SOC032 International Criminal Law

Faculty of Law
Spring 2013
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
JUDr. Kateřina Uhlířová, Ph.D., LL.M. (lecturer)
Hana Brzobohatá (assistant)
Guaranteed by
JUDr. Kateřina Uhlířová, Ph.D., LL.M.
Department of International and European Law – Faculty of Law
Contact Person: prof. JUDr. Ing. Michal Radvan, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of International and European Law – Faculty of Law
Prerequisites
Basics of Public International Law. However, general characteristics of Public International Law will be introduced. Basic knowledge of domestic criminal law of the student's countries of origin is an advantage.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
International Criminal Law is a fascinating and rapidly developing branch of international law. While the domestic criminal law deals primarily with less complex crimes, the crimes under international criminal law (such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity) are mostly of a systematic, large-scale and collective character. As Cassese puts it: „This body of law, more than any other, results from a myriad of small or great tragedies. This branch of law is about human folly, human wickedness and aggressiveness. It deals with the darkest side of our nature.“ The aim of this course is to focus not only on the theoretical background of international criminal law. The emphasis will be also on the explanation how international criminal law actually works in practice and how students as future practising lawyers can benefit from the knowledge of international criminal law. I believe that by way of analyzing of cases (and not only learning the black-letter rules) you will, during the course, enhance your doctrinal knowledge, issue-spotting, and analytical ability: skills necessary for all capable and thoughtful lawyers. Selected cases from various international criminal tribunals and courts will be analyzed during this course. The analysis will include: the legal context for the judgment, discussion of the broader (political/historical/social) context, analysis of legal arguments with the aim of provoking critical legal reasoning, explaining the core issues of the case. This course will seek to explore the nexus between law and facts, theory and practice, means and ends. In the course, aspects of both substantive law and procedure, the rules of evidence and trial tactics will be considered. In case of interest, the moot court may be organized at the last seminar. Presentations given by lecturers or practitioners from abroad planned (e.g. lecturers from the United Kingdom/University of Wales Aberystwyth, practitioners from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia/ICTY or from the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Syllabus
  • 1.Introduction 1.1. General Remarks 2.1. Historical Evolution 3.1. General Characteristics of ICL 4.1. Definition of International Criminal Law 5.1. What are Crimes Under International Law? 2. General Principles of ICL 3. Crimes and Elements of Crimes 3.1. War Crimes 3.2. Genocide 3.3. Crimes against Humanity 3.4. Crimes against Peace/Crime of Aggression 4. Individual Criminal Responsibility 4.1. Mental Element 4.2. Modes of Criminal Responsibility 4.3. Command Responsibility 5. Grounds for Excluding Criminal Responsibility/Defenses 5.1. Necessity and Duress 5.2. Self-Defense 5.3. Mistakes 5.4. Defenses not Admitted a) Tu quoque b) Superior Orders c) Official Capacity/Immunity 6. International Criminal Courts and Tribunals 6.1. General remarks on International Jurisdiction 6.2. Ad Hoc Tribunals A. The creation of the ICTY and ICTR B. Special Characteristics of the ICTY and ICTR 7. Hybrid Courts: Special Court for Sierra Leone, Regulation 64 Panels Kosovo, Special Panels in East Timor, Extraordinary Chambers in Cambodia 8. International Criminal Court 9. Main Elements of Procedure
Literature
  • Any
  • CASSESE, Antonio. International criminal law. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, li, 455. ISBN 9780199203109. info
  • CRYER, Robert. An introduction to international criminal law and procedure. 1st pub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, xliv, 477. ISBN 9780521876094. info
Teaching methods
Lectures and class discussions
Assessment methods
Examination - credit requirements (6 ECTS credits):Written essay (choosing any of the cases analyzed during the course), Oral exam - discussion including the issues raised by the essay.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2008, Spring 2009, Autumn 2009, Spring 2010, Autumn 2010, Spring 2011, Autumn 2011, Spring 2012, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Spring 2014, Autumn 2014, Spring 2015, Autumn 2015, Spring 2016, Autumn 2016, Spring 2017, Autumn 2017, Spring 2018, Autumn 2018.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2013, recent)
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