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Basic concepts and history of IHL

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International Humanitarian Law in Theory and Practice

Universiteit Leiden

4.8 (227 ratings) | 9.2K Students Enrolled

“International Humanitarian Law in Theory and Practice” is the first MOOC of the Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum on International Humanitarian Law, which is the platform within the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden University for the research, teaching and dissemination of international humanitarian law (IHL). In this course, Prof. Robert Heinsch, Dr. Giulia Pinzauti and Dr. Emma Irving will give you a deep insight into the rules that govern armed conflict, and aim to mitigate human suffering on the battlefield. You will explore the why and how of IHL, followed by the different types of conflict. In no time you will find out which rules apply to the civil war in Syria, the military intervention in Ukraine and the occupation of the West Bank. During this course, you will learn how hostilities should be waged: Which weapons can be used by combatants and other fighters? And, who should never be a target during military operations? We will also look into the concept of protected persons, and you will find out how IHL affords protection to the sick and wounded, medical personal, detainees, children, journalists and other persons who are not - or not anymore - fighting. At the end of this course, you are introduced to the different implementation and enforcement mechanisms that aim to increase respect for IHL. Here, you are invited to think critically whether IHL works! Throughout this course you will benefit from a mix of theory and practice, which is at the heart of the vision and mandate of the Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum. You can participate for instance in an ongoing case study where drones are flying over the fictitious country Arfula, and detainees are locked up in tiny cells. Or, you can join our discussions about IHL success stories and the major IHL challenges we face today, with distinguished speakers from the International Committee of the Red Cross and US Naval War College! This course is free to join and to participate in. There is the possibility to get a verified certificate for the course, which is a paid option. If you want a certificate, but are unable to pay for it, you can request financial aid via Coursera.

Skills You'll Learn

International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Law

Reviews

4.8 (227 ratings)

5 stars
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AI

Jan 30, 2019

This course is very well structured and the video lessons are thoroughly explained, in a language for anyone to understand. I am really enjoying it so far!!

AO

May 11, 2019

Enlightening and complete, this course is a great option for anyone who wants to learn important concepts of IHL. I strongly recommend it.

From the lesson

Introduction to International Humanitarian Law

In the first week, we will introduce you to the basic concepts of IHL, its history and place in the international legal order. We will discuss two different areas of IHL, “Hague law” and “Geneva law” respectively, and its main legal instruments. At the end, we will look at armed conflict and the protection of war victims from a human rights law perspective, in an engaging discussion with Prof. Helen Duffy.

Basic concepts and history of IHL8:44

Welcome to the Arfula case study2:14

Taught By

Robert Heinsch
Prof. Dr.
Giulia Pinzauti
Dr.
Emma Irving
Dr.
Cinny Buys
LL.M.

Welcome to this introductory video on international humanitarian law.

The first question we are going to answer in this video

is: What is international humanitarian law?

International humanitarian law, also known as the law of

armed conflict or use in bello or simply IHL is

a specialized field of public international law which primarily

regulates the conduct of parties engaged in an armed conflict.

IHL seeks to limit the consequences of armed conflict and aims to protect individuals,

whether they're civilian or military and whether wounded or active.

To mitigate the effects of war,

belligerent states and other armed groups engaged in the conflict are

obliged to conduct hostilities within certain legal boundaries.

IHL ultimately seeks to strike a balance between two main underlying principles,

the principle of humanity and the principle of military necessity.

The principle of military necessity permits the use of

force that is necessary to achieve the aim of a conflict,

but with limits to the expenditure of life and resources.

The principle of humanity forbids the infliction of suffering,

injury or destruction which would be unnecessary to win the war.

These two principles shape the entire body of law and are inherent in

most of the more detailed rules stemming from

the Geneva Conventions or the Hague regulations.

On the basis of the fundamental idea that

military necessity needs to be balanced with humanitarian considerations,

a few operational principles follow that

must be applied by armed groups on the battlefield.

These principles include those of distinction,

proportionality, precautions and the prohibition of unnecessary suffering.

We will have a thorough look at the meaning of

these principles at a later stage in this MOOC.

Coming back to the first question:

What areas does IHL cover?

Generally speaking, IHL covers two areas or branches known as Hague law and Geneva law.

Hague law restricts the means and methods of warfare.

According to these rules,

there are certain limitations upon the weapons that can be used in armed conflict,

and hostilities can only be conducted in limited ways.

This area is also referred to as the law governing the conduct of hostilities.

Geneva law protects persons in armed conflict,

such as military personnel and civilians who are

not or who are no longer directly participating in hostilities.

This branch of IHL dictates that fighters who have

laid down their arms, medical personnel, detainees,

civilians and women and children should always be treated

humanely and stipulates certain standards on how to treat them.

We also refer to this area as the law governing protected persons.

These two branches of IHL draw their names from

the cities where the respective treaties were initially codified,

the Hague and Geneva.

Hague law refers to the Hague Convention of 1899 and 1907 and the laws on

the protection of certain individuals were laid down in the four 1949 Geneva Conventions.

A substantial part of IHL has been codified in the revised 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Because nearly every state in the world has signed and ratified these conventions,

they have become one of

the most widely accepted international treaty bodies in the world.

Both the Hague regulations and the Geneva Conventions have been

developed and supplemented by the Additional Protocols of 1977,

relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts.

The protocols aimed to combine these two branches of IHL,

and as a consequence,

the distinction between Hague law and Geneva law has since become less relevant.

In addition to these key sources of IHL,

there are other agreements which explicitly

prohibit the use of certain weapons and military tactics,

such as the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and its five protocols.

Many provisions of IHL are now accepted as

customary law which means that they bind all states,

regardless of whether these states have rectified their respective treaties.

Let us now have a brief look at the history of IHL.

War is as old as society itself and even in ancient civilizations and religions,

it was governed by a set of rules,

sometimes expressed in codes of honor or local agreements.

These ancient regulations however no longer served their purposes when

the industrial revolution led to the rapid rise of mass armies and powerful weapons.

As a result, harsh practices took place on the battlefield.

For instance, in the American Civil War.

In response to the large number of casualties,

several humanitarian initiatives were sparked.

In Europe the birth of modern IHL was

initiated by a young businessmen from Geneva, Henry Dunant.

In 1859, on his journey through Italy,

Dunant witnessed wounded and dying soldiers on the battlefield of Solferino.

This experience moved Dunant to begin a process that

resulted in the creation of two key pillars of IHL.

First, he initiated the establishment of

an independent relief organization which

could take care of the wounded and sick on the battlefield.

The International Committee of the Red Cross,

also known as the ICRC.

As a second measure,

he motivated the major powers at that time to

adopt the original and first Geneva Convention for

the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Armies in the Field, in 1864.

Since then, IHL has developed into one of

the most comprehensive and universally recognized bodies of international law.

The final question we would like to answer in this lecture is:

where does IHL stand in the international legal order?

IHL is a specific field within public international law.

It is the body of law that regulates the conduct of parties engaged in an armed conflict.

One of its crucial characteristics is that IHL applies only if an armed conflict exists.

IHL however does not regulate whether

the use of force by one state against another is lawful.

Whether the resort to force is lawful in

the first place is regulated by a different body of law,

the law on the use of force also called the jus ad bellum.

IHL applies to armed conflict,

but it is certainly not the only body of law that applies in situations of war.

Human rights law, for instance,

applies in peace times but continues to apply in wartime situations.

Human rights law, like IHL,

strives to protect the lives, the health and

the dignity of individuals albeit from a different angle.

While IHL and human rights law have similarities,

these bodies of law also have

important differences in their origins and scope of application.

The final body of law we would like to cover is International Criminal Law.

One method to enforce IHL or in other words prevent and repress

violations of IHL is the initiation of criminal prosecution and sanctions.

IHL itself does not regulate in detail how such criminal prosecution

and sanctions should be carried out when the laws of armed conflict are violated.

This is the task of domestic and international criminal law.

We will explore the enforcement of IHL or criminal law at a later stage in this MOOC.

In summary, we have seen that IHL is a body of law that is

specifically established to regulate the conduct of parties engaged in an armed conflict.

By setting boundaries to the way that hostilities can be

conducted and by providing rules on the protection of wounded soldiers,

detainees and civilians, IHL aims to mitigate human suffering on the battlefield.

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