Genocide, State Crime and the Law

This subject is not offered in 2014.

Total of 120 hours

Criminology or Politics and International Studies at Undergraduate level

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Genocide, State Crime and the Law examines the differing roles played by law and legal process in the wake of genocide and other forms of state crime. It examines the limitations and potentials of law in addressing mass harm, in particular analysing the role and function of law in societal reconstruction and reconciliation. Case studies analysed include Rwanda, South Africa, East Timor, the former Yugoslavia, the Holocaust, Australia and Cambodia.

On completion of this subject students should:

• Be familiar with a range of approaches to addressing genocide and state crime;
• Understand the social, political, cultural and historical contexts of legal and quasi-legal responses to genocide and state crime;
• Possess a critical understanding of these choices;
• Be able to critically and constructively discuss the limitations and potentials of law in the context of addressing mass harm;
• Be able to critically and constructively discuss the limitations and potentials of law in reconstruction and reconciliation.

A 1,500 word paper (30%) due mid-semester and a 3,500 word research essay (70%) due during the examination period.

Hurdle Requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 75% of classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed. Regular participation in class is required.

Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per working day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

A subject reader will be available for purchase from the University Bookshop.

• Lethe's Law: Justice, Law and Ethics in Reconciliation, E. Christodoulidis and S. Veitch, eds, Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2001.
• Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History after Genocide and Mass Violence, M. Minow, Beacon Press, Boston, 1998.
• Radical Evil on Trial, N. Carlos Santiago, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1996.
• Mass Atrocity, Collective Memory, and the Law, Mark J. Osiel, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ, 1997.
• Genocide, State Crime and the Law: In the Name of the State, J.Balint, Routledge, 2012.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject students should:

• have highly developed cognitive, analytical and problem-solving skills;
• have an advanced understanding of complex concepts and the ability to express them lucidly in writing and orally.