Postgraduate Module Descriptor

LAWM716: The International Law of Military Operations

This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.

Module Aims

The module aims to provide you with a detailed understanding of the rules of international law governing the presence, status and conduct of military operations abroad outside the context of armed conflict. It explores an area of law that is highly relevant in practice and offers students an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the legal challenges raised by foreign military deployments.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the legal framework regulating the presence, status and conduct of military operations under international law; 2. Demonstrate critical understanding of the relationship between the distinct rules and legal regimes of international law applicable to the deployment of foreign armed forces.
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. Demonstrate the capacity to develop, apply and critically assess international legal arguments, using a wide range of appropriate primary materials and advanced scholarship; 4. Demonstrate critical understanding of the relationship between the different branches and sources of rules of law, including potential norm conflicts, and between legal and non-legal considerations impacting on legal argument and advice.
Personal and Key Skills	5. Process and evaluate effectively a substantial body of complex and sometimes contradictory legal and non-legal information; 6. Communicate and engage in debate effectively and accurately. 7. Work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

Presence and mandate of foreign forces
Jurisdiction and immunity

Status of forces agreements

Peacekeeping and peace support operations

Legal aspects of multinational operations

ROE, Self-Defence and Force Protection

Protection of vulnerable persons and groups

Military operations at sea

Air law and military operations

International responsibility and the armed forces

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
33	267

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	30	Seminars (10 x 3 hours): the main teaching method for the module consists of weekly seminars requiring active participation by all students under guidance of the module convenor.
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	3	Exercise: this activity will take place over two days and simulate a command post exercise to provide you with an opportunity to apply your knowledge in a practical setting.
Guided Independent Study	24	Preparation of seminar paper: for each seminar at least one student will research and write a paper on the seminar topic, presenting it to the rest of the group.
Guided Independent Study	200	Assigned seminar readings (including for the seminar paper).
Guided Independent Study	40	Preparation of the assessed/summative essay.
Guided Independent Study	3	Preparation for the exercise.

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

United Nations: www.un.org/en/

NATO basic texts: http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/57772.htm

HeinOnline: http://heinonline.org/

Opinio Juris (blog): http://opiniojuris.org/

EJIL:Talk! (blog): http://www.ejiltalk.org/