Main Content
Course of study
The master’s program “International Criminal Justice: Law, History, Politics” consists of the following compulsory and elective compulsory modules (new from Winter Semester 2024/25):
Introduction to Legal Studies (compulsory module)
In this module, students acquire foundational knowledge of legal methods and techniques through concrete case studies from (international) criminal law and/or international law.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- recognize and explain the structure of legal norms, legislative systems, and regulatory techniques;
- interpret the content of norms using legal interpretative methods;
- confidently apply legal methods, such as the case-law analysis technique, to solve unfamiliar case constellations;
- conduct research on specific questions in legal libraries, case collections, and databases, compile results in a structured manner, formulate them clearly, and communicate them convincingly;
- critically analyze the structure, functioning, and scope of norms;
- transfer the acquired organizational and methodological skills to various fields of application;
- Independently and interdisciplinarily apply the learned methods and techniques.Introduction: History (compulsory module)
In this module, students acquire fundamental knowledge of the methods and techniques necessary for historical research. They become familiar with the basics of historical studies and engage with the organization and execution of historical research (including research work), with a particular focus on handling historical sources.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- to evaluate, interpret, and critically analyze historical primary sources and historiographical literature;
- to select or combine historical methods in a manner appropriate to specific research questions;
- to translate problems into research tasks that allow for the derivation and systematic investigation of questions;
- to apply acquired organizational and methodological skills across various fields of application;
- to independently and interdisciplinarily apply the learned methods and research techniques.Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies (compulsory module)
In this module, students acquire fundamental knowledge in peace and conflict studies.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- to identify the fundamental goals and areas of work in peace and conflict studies;
- to outline fields of application and define basic concepts, applying them appropriately in academic contexts;
- to classify and critically assess conflict theories.Introduction to International Criminal Law (compulsory module)
In this module, students acquire the fundamentals of international criminal law. In addition to background knowledge on the origins and development of international criminal law, students gain an understanding of both the general and specific aspects of the field.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- Understand the legal foundations of international criminal justice and critically reflect on them;
- Discuss the substantive and contextual requirements for international criminal liability, taking into account relevant international case law;
- Independently and problem-orientedly analyze cases in international criminal law and develop well-reasoned solutions.Introduction: Social Research (compulsory module)
In this module, students acquire methodological knowledge of social research and apply it to relevant research problems in international criminal justice.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- to develop social science research designs to address questions in the field of international criminal justice;
- to access, interpret, and critically analyze social science sources, literature, and empirical findings;
- to select and combine social science methods in a question-specific manner;
- to translate problems into tasks that allow for the derivation and systematic treatment of research questions;
- to apply acquired organizational and methodological skills to various fields of application;
- to independently and interdisciplinarily apply learned methods and techniques.History and Politics (compulsory module)
In this module, students engage with the political and historical conditions of emergence and operation of international criminal justice through concrete questions or practical examples.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- to identify and critically reflect on the historical, political, social, and cultural contexts and dynamics of international criminal justice;
- to critically and comparatively assess the (power-political) roles of various actors in international criminal justice;
- to work independently or in groups within interdisciplinary contexts;
- to conduct scholarly research, compile the results, present them clearly, and communicate them convincingly;
- to apply the acquired organizational skills to various fields of application.Application Perspectives of International Criminal Law (compulsory module)
In this module, students engage with specific questions or concrete case studies in international criminal justice.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- Explain the origin, development, and content of the concept of “genocide” (and alternative concepts);
- Identify cases of genocide and ethnic cleansing, describe their course, and place them within a broader comparative framework;
- Develop an analytical understanding of the legal, historical, political, social, cultural, geographical, and economic contexts and dynamics of the commission and/or prosecution of genocidal acts;
- Work independently or in groups on interdisciplinary questions;
- Conduct scholarly research, compile the results, present them clearly, and communicate them convincingly;
- Apply the acquired organizational skills to various fields of practice.Fundamentals of Trial Monitoring (compulsory module)
In this module, students acquire fundamental knowledge of trial monitoring. They become familiar with the procedures of criminal trials and learn how to draft trial observation reports.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- Describe the function, structure, and operation of the public prosecutor’s office and the criminal judiciary;
- Outline the procedure and core principles of German trials;
- Independently observe trials and record their observations in reports.
Practice of Trial Monitoring (compulsory module)
In this module, students actively conduct trial monitoring.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- Independently observe trials with relevance to international criminal law, document their observations in reports, and highlight procedural particularities;
- Reflect on and contextualize the trial monitoring and the reports produced;
- Identify the specific challenges of international criminal law proceedings and develop interdisciplinary, well-founded approaches to address them.Transitional Justice (elective compulsory module)
In this module, students engage with the legal, social, and political challenges faced by societies in transitional situations—for example, following the end of a civil war or the replacement of authoritarian regimes with democratic governance. They examine various judicial and non-judicial mechanisms for addressing serious human rights violations, as well as the interrelationships between these mechanisms.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- to situate the role of international criminal justice as part of a broader response to serious human rights violations or state-perpetrated mass violence;
- to assess the functional prerequisites, effects, and limitations of various transitional justice mechanisms, institutions, and strategies;
- to independently conduct scholarly research in a multidisciplinary field, compile the findings, formulate them clearly, and communicate them convincingly;
- to transfer the acquired organizational and methodological skills to various fields of application.Transitional Justice (Teaching and Research Project) (elective compulsory module)
In this module, students engage with the legal, social, and political challenges faced by societies in transitional situations—for example, during the end of a civil war or the replacement of authoritarian regimes with democratic governance. Students examine various judicial and non-judicial mechanisms for addressing serious human rights violations, as well as the interrelationships between these mechanisms.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- to situate the role of international criminal justice as part of a broader response to serious human rights violations or state-perpetrated mass violence;
- to assess the functional prerequisites, effects, and limitations of various transitional justice mechanisms, institutions, and strategies;
- to independently conduct scholarly research in a multidisciplinary field, compile the findings, formulate them clearly, and communicate them convincingly;
- to transfer the acquired organizational and methodological skills to various fields of application.International Humanitarian Law & Human Rights (elective compulsory module)
This module provides an introduction to international law and an overview of specific topics in international humanitarian law and human rights. Students engage with the legal foundations, theoretical underpinnings, and institutions of (humanitarian) international law, its historical development, and its relationship to (international) politics.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:,
- Understand the fundamentals of the international legal order, particularly international humanitarian law and human rights, and critically reflect on them;
- Distinguish between different branches of international law and assess their significance for various legal subjects;
- Analyze legal, social, political, cultural, and economic relations between states;
- Independently and critically engage with legal, historical, or political questions related to international law and its subfields relevant to international criminal justice, and discuss these issues.International Humanitarian Law & Human Rights (Teaching and Research Project) (elective compulsory module)
This module provides an introduction to international law and an overview of specific topics in international humanitarian law and human rights. Students engage with the legal foundations, theoretical underpinnings, and institutions of (humanitarian) international law, its historical development, and its relationship to (international) politics.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- Understand the fundamentals of the international legal order, particularly international humanitarian law and human rights, and critically reflect on them;
- Distinguish between different branches of international law and assess their significance for various legal subjects;
- Analyze legal, social, political, cultural, and economic relations between states;
- Independently and critically engage with legal, historical, or political questions related to international law and its subfields relevant to international criminal justice, and discuss these issues.Law and Society (elective compulsory module)
In this module, students engage with the relationship between law and society from theoretical, empirical, and applied perspectives.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
-to discuss the causes and conditions of (international) criminality and to identify factors that may facilitate crime;
- to follow current legal, historical, or political debates and to recognize and discuss contemporary challenges in international criminal justice;
- to analyze the societal function of law in ensuring normative certainty, particularly regarding the opportunities this creates for shaping social relations;
- to conduct research in an interdisciplinary field, compile the results, present them clearly, and communicate them persuasively.Law and Society (Teaching and Research Project) (elective compulsory module)
In this module, students engage with the relationship between law and society from theoretical, empirical, and applied perspectives..
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
-to discuss the causes and conditions of (international) criminality and to identify factors that may facilitate crime;
- to follow current legal, historical, or political debates and to recognize and discuss contemporary challenges in international criminal justice;
- to analyze the societal function of law in ensuring normative certainty, particularly regarding the opportunities this creates for shaping social relations;
- to conduct research in an interdisciplinary field, compile the results, present them clearly, and communicate them persuasively.Team leadership in Trial Monitoring (elective compulsory module)
In this module, students are introduced to the active leadership of a trial monitoring team.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- to independently lead trial monitoring teams;
- to consolidate trial reports and prepare daily reports;
- to contextualize the trial and daily reports within the framework of the observed proceedings.Practical module (compulsory module)
Students gain insight into practical fields of international criminal justice. They acquire knowledge about the tasks and functions of the host institution, as well as about the organization of its work processes. In doing so, they develop perspectives for their further studies and future professional careers. At the same time, they deepen their subject-specific knowledge and develop additional and key qualifications relevant to the labor market.
Upon successful completion of the module, students are able to:
- to reflect on their practical experiences and relate them to the content of their studies;
- to develop perspectives for their further studies and future professional careers;
- to identify opportunities for the targeted and needs-based application of their knowledge and skills.
Masters thesis and disputation (compulsory module)
The students independently work on a self-developed research question within the field of International Criminal Justice and defend their research findings against critical challenges. In doing so, they demonstrate methodological competence, rhetorical and argumentative skills, as well as the ability to conduct independent scholarly work.