| Unit name | International Law and Armed Conflict |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWDM0158 |
| Credit points | 30 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Kathryn Allinson |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None. |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
The opposition of law and violence is a fundamental feature of International Law. While law is understood to represent order, justice, and rationality, violence is understood to be chaotic, immoral, and as quintessentially embodying ‘might over right’. This unit examines how the relationship between law and violence applies in modern armed conflicts. We will explore fundamental questions regarding the nature of contemporary armed conflict, whether it can be tamed or even eradicated through law, and the nature of international law, including both its opposition to, and complicity with, violence in warfare. These questions will be explored through an examination of contemporary issues in warfare, including urban conflict (e.g., the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict), the weaponization of sexual violence, the role of new technologies in armed conflict (including cyber warfare) and the law of occupation (e.g. Israel and the West Bank).More generally, the course offers a unique opportunity to examine law’s claim to constrain violence.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit will provide you with contextualised examples of how international law applies to, and attempts to limit and regulate, modern armed conflicts. Throughout the unit, we will be discussing the relationship between law and war, war and peace, war and emerging weapon technologies, war and gender, and so on. In addition to a specific focus on armed conflict, the unit offers you with an opportunity to understand core international law concepts and appreciate different theoretical frameworks.
The unit is organised so that is both accessible to people who are new to international law, while also being challenging and provocative to those who have prior experience in the field. This is an optional unit for all programs, and especially suited for students who are interested in the Human Rights Law LLM, International Law LLM, International Law and International Relations LLM, and Socio-Legal Studies MSc.
An overview of content
The unit encompasses several bodies of international law, namely the United Nations Charter rules on the use of force (when war is lawful); International Humanitarian Law (the legal regime that applies during an armed conflict) including the Law of Occupation; and International Criminal Law, as well as how these regimes interact with other bodies of international law. The unit will examine how these bodies of law can be constructed and critiqued according to different theoretical traditions including formal and policy-based reasoning.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
Taking this unit will enable you to critically appraise discourses regarding violence and warfare in law.
The unit will help you develop your ability to make independently researched, theoretically informed arguments about what the law is and whether it is able to regulate warfare.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit, a successful student will be able to:
The teaching in this unit encompasses live and recorded lectures, reading exercises to be carried out independently, research exercises with formative feedback and, most importantly, discursive, participatory seminars with small group work activities for a minimum of 10 weeks. The teaching style is intended to develop your confidence and competence at carrying out independent, research-based analysis of legal issues. The unit will require directed and self-directed learning, which will include activities such as reading materials included in the unit’s reading list, researching supplementary materials, engaging in critical analysis, completion of tasks for in-seminar presentation, and completion of assessments.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
In addition to the formative assignment where you will receive individual written feedback on a coursework-style assignment (1,500 words), there are numerous individual and group-based participatory activities during seminars including debates, research exercises and critical discussion, from which you will receive immediate oral feedback from academic staff and your peers.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
The unit will be assessed by one 4,000 word, essay-style piece of coursework for which you will be expected to carry out research beyond the unit reading list. This assessment will cover all Intended Learning Outcomes for this unit.
When assessment does not go to plan:
When a student fails the unit and is eligible to resubmit, the unit will be reassessed on a like-for-like basis with new assessment questions.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LAWDM0158).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
