LW2216 Assignment: Humanitarianism & the Law: The Truth About Humanitarian Law

1. Essay

The objective of the essay is to provide a critical analysis of an aspect of law covered in this module, drawing on primary legal sources, academic writing, and practitioner research and reports. You can choose from one of the following questions:

i. The international legal framework set out in the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees does not reflect the protection challenges that climate and disaster displaced persons face today. Critically discuss.

ii. Critically discuss how States, humanitarian agencies and refugee communities can prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in refugee camp settings.

iii. Are ‘soft law’ sources such as the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction a more effective way of influencing State behaviour than binding international law?

iv. “The humanitarian imperative implies a right to receive humanitarian assistance and a right to offer it.” (UNICEF, Humanitarian Principles, 2003). In your view, does a right to humanitarian assistance exist in international law?

2. Case Note

The aim of a legal case note is to summarise and analyse a specific case before a court. In particular, the case note should set out the factual background to the case, the procedural steps taken before and after arrest of the suspect, the judgment (including any dissenting judgments) given by the Court, and your own analysis of the Court’s decision. For this module, you can choose one of the following cases:

• Dražen Erdemović “Pilica Farm” (IT-96-22) – war crime of murder committed in Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina

• The Prosecutor v Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (ICC-01/05-01-08) – crimes against humanity and war crimes in Central African Republic

• The Prosecutor v Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi(ICC-01/12-01/15) – war crime of intentionally directing attacks against historical monuments in Timbuktu, Mali.

3. Policy Briefing

The objective of a policy briefing is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the factual and legal situation currently existing in regard to a specific humanitarian crisis. The policy briefing should set out the reasons for the humanitarian crisis, the type of crisis, the legal framework applicable in this situation, and actions taken by the national authorities and/or international community. The policy briefing should not just be descriptive but should also provide your own
analysis of the situation. You must choose one of the following countries for this policy briefing:
• Ukraine
• Afghanistan
• Syria
• Yemen
• Palestine

Assignment Guidelines

DEADLINE and SUBMISSION

The deadline for submission of the assignment is Tuesday 22nd April 2025, by 5.00pm.

All assignments should be submitted on Canvas by 5.00pm on this date. The essay titles will be released in Week 10 (Tuesday 18th March 2025).

➢ Please note: there is no provision for late submission of assignments except where an extension has been obtained in advance. Therefore, assignments submitted after the deadline, without prior approval, will be awarded a grade of zero.

WORD COUNT

➢ The word count for this assignment is 3,000 words.

The maximum word count for this assignment will be applied strictly. A penalty of 5% of the total marks available for this assignment will apply in respect of each 10% or part thereof by which the assignment exceeds the word count.

Example: If the limit is 3,000 words:
• from 3,001 to 3,300 the penalty is 5%.
• from 3,301 to 3,600 the penalty is 10% etc.

This maximum word count excludes footnotes and excludes the bibliography. If there is a dispute about the word count, the onus is on the students to explain the discrepancy.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Please note that plagiarism and collusion are serious offences and so take the time to read the information in the Module Syllabus on pp.7-8.

Note also, as per the UCC Academic Integrity for Examinations and Assessments Policy (Sept 2024, para 3.4), forms of Academic Misconduct include but are not limited to, the following …

• Unethical Use of AI – Academic Integrity is breached if students submit the products of GenAI as their own work … without authorisation to use GenAI in fulfilling the task.

You are not authorised to use any form of GenAI in the completion of this assignment.

FORMAT

All assignments should be word processed in 12-point font and be double spaced/ use 1.5-line spacing. This assignment should be submitted online in Word or equivalent format, not as a pdf.

The first page of the assignment must state the following information:
Student Number:
Module Code:
Module Title:
Lecturer Name(s):
Title of Assignment:
Word Count:

The assignment will not be accepted unless this information is provided.

CITATIONS

As this is a legal assignment, it is strongly recommended that you use the OSCOLA citation method:

• The Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA Guidelines, 4th ed, 2012) can be found at: www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxlaw/oscola_4th_edn_hart_2012.pdf

• The OSCOLA Citing International Law Guidelines can be found at: www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxlaw/oscola_2006_citing_international_law.pdf However, it is acceptable to utilise the Harvard referencing style if you are more familiar with this method.