This course aims to provide the ADF Legal Officers' Special Career Structure (LOSCR) with the military operations law component of Legal Training Module 2.  This is the educational requirement for ADF Legal Officers to qualify for legal competency level LL3 under the LOSCR approved by the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal.

A student who has successfully completed the course should show a sound knowledge of:

• the doctrinal and legal basis for ADF operations
• the nature of International Law as a legal system as it effects the ADF
• the relationship between international law and domestic law and be able to apply it in relation to the ADF
• how general international law, the laws of armed conflict and domestic law, impact on the conduct of ADF operations.

A participant who has successfully completed this course should:

• understand the framework for the application of international law to military operations
• understand which relevant treaties and conventions and customary international law principles Australia adopts and applies to military operations
• understand the principles of international law legitimating the use of force by States
• understand the framework of international humanitarian law as it applies to international and non-international armed conflict
• appreciate the international legal principles applicable to military operations
• understand the relevant Australian law applicable to military support operations.

There will be two elements of assessment for this course:

• take-home examination
• essay.

Week long intensive seminar with on-line communication and activities before and after.

The course will be taught on the basis that you have an understanding of basic principles of international law, and the interaction between international law and municipal law. You should also be familiar with relevant ADF policies as they relate to the use of force, and military operations.

There is no prescribed text book for this course. Students will be provided in advance with reading materials which contain extracts of relevant international instruments, statutes and readings.

During the course you will be given additional materials, both hard copy, and by way of web reference to supplement your manuals.