杏吧论坛

Prof Jens Meierhenrich CBG.10.01

This course is available on the MSc in Gender, Peace and Security, MSc in International Affairs (杏吧论坛 and Peking University), MSc in International Relations, MSc in International Relations (杏吧论坛 and Sciences Po), MSc in International Relations (Research), MSc in Theory and History of International Relations and MSc in Theory and History of International Relations. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

All students are required to obtain permission from the Teacher Responsible by completing the online application form linked to course selection on 杏吧论坛 for You. Admission is not guaranteed.

This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access) and demand is typically high.

This taught graduate seminar introduces students to the theory and history of international accountability. Focusing on justice mechanisms from the Nuremberg, Tokyo, and Eichmann trials to the Waitangi Tribunal and international commissions of inquiry, and from the UN ad hoc tribunals to—especially—the International Criminal Court, the course inquires deeply into the violence of international law. Bringing critical international theory to bear, it blends methodological approaches from law, the social sciences and the humanities. By thinking critically about international law, the seminar raises––and answers––pertinent theoretical and empirical questions about the power—and pathologies—of international organizations. Paying special attention to the ICC’s ongoing investigations and prosecutions––its so-called Situations––the course exemplifies the politics of international law in the context of one of the most embattled international organizations in the international system.

This course is delivered through ten 2-hour seminars totalling a minimum of 20 hours across Lent Term. Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy.

Students are required to research and write one formative essay (1,000 words) due in Week 7 of Lent Term. Essays must be fully - and carefully - referenced using one of the major conventions consistently.