LW968-6-SP-CO:
International Criminal Justice
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2025/26
Essex Law School
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 6
Inactive
Monday 12 January 2026
Friday 20 March 2026
15
05 April 2023
Requisites for this module
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The module provides a comprehensive overview of international criminal law, including its general principles, the core international crimes, and the various sources, participants, and tribunals charged with applying international criminal law, especially international criminal tribunals.
Specifically, the module will offer a historical perspective on the rise of international criminal justice and consider the intersection between public international law and international criminal law, distinguishing between state and individual responsibility for international crimes. We will also look at the history of the establishment of different international criminal tribunals over time, from the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals to the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR), as well as the International Criminal Court (ICC). The module will explore in detail the four core international crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression) and engage with several discrete topics in international criminal law and justice, including key developments in international criminal law and the challenges involved in creating a functioning and effective international criminal justice system. Frequent references to current events -- for instance, the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar -- will be made, as they offer insights on the relevant topics.
The aims of this module are:
• To equip students with the knowledge and tools to analyse relevant cases brought before different international and domestic tribunals.
• To engage in ongoing debates concerning international criminal justice and ensuring accountability in relation to ongoing conflicts and post-conflict societies, as well as the future of international criminal justice.
• To create a pathway to further education and a prospective career in international criminal justice.
Students will:
1. Gain a critical understanding of the foundational concepts and principles of international criminal justice, including the rules of international law on national and international criminal jurisdiction, the meaning of individual criminal responsibility, and the existing international institutional framework aimed at the investigation and prosecution of international crimes.
2. Understand and be able to apply the sources of international criminal law, and the subjects who animate the international criminal justice enterprise.
3. Critically evaluate and apply the substantive law and the procedural aspects of international criminal law.
4. Develop critical legal reasoning with respect to doctrine and practice of international criminal law.
Themes to be included:
1. Introduction to International Criminal Law: History, Sources and General Principles of International Criminal Law
2. Key Actors in International Criminal Justice: From Nuremberg to Domestic Courts
3. The Crime of Genocide
4. Crimes Against Humanity
5. War Crimes
6. The Crime of Aggression
7. Enslavement and Sexual Slavery as a Tool of War
8. Implementation of International Criminal Law
9. The Role of Victims of Mass Atrocities
10. The Path to Accountability for International Crimes: Amnesties, Immunities, Defences
The learning and teaching methods are developed through preparation for seminars, discussion group and coursework
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Yes
No
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
Essex Law School
* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.
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