Hello, my name's Miss Sacomey and I'm a citizenship teacher in London.

I'm gonna be taking you through today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called "What is the Role of International Law and International Disagreements?" It's part of the wider unit.

How does the international community respond to global humanitarian problems? By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain the role of international law and how it's applied to international conflicts.

As today's topics could be seen as sensitive, we're going to discuss some ground rules for taking part in this lesson.

First of all, it's important to listen to others.

It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before making assumptions or deciding how to respond.

When disagreeing, it's important that we challenge the statement, not the person.

We must respect privacy.

We can discuss examples in a general sense, but please do not use names or descriptions that identify anyone, including yourself.

We listen without passing judgement.

We can explore beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic without fear of being judged, and last, you can choose your level of participation.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or join in with the discussion.

We'll never put anyone on the spot.

Let's get started.

The key words we're going to hear in today's lesson are humanitarian law.

These are the international laws which govern how we must treat other humans, the International Criminal Court or the ICC.

This is a permanent international court established to investigate, prosecute, and try individuals accused of the most serious crimes against humanity.

We're going to start by thinking about, what is international law? It's important to remember that different cultures can have varying expectations about how people should be treated.

Therefore, this can make it difficult for us to agree on universal principles or human rights as it may vary from country to country.

For example, different societies may have varying views on the appropriate age for children to take on responsibilities, including things like paid work, which can create challenges when establishing those universal standards.

This raises a debate between universalism.

This is the idea that right should be applied equally to everyone and cultural relativism.

This is the idea that cultural differences should be recognised and respected.

One challenge of international humanitarian law is that it must be universal.

It has to apply to all people in all places.

If it only applied in some countries or certain situations, the law would become less effective.

It might mean that some individuals or governments may not follow it while others continue to.

Until the 20th century, these rules and laws were not universal, and therefore it was dependent on the culture and society as to whether they applied.

Let's do a quick check of what we've learnt so far.

Which of the following terms means applicable to everyone and everywhere? Is it A, relative B, universal or C, cultural? Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is B.

Throughout history, people have been involved in conflicts and many cultures and societies have developed customs about how to treat others during these times.

In the 20th century, these customs began to be written down and agreed, and this became our kind of first version of international humanitarian law.

The aims of international humanitarian law are to protect civilians including the sick, wounded, and prisoners of war, and also to agree the obligations of those involved in armed conflict.

After the suffering of the Second World War, leaders of countries came together to agree a set of rules to protect people during times of conflict.

These became the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

They are the foundation of modern international humanitarian law.

The first of these agreements was to protect wounded and sick soldiers, medical staff and facilities, civilian medical workers and military chaplains, for example, priests must also be protected and not treated as combatants.

It also extends the first convention to cover conflicts at sea.

Prisoners must be treated humanely.

They have to be given food, medical care and shelter and can only be required to do certain types of work.

Civilians must not be targeted or harmed.

Civilian buildings such as home, schools and hospitals must be protected.

Let's do another check, true or false? The Geneva conventions ensure that only soldiers are treated fairly in war.

Pause your video now.

Can you also have a think about why you've chosen that answer? The correct answer is false.

This is because the Geneva conventions protect soldiers and sailors who can no longer fight because they're injured, but also prisoners of war, medical staff, military chaplains and civilians.

The Geneva Conventions were agreed to by almost all nations, meaning that they can be universally applied during conflicts.

196 states have signed up to the Geneva conventions.

Jun's telling us "The Geneva conventions are the cornerstone of international humanitarian law, the most widely accepted rules about how people should be treated during armed conflict." Two additional protocols were added to the Geneva Conventions in 1977 and a third in 2005.

All of these were expanding the protections during armed conflict.

They said to strengthen protections for civilians and fighters, including resistance fighters opposing occupying forces or colonial powers.

They're extending protections to conflicts within a country such as civil wars, and they're also introducing the Red Crystal as a new symbol of protection alongside the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.

Jun's telling us that these are recognised symbols that are used to mark medical and humanitarian workers and facilities, so it's a way of showing who they are to make sure that they're protected during conflicts.

Let's do another check.

Jun has made three errors in the statement below.

I'd like you to correct these mistakes, pause your video and have a go at this now.

Let's check our answers.

The mistakes that Jun have made and the corrections are, protocol one protects civilians and fighters in international conflicts, not just soldiers.

Protocol two covers conflicts within a country, not conflicts between countries and protocol three, introduce the red crystal, not the red diamond as a new symbol.

Next, we're going to do a longer task to put into practise what we've done so far.

I would like you to explain what is meant by the term international humanitarian law.

In your response, you should consider what international humanitarian law is and who it aims to protect, the significance of the Geneva Conventions and the purpose of the additional protocols.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

Let's have a think about what we could have included in our answer.

You could have said, International humanitarian law is a set of universal rules that apply to everyone during conflicts.

Its purpose is to protect people who are not fighting like civilians and injured soldiers and to make sure everyone follows the same principles.

The Geneva conventions are the cornerstone of international humanitarian law.

There are four conventions that set out how to treat prisoners of war, civilians and injured soldiers and sailors.

In 1977, three additional protocols were added to update and expand these protections.

For example, protocol two covers conflicts within a country, not just conflicts between countries.

Well done if you included some of that in your answer.

Next, we're going to think about how is international law enforced.

International humanitarian law must be enforced for it to be taken seriously, much like with any law.

After the Second World War, the Allied Powers, that's Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States began prosecuting Nazis and their collaborators for their role in the Holocaust.

The Holocaust was the systematic murder of six million Jewish people by the Nazis and their collaborators during the war.

At the end of the Second World War, the allies tried the 22 surviving high ranking Nazis in the International Military Tribunal.

This is also known as the Nuremberg Trials.

Thousands of other Nazi collaborators were tried for their part in the mass murder of men, women and children during the Holocaust.

These trials were important for developing international humanitarian law and showing that serious crimes would have consequences.

Let's do another check.

Which event required the convening of the International Military Tribunal, the Nuremberg Trials? Pause the video and choose your answer below.

the correct answer is A, the Holocaust.

After the Nuremberg trials, the International Criminal Court was created to continue prosecuting the most serious crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ICC was established by the Rome statute in 1998 and works independently with support from the United Nations.

The Rome Statute entered into force in 2002.

The ICC is based in the Hague in the Netherlands.

As of 2025, 125 countries are state parties to the Rome statute, meaning that they have agreed to be part of the ICC and accept its authority.

The court is funded by state parties and is completely independent of any nation or agency.

This independence allows the ICC to make fair and impartial decisions without outside influence.

Let's do another check.

In 2025, the International Criminal Court has how many state parties? Pause your video and choose your answer below.

The correct answer is B.

If someone breaks the rules in the Geneva conventions, the case can be referred to the ICC.

The ICC may investigate and take action if the crime is serious.

These serious breaches are called war crimes.

They include things like killing, torturing or treating badly civilians and prisoners, causing great suffering to civilians or prisoners, forcing a prisoner to take part in the war or refusing a person the right to a fair trial if accused of a war crime.

The ICC punishes individuals, not states or groups, the individual is able to be punished regardless of whether they're currently a leader of the state or not.

The ICC can give a range of punishments.

This might include imprisonment 30 years to life, the removal of assets such as money or property and reparations, compensation for the victims of the crimes.

International humanitarian law can also be enforced by a protecting power.

This is usually a neutral country or organisation that's not involved in the conflict.

Their job is to monitor what is happening and make sure the rules of war like Geneva conventions are being followed, especially around the treatment of prisoners of war.

Let's do a quick check.

I'd like you to read the actions below, which three are considered war crimes under the Geneva Conventions? Pause your video and choose your three now.

let's check our answers.

The three that are considered war crimes are denying a fair trial to someone accused of a crime, forcing prisoners to carry weapons into battle and intentionally targeting a hospital.

We are now going to do another task to put this into practise.

I'd like you to outline the role of the International Criminal Court.

Consider the following questions in your answer.

What does the ICC stand for and what does it do? Why is it important that the ICC is independent and who are its members and what do they agree on? Pause your video and have a go at this now.

you might have included some of the following in your answer.

The ICC is independent from any country or organisation, which means it can fairly deliver justice and enforce international humanitarian law.

It was set up by the 1998 Rome Statute and as of 2025, has 125 state parties that agree to follow his decisions.

The ICC investigates serious breaches of international humanitarian law like war crimes and can punish individuals with prison sentences by taking away assets or making them pay compensation to victims. Overall, the ICC helps make sure that international humanitarian law is taken seriously around the world.

Next, we're going to think about whether all countries comply with international law.

Some powerful countries like the USA, China, and Russia are not state parties to the ICC.

This means that they're not legally bound by the ICC's decisions.

However, they can still face pressure from the international community.

For example, after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, breaking international humanitarian law, other countries responded with sanctions and political pressure.

Ukraine was not originally a member of the ICC, but had on occasions given the court permission to investigate crimes on its territory.

In 2024, Ukraine officially joined the ICC and this took effect in January, 2025.

In 2022, the ICC opened an investigation into the situation in Ukraine.

The ICC has issued multiple arrest warrants in connection with the conflict in Ukraine.

These include warrants for President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials accused of unlawfully deporting children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.

Military commanders accused of ordering attacks on civilian targets and causing harm to civilians and civilian buildings.

The ICC believes there are reasonable grounds to suspect these individuals of fraud crimes and crimes against humanity.

Let's do a check, which war crime is Putin accused of in relation to the conflict in Ukraine.

Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is A, the unlawful deportation of children.

Although the ICC has issued arrest warrants, Putin and the other accused individuals have not been arrested and the conflict in Ukraine continues.

The ICC has no police force of its own, so it depends on state parties to carry out arrests.

As of summer 2025, Putin has not been arrested, even though he's travelled to other countries.

The ICC has also opened an investigation into the ongoing Israeli Palestinian conflict.

In November, 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including using starvation as a method of warfare, directing attacks against civilians, murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.

These are serious allegations currently being examined by the ICC.

Despite this, Netanyahu has continued to visit other countries, seeking support for the conflict without arrest.

In 2024, the UK government said it would fulfil its legal obligations regarding the arrest warrant if necessary, but noted that the domestic process linked to ICC arrest warrants has never been used before in the UK.

Let's do another check.

Which of these war crimes is Netanyahu accused of by the ICC? Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is B, use of starvation.

The ICC has made important contributions to international justice and the enforcement of humanitarian law.

For example, promoting justice.

It holds individuals accountable for serious crimes.

Supporting victims, it offers reparations and recognition for those affected by atrocities, deterring future crimes.

It sends a clear message that serious violations will be investigated and punished.

Being independent, it operates separately from government to ensure fair and impartial decisions.

Encouraging cooperation, it helps bring countries together to uphold international humanitarian law.

However, the ICC has also faced criticism including slow processes and limited resources.

It can take a long time to investigate and try cases because it has limited funding and staff.

A focus on African cases.

Many prosecutions have involved African leaders, leading some to say that ICC seems to focus mainly on Africa, challenges with large scale crimes.

It can only prosecute individuals, not countries or groups, which can limit its impact in widespread conflicts.

Let's do another check.

I'd like you to write two sentences, one explaining a strength and the other, a challenge that ICC faces when trying to enforce international humanitarian law.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

Let's check our answers.

You might have said one strength of the ICC is that it's independent and can hold powerful people responsible for war crimes, even leaders.

A challenge is that it takes a long time to investigate cases because the law or the court has limited funding and staff.

We're now going to do a longer task to put into practise what we've done in this section.

I'd like you to evaluate the effectiveness of the ICC, present arguments for and against how well the ICC enforces international humanitarian law.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to evaluate the effectiveness of the ICC.

You might have said, there are both strengths and weaknesses to the ICC.

A weakness is that it can be slow to act due to its limited resources to investigate and enforce international humanitarian law.

Some leaders like President Putin and Prime Minister Netanyahu ignore the ICC's arrest warrants and continue their actions without consequence.

This highlights how the court lacks its own police force and depends on state parties for enforcement.

However, the ICC has improved the world by providing a way to enforce important laws during conflicts and holds individuals accountable regardless of their position.

Without the ICC, countries might break these laws more often as there will be no international courts specifically designed to prosecute war crimes.

Similarly, the threat of the ICC helps encourage countries to follow international law and it provides justice for victims through reparations and recognition of their suffering.

Today we've been learning, what is the role of international law in international disagreements.

We have learned that international humanitarian law sets universal rules to protect civilians and soldiers during conflicts.

The Geneva Conventions, made up of four agreements, are the foundation later strengthened by additional protocols.

The ICC was set up to enforce international humanitarian law by investigating and punishing serious breaches like war crimes.

It is independent, currently supported by 125 state parties and focuses on holding individuals accountable.

Some countries have not agreed to join the ICC.

They still face global pressure to follow humanitarian law.

Enforcement can be difficult without full cooperation, yet international efforts aim to hold individuals accountable and protect human rights worldwide.

That's the end of today's lesson.

Thank you for joining me.