International Courts and Criminal Tribunals: Theory and Practice 2751-IP-S2-1-ICCT

The course on International Criminal Courts and Tribunals consist of 15 hours. Its aim is to get the students acquainted with the theoretical and practical aspects of the work of the title tribunals and their jurisprudence, in particular of the ad hoc international criminal tribunals namely the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The students together with the teacher analyze the most important and most representative judgments of those Tribunals in the sphere of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Within the lecture the new concepts introduced in the Tribunals jurisprudence will be included, ex. overall control test from the ICTY caselaw. This jurisprudence is very important as it immensely contributed to clarification and explanation of a large number of IHL rules making this branch of law more coherent and clear.

Total student workload

Participation in classes – 15h Direct preparation for classes (including consultations and feedback) – 10h Reading literature – 25h Preparation for a test – 25h Total: 75h (3 ECTS).

Learning outcomes - knowledge

A student: K1: has profound knowledge about the objective and methodological character of international politics, knows the terminology, aims and principles of international humanitarian law, including the definitions of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide (K_W01); K2: has systematic knowledge about international justice system (K_W03); K3: has profound knowledge about the rights of the individual and communities in the international arena (K_W07).

Learning outcomes - skills

A student: S1: analyses the jurisprudence of international criminal tribunals and courts (K_U01); S2: analyses and interprets legal texts of international humanitarian and international criminal law (K_U10).

Learning outcomes - social competencies

A student: SC1: is ready to autonomously and critically evaluate the information (K_K01); SC2: is able to think and act in a creative manner (K_K03).

Teaching methods

Conventional lecture, case study

Expository teaching methods

- informative (conventional) lecture

Exploratory teaching methods

- presentation of a paper

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of public international law and ability to speak English.

Course coordinators

Agnieszka Szpak

Assessment criteria

As a rule a written final test (K1, K2, K3, S1, S2), exceptionally also oral examination. The final test consists of three questions – the first two scored 3 points, the last one 1 point. To pass the test 3 points are needed.
3 points = note: 3
4 points = note: 3,5
5 points = note: 4
6 points = note: 4,5
7 points = note 5

The final note will be calculated on the basis of test note and an oral presentation note.

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 2751-IP-S2-1-ICCT in USOSweb