International Criminal Law

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• explaining the essential elements of the crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and how and whether these may be charged and prosecuted;
• explaining the historical evolution of international criminal law, its structure, development and application before international and national courts;
• explaining the basic provisions of the procedural and evidentiary systems and the main problems of international criminal investigations;

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• assess and evaluate competing and complementary solutions to the challenges of a globalised environment;
• engage and apply comparative and critical approaches to a wide variety of issues;
• think critically about international dimensions and implications across a range of contexts;

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• critically evaluate the roles, rights and influences of various stakeholders such as the United Nations Security Council, the African Union, NGOs, member and non-member States to the Rome Statute.
• analyse the essential elements of international crimes in terms of the ways in which these have been charged and prosecuted before the courts;
• demonstrate critical awareness of the relationships between international criminal law, its principles and mechanisms, and international law;
• apply the principles and rules of international criminal law to a practical case study;

The following topics are indicative of those, which will be covered. This area is a very dynamic field and changes in content, order, name and scope of topics may be necessary from year to year to current developments. The precise content of the module in any particular year will be confirmed in a module overview document, which will be distributed via the course Blackboard site before the first lecture.

The module will explore the developing field of international criminal law as it is being established by practice, including case-study discussion of the following aspects:

• General principles of international criminal law
• Prosecuting international crimes: international, hybrid & national criminal courts
• Genocide
• Crimes against humanity
• War crimes
• Crime of aggression
• Evidence and international criminal investigation
• Pre-trial procedures and jurisdiction
• The international criminal trial and principles
• Sentencing, penalties and reparations
• Victim participation and witness protection
• Political independence of the International Criminal Court
• The relationship between the ICC and the UN, member states, non-member states and NGOs

The module is taught by means of a weekly 2-hour lecture and fortnightly seminars. You will be expected to have read all materials assigned for a particular class and to take a full part in discussions about them.

Preparation for and participation in the weekly lectures and seminars will develop:

• the knowledge required to satisfactorily achieve the stated module learning outcomes
• your understanding of the underlying issues
• your ability to challenge widely held assumptions about law and legal decision making and how these impact on legal practice in a global context;
• your ability to assess and comment critically on the effectiveness of others’ legal arguments and to discuss and defend your own argument in writing and orally;
• your organisational and time management skills.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Exam

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback: You will receive individual written feedback plus oral feedback in class.
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.