Course Listings – LLM-MAS Optional Courses

This course explores the multifaceted interlinkages between displacement and armed conflict under contemporary international law. Although armed conflicts constitute the main cause of displacement, the international legal regime is both fragmented and contested. Despite their obvious commonalities, internal displacement and refugee movements are governed by different international instruments and the two types of displacements have remained largely disconnected from each other in both law and practice. This has been exacerbated by the fragmentation of the applicable legal regime among a broad range of instruments and disciplines (human rights law, humanitarian law, refugee law, criminal law).

Against this background, the course offers a comprehensive and systemic approach from a legal pluralism perspective. It critically assesses the main challenges associated with internal displacement and refugee protection in times of war and provides an in-depth analysis of the broad variety of international legal norms governing displacement and armed conflict. The course will aim at providing students with a solid understanding of the applicable legal frameworks, their intricacies, strengths, and weaknesses.

Convenor: Vincent Chetail

This course introduces the concept and practice of guarantees of non-recurrence, a core element of transitional justice. Guarantees of non-recurrence are concerned with the preventive dimension of transitional justice. The course starts with a discussion of the concept, its origins and its legal bases. It will then consider guiding principles to design prevention strategies in societies confronted with legacies of mass atrocities. The remaining sessions are focused on concrete prevention measures: security sector reform; vetting; mental health and psychosocial support; and memorialisation.
Convenor: Alexander Mayer-Rieckh

Indigenous peoples, linguistic minorities and ethnic groups, among others, typically claim a wide range of group-differentiated rights or accommodations in order to protect their specific cultures, overcome a history of abuse, and attain a higher level of equality vis-à- vis the larger majority population. Over the last decade, the discussion on how to accommodate such claims has become prominent in the growing literature on transitional justice and development. Managing diversity surely remains a challenge in all societies; yet, this task is especially acute in transitional societies divided along ethno-cultural lines that need to confront a legacy of past injustices. This course traces the main lines of these debates with a view to identifying different approaches to managing diversity and their implications for human rights, democratic governance and political justice in transitional societies. Applying an intersectional analysis, the discussion aims at acknowledging the complexity of the experiences of injustice and discrimination that continue to damage inter- group relations, thus posing a significant threat to the success of political and social reforms. A practical and comparative focus will be provided through class discussions on specific cases from a variety of contexts.

Convenor: Neus Torbisco Casals

This course examines the mechanisms designed to ensure respect for and compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL) at both the national and international levels. Participants will explore the concept of enforcement, the distinction between implementation and accountability, and the various actors involved in promoting compliance with IHL during peacetime and armed conflict.

The course begins with an introduction to the concept of enforcement and the measures required for the effective implementation of IHL. It then examines national implementation mechanisms during peacetime, including dissemination among civilian populations, training of military personnel, legislative and institutional measures, and the role of National IHL Committees. Particular attention is given to implementation during armed conflict, including monitoring, disciplinary measures, criminal investigations and prosecutions, training of allied armed forces, diplomatic action, and sanctions. Mechanisms relevant in both peace and wartime, such as voluntary reporting, criminal prosecutions, transitional justice processes, and cooperation with international bodies, are also considered.

The course further analyses the international framework for the enforcement of IHL. Participants will examine the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC), established under Article 90 of Additional Protocol I, as the only permanent mechanism expressly provided for by IHL. The course also explores enforcement through State responsibility, including the contribution of the International Court of Justice and the role played by regional human rights mechanisms, notably the European Court of Human Rights, the African human rights system, and the Inter-American system.

The course then addresses enforcement through individual criminal responsibility, examining the contribution of international, hybrid, universal, and domestic jurisdictions to the prosecution of war crimes and other serious violations of international law.

Finally, participants will explore monitoring and accountability mechanisms established within the United Nations system, including the Universal Periodic Review, Special Procedures, treaty bodies, commissions of inquiry, and fact-finding missions. The course also considers the contribution of regional organizations, including the OSCE, to the promotion of compliance with IHL.

Throughout the course, particular attention will be given to the role of National IHL Committees, including a case study of the French National IHL Committee, comparative perspectives from other national committees, and recent developments arising from the Global Initiative on National IHL Committees, including Workstream #2.
Convenor: Julia Grignon

The course will aim at better understanding the role and regulation of Armed Non-State Actors (ANSA) in contemporary armed conflicts. We will try to understand what types of actors are concerned and how IHL, Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law address them. We will also study the impact of anti-terrorist legislation on the issue and if and to what extent humanitarian engagement with ANSA is feasible or even desirable. The course will be based on legal and policy considerations.

Convenor: Annyssa Bellal

International human rights obligations are often singled out as displaying a low level of compliance. This invites careful reflection about international mechanisms designed to monitor compliance with human rights. After the first two sessions which will attempt to situate human rights in the broader universe of compliance and think about the scope of human rights monitoring, this course will examine various monitoring mechanisms ranging from peer review and self-reporting to mechanisms involving review by independent third parties (courts and expert bodies) and will reflect about the law and politics shaping and informing those mechanisms. The course will also attempt to identify broader patterns emerging from international human rights monitoring such as the growing role of civil society and strategic uses of international human rights litigation.

Convenor: Fuad Zarbiyev

IHL governs weapon choices, and bans the use of certain arms. It aims to ease suffering in armed conflicts by regulating combatants’ behaviour and weaponry. In this course the fundamental principles of weapons law and disarmament law will be addressed. The course will also look at the use of drones, mines and cluster munitions so as to bridge the disarmament law-IHL gap/relationship.