International Law & use of Armed Force

The purpose of the course is to examine the far-reaching changes that have occurred since the nineteenth century to the body of law governing the use of armed force (jus ad bellum). The United Nations Charter contained, for the first time, a prohibition on the use of force by individual states, except in self-defence, and established a system of collective security whereby the Security Council would take action in the name of the international community against aggressors to maintain or restore international peace and security.

The Cold War obstructed the effective realisation of these provisions; as a consequence of the paralysis of the Security Council, some states, to protect perceived essential national interests, adopted expansive concepts of self-defence, or other justifications of the use of force, of doubtful legality. The collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s led to a renewal of hopes that a system of collective security might function as originally intended. Those hopes have not been entirely fulfilled, but the concept of international peace and security has been expanded in the last few decades to embrace violations of human rights, denial of democracy, and urgent humanitarian needs, thus justifying collective action under the mandate of the Security Council.

The course will also examine the normative content of self-defence, both individual and collective, intervention on invitation, the role of regional organizations, the doctrine of humanitarian intervention, and the idea of a responsibility to protect (R2P). In doing so, it will consider the challenge of terrorism and the appropriate response by the jus ad bellum.

Topics may include:

• The history of Jus contra bellum: from the theory of "Just War" to the United Nations Charter;
• The scope of the prohibition of the use of force under the United Nations Charter;
• Military Intervention by Invitation;
• The exception of self-defence under the United Nations Charter and customary international law;
• The United Nations and the Use of Force: Chapter VII and the system of "authorizations" to use force;
• Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect;
• The Use of Force and Terrorism.

At the conclusion of the course students will:

• have a sound knowledge of the legal principles and rules governing the resort to force by States, illustrated by a number of cases;
• be aware of the relevant provisions of the United Nations Charter dealing with the use of force;
• be aware of relevant state practice in interpreting the United Nations Charter;
• have assessed the legality of particular uses of force in the international community.

Students must rely on the Approved Assessment which will be posted to the course homepage on the ANU Law website, prior to the commencement of the course.

26 Contact Hours (Intensive Delivery)

Click here for the 2010 timetable