventions and Hague Conventions. Issues to be addressed include the status of conflicts and combatants; the protection of noncombatants; the means and methods of war; lawful and unlawful weapons; lawful and unlawful targets; rules of engagement; war crimes; the law of internal armed conflicts; and terrorism. The Law of Armed Conflict’s four fundamental principles of distinction, military necessity, unnecessary suffering, and proportionality will be discussed, with the goal of developing a framework for examining past and current practices related to the means and methods of conducting war.

Students are advised that this course may include discussion and visual depictions of armed conflict and other acts of extreme violence. The textbook for this course is Gary D. Solis’s The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War (3rd ed., 2021). The class will be graded based on class participation and a research paper.