International Crimes (801M3)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Spring teaching

This module explores the definition and prosecution of ‘international crimes’, including those crimes defined under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court – war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.

You will critically explore what makes a crime an ‘international crime’ and how it is distinguishable from other types of criminality. You‘ll also explore the evolution of such crimes, the different actors involved, the definitional challenges and the politics of the international criminal law regime.

In addition to substantive law matters, the module will examine procedural dimensions of prosecuting international crimes at international and domestic levels, such as ICC’s complementarity regime, UN and hybrid tribunals, extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction and victim participation and reparations

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 280 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to COVID-19, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let our applicants know of material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.