Current Issues of International Humanitarian Law

The academic course is an important element of professional training of specialists in the field of knowledge 081 “Law”. The importance of the course is determined by the crisis phenomena in international relations related to global problems of our time (international terrorism, environmental disasters, unreasonable use of natural resources, population growth, etc.). International humanitarian law is a system of treaty and customary international legal norms applied in both international and internal armed conflicts, define mutual rights and obligations of international law subjects regarding the prohibition or restriction of the use of certain means and methods in armed conflict and ensure the protection of victims of armed conflict. International humanitarian law is one of the oldest branches of public international law, as its roots lie in the customs of warfare that existed in ancient Greece and Rome. However, the term “international humanitarian law” itself appeared quite recently, in the second half of the XX century. In the legal literature and international documents, its “predecessors”, “laws and customs of warfare”, “law of war” and “law of armed conflict” are still widely used. Studying this course will allow students to understand the specifics of international humanitarian law as a special system of law that differs from domestic, national law.