F1HH 5140 - Mass Cultural Violations/Crimes Under State Responsibility and Individual Criminal Responsibility

Exacerbated by the variety of diplomatic settlement bodies, regional human rights and supranational criminal courts, the international discourse tends to mix:

• State responsibility and individual criminal responsibility
• Mass human rights violations and international crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes).

Through a practitioner’s lens, the course will weave together a clear picture of these mechanisms by analysing their:

• Governance (broader historic, geopolitical, cultural, economic and social background)
• Practice (types of human rights violation and international crimes).

The course will show that, far from being static, the international order has been constantly rethinking its own foundations, by evolving from a State-centered system to an individual-centered one.

Learning Outcomes :

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Create a methodology to analyse the divergence and convergence between:
• State responsibility and individual criminal responsibility
• Mass cultural rights violations and international crimes.
• Clearly understand
• The international legislative process (the role of States, IGOs, and civil society organisations in diplomatic fora) and
• The adjudicatory mechanisms (international/regional courts and tribunals, arbitral bodies and diplomatic conflict resolution mechanisms).
• Adopt a holistic and multicultural stance towards international politics.
• Manage pragmatically the realities on the ground.

Professional Skills :

• Project management
• Team work
• Understanding stakeholders
• Understanding multiculturalism
• Creative thinking
• Critical thinking
• Problem solving

Basic understanding of international human rights (no legal skills required).

Interactive lectures (questions and discussions by students are encouraged). A specific time after the session will be organized to give feedback on the students’ work.

• Divided into groups drawn by lots (the group size will depend on the number of students enrolled), each group will:
• Submit, circa week 5, a 2,000-3000 word long take home paper on a topic provided in class (50% of the final grade)
• Make a presentation in the last class (40% of the final grade)
• Class participation: 10% of the final grade

• In class presence: 24 hours a semester
• Reading and preparation for class: 60 hours a semester
• Research and preparation for the group written assignment: 30 hours a semester
• Research and preparation for the individual class presentation: 30 hours a semester