About the author(s):
Katharine Fortin is an Associate Professor at Utrecht University where she teaches IHL and IHRL. Before joining Utrecht University, she worked at the ICTY, ICC and Norton Rose Fulbright. She is the author of The Accountability of Armed Groups under Human Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2017) which won the 2018 Lieber Prize. She has written widely about the framework of law that applies to armed groups in non-international armed conflicts and is one of the editors of the Armed Groups and International Law blog.
This week PHAP announced the launch of its Online Learning Series on Humanitarian Law and Policy. This series aims to provide an opportunity for continuous learning for those working in the humanitarian sector, as well as those interacting with humanitarian actors, to strengthen their understanding of legal and policy issues and to engage on topical and timely issues. The first session will be held on 21 May (see below for more info).
Each session will begin with a brief expert lecture on a specific IHL topic, followed by the opportunity for participants to engage directly with the presenter through an open Q&A. The sessions will cover a range of topics, and address various legal, political, and operational questions. The focus will be on the most significant and consequential issues for humanitarian actors, drawing from recent events, practitioner experiences, contemporary scholarship, new jurisprudence, and related legal developments. These online learning sessions are complementary to PHAP’s onsite courses and workshops on humanitarian law and policy. Some sessions serve as refreshers on core concepts while others provide supplementary opportunities for in-depth learning and discussion.
Following each session of the Online Learning Series on Humanitarian Law and Policy, members of the association will have the possibility to undergo a two-part assessment as part of the PHAP Continuous Learning Credits framework. The assessments are structured to allow members to both ensure that they have achieved the primary learning objectives of each session and to reflect on the topic of the session based on their own experience.
Upcoming sessions
- Introduction to IHL and its relevance for humanitarian actors, 21 May 2015
- IHL and Core Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, 3 June 2015
- The Fundamental Principles of IHL Regulating Hostilities: military necessity, distinction, and proportionality, 17 June 2015
- Qualification of Armed Conflict and Determining the Applicable Law, 8 July 2015
- Qualification of Situations: case studies from recent practice, 22 July 2015