This elective is a standalone course that complements existing offerings in Public International Law, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and Human Rights Law (IHRL). It introduces students to the International Law of Military Operations (ILMO)—the legal framework governing the resort to, and conduct of, military operations. The course situates military necessity within humanitarian restraint, examining how law functions as a component of legitimacy and command accountability in modern conflict

The course builds doctrinally on the UN Charter, Geneva Conventions, and Additional Protocols, and applies them to operational domains such as targeting, detention, naval and air operations, peacekeeping, and cyber warfare. It also seeks to explore India’s jurisprudence (Naga People’s Movement, EEVFAM, Enrica Lexie) and Global South perspectives, drawing on TWAIL scholarship to critique the asymmetries in operational law.

The readings combine primary materials (treaties, case law, ICRC Commentaries) with secondary authorities, notably Gill & Fleck’s Handbook of the International Law of Military Operations, Fleck’s Handbook of IHL, and the San Remo, HPCR, and Tallinn Manuals.

Teaching will follow a seminar and Socratic format, combining short lectures, guided discussions, and case-based analysis. Students will engage through response papers, group exercises, and a final research essay and viva.

Structured in five modules—Foundations; Operational Law and Conduct of Hostilities; Maritime and Emerging Domains; Peace Operations & Indian Practice; and Accountability & Critical Perspectives—the course bridges doctrine, practice, and critique, equipping students to analyse how international law governs the conduct of contemporary military operations and how Global South perspectives, including India’s, challenge and enrich prevailing humanitarian frameworks.