COURSE / MELBOURNE / LAWS70078 / 2026
Use of Force
Melbourne Law Masters subject International Law and the Use of Force (LAWS70078), October 2026 — problems, primary materials, and legal argument.
12 sessions
- 01What counts as force?
- 02Charter architecture
- 03Self-defence
- 04Collective security
- 05Necessity and proportionality
- 06Armed attack thresholds
- 07Intervention and invitation
- 08Non-state actors
- 09Humanitarian claims
- 10Occupation and force
- 11Evidence and attribution
- 12After the Charter
Melbourne context
Melbourne Law Masters subject International Law and the Use of Force (LAWS70078), offered October 2026. Principal coordinator: Thomas Skouteris (University of Melbourne handbook / MLM subject listing).
Course proposition
The subject is organised around problems and primary materials rather than a finished doctrinal survey. Students work through argumentative positions, institutional architecture, and contested thresholds — including self-defence, collective security, non-state actors, and claims made after or around the Charter.
Pedagogical approach
Sessions emphasise active engagement with materials: reading, reconstruction of argument, and classroom debate.
The course also runs a live decision simulator — the Legal Operations Portal — not a game: teams advise under timed, path-dependent conditions, with authentic assessment of legal craft and AI-assisted instructor review under human control.
Session list (provisional)
The twelve session titles below are a working outline for this site. They should be checked against the finalized syllabus before being treated as authoritative session titles.
Materials
Selected teaching materials may appear here when cleared for public circulation. Nothing proprietary or institutionally restricted will be published without clearance.