The International Institute of Humanitarian Law has for many years delivered general and specialised training programmes on international humanitarian law (IHL) at the Institute in Sanremo. In order to continue its core mission of disseminating and encouraging compliance with IHL to the widest possible audience, the Military Department of the Institute is developing a number of online courses in the field. The hope and desire is those who might not otherwise be able to come in person may still be able to experience the “Spirit of Sanremo” while growing as IHL practitioners. To that end, the Institute is pleased to offer its first Introduction to International Humanitarian Law online course.

The goal of the course is to provide military officers, including operators and military lawyers, as well as civilians, with the opportunity to learn the basic principles and rules of IHL and the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) and how to apply them. This course also serves as a primer for many of the specialized courses offered at the Institute by providing introductory level instruction on a wide array of subjects and their interplay with IHL. Students completing this course will have a strong foundation upon which to expand their IHL knowledge and a working understanding of how IHL principles factor in to all levels of conflict and across all operational domains.

The online training will adapt the standard Sanremo methodology of presentations and practical work taking advantage of the recently developed IIHL online learning platform. The programme will consist of live online sessions with a mix of lectures from the teaching staff, group discussions, and vignette training. The course will run over four weeks with two live sessions of 120 minutes each week. Students may need to engage in some self-paced preparation outside of class time to full participate in the group discussions. Study materials and texts will be available on the Institute Online Learning Platform.