Eight week evening course - CPD accredited
This course will next run January - March 2013. Details below refer to the 2012 course and are subject to alteration.
This eight-week programme, carried out by way of a two-hour seminar each Monday evening, examines the laws of war and international criminal law from the perspective of international human rights law. It confronts the crucial questions: are human rights law, the laws of war and international criminal law three distinct disciplines? Have they now become so entwined that it is not possible fully to understand one without some knowledge of the other?
Humanitarian law, international criminal law and the law of human rights have many features in common. This course will make the links between these different strands of law and show how they work together and complement each other. It will also show where they are distinct and analyse why it is necessary to acknowledge that the three bodies of law are separate, despite the fact that the three strands work towards many of the same goals.
At the course's conclusion, participants will have a real grasp of how human rights law now informs all aspects of conflict and its aftermath, including terrorism and international crimes. A certificate of attendance from the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at LSE will be awarded to all those who have successfully completed the course.
Course components
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Human rights and international armed conflict
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Human rights and internal armed conflict
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Human rights and resort to force
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The relationship between human rights law and laws of war
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Human rights, conflict and International Criminal Law
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Women, war and conflict
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Children and other vulnerable groups in war and conflict
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Terrorism, war and conflict
Why take this course?
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Offers an in-depth analysis of law, war and human rights, including a detailed overview of international human rights standards relevant to war and conflict
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Makes the links between the laws of war, international criminal law and human rights law
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Offers access to leading human rights practitioners and academics
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Explains the interaction between anti-terrorism laws and international human rights law
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Engages with contemporary matters of great importance
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Provides a strong theoretical understanding of some of the key issues of our times
Who should take this course?
This course is relevant not only to those who need to be able to apply the international human rights law framework to the law of war in their work, but also to those who are interested in the added value of human rights, and in discussing and analysing all of these issues.
For those involved in developing government policy and practice, the course will be of great strategic value. Military lawyers will be able to use the course to update their knowledge. Equally the course will be highly beneficial for those who hold government to account, including journalists, campaigners, politicians and those acting for victims of conflict. Academics and students will find the course highly rewarding as will those with a general interest in war and conflict and how it is being regulated.
Teachers
The course is taught by a panel of distinguished experts, including:
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Dapo Akande, Lecturer in Public International Law and Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, University of Oxford.
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Professor Christine Chinkin FBA, Professor of International Law at LSE, and a member of Matrix Chambers.
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Professor Andrew Clapham, Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies Institute and former Representative of Amnesty International to the United Nations in New York.
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Professor Françoise Hampson OBE, Professor of Law at the University of Essex, barrister and expert in the fields of armed conflict, international humanitarian law and on the European Convention on Human Rights.
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Dr Jenny Kuper, Visiting Fellow at LSE, former consultant for UNICEF on law reform issues in Nepal, and for the International Committee of the Red Cross as the UK expert for the study on 'Customary International Humanitarian Law.'
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Professor Martin Scheinin, Professor or Public International Law at the European University Institute and former Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.
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Professor Gerry Simpson, Kenneth Bailey Chair of Law at the University of Melbourne, where he is Director of the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law, and Convenor of The Global Justice Studio. Visiting Professor of Public International Law at LSE.
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Professor Guglielmo Verdirame, Professor of International Law, King's College London, and barrister at 20 Essex Street.
The course is convened, and each session chaired, by Madeleine Colvin. Madeleine is a human rights lawyer who worked for several human rights organisations including Liberty and JUSTICE. She is the author of publications on surveillance and privacy. She is currently a human rights consultant and a part-time Immigration Judge. She is an Associate Tenant at Doughty Street Chambers, a member of the Ethics Group for the national DNA database, and a practising mediator focusing on equality issues.
Fees and administration
The course fee is £1,320.
Discounts may be available for group bookings.
The Centre is also able to offer up to seven subsidised places: up to five partially funded (half price, £660) and up to two fully funded places for those would otherwise be unable to attend.
The Centre anticipates that subsidised places will be awarded to those working in non-governmental or voluntary sector organisations who are able to demonstrate a clear benefit to their organisation.