Necessity of Teaching International Medical and Humanitarian Law in Higher Education, Study notes of Law

Download Necessity of Teaching International Medical and Humanitarian Law in Higher Education and more Study notes Law in PDF only on Docsity! MISCELLANEOUS INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL LAW In a previous number we published papers submitted to the Journe'e d'6tudes de droit international medical which took place in Liege and of which we gave an account. It was concerned with the dissemination of humanitarian law. Below we give a translation of a study submitted to the same meeting by Mr. Marcel Fontaine, Dr. of Law, entitled: L'enseignement supe"rieur du droit international medical (Higher Education in International Medical Law). One of the most effective factors leading to the devefopment and dissemination of international medical law is the teaching of its principles and provisions in civilian and military higher education establishments. International medical law has all the requirements of a subject for systematic scientific teaching. As the body of international law regulations applicable to doctors, medical personnel, the wounded and the sick, it is a well defined sector of the law of nations. Many and important international agreements confer on it a stage of development more advanced than that of any other branch of international law. The provisions of international medical law are of two types: some relate to time of peace, others to time of war. To the extent that the latter type of provisions coincides with international humanitarian lawx, countries which have signed the Geneva Con- 1 We have defined international medical law as the body of international law regulations applicable to doctors, medical personnel, the wounded and the sick. International humanitarian law is construed by us to mean the whole body of international law regulations affecting persons in distress. These two branches have much in common, such as the provisions of the Geneva Conventions relating to the wounded and the sick. International medical law does however have a field of its own, which covers, for example, the legal status of medicine internationally, whilst the status of prisoners of war or civilian populations in time of war, apart from such considerations as hygiene, health and the exercise of the medical profession, come within the scope of international humanitarian law. 553 MISCELLANEOUS ventions are under a legal obligation to give teaching courses on them. This applies to almost every nation in the world. The four Geneva Conventions (article 47 of the 1st, 48 of the 2nd, 127 of the 3rd and 144 of the 4th), provide that signatory States shall " include the study thereof in the programmes of military and, if possible, civilian instruction . . .". Some progress has been made, but strikingly little. We shall revert to it later. It is no exaggeration to say that, even now, 18 years after the signing of the 1949 Conventions, no scientific effort to teach this branch of international law has gone beyond the chrysalis stage. This is to be regretted. It is a serious shortcoming in universities and in military colleges, for an army whose officers have but a vague acquaintaince with the Geneva Conventions can hardly be expected to observe the humanitarian principles strictly. International humanitarian law should be taught in military medical colleges, for some of the most important principles of the Geneva Conventions are of concern to medical personnel in the exercise of their mission. Systematic teaching should also be given in all officers training colleges, for in the event of conflict officers must decide on the treatment to be given to the wounded, to prisoners, and to civilians. International humanitarian law, as a branch of the law of nations, should naturally have a place in the curriculum of the law and medical faculties of universities, for which it has a twofold interest. For its sociological interest, the law of Geneva should be taught to students whose ambition is to accede to the ranks of leadership in their country and thus influence considerably their fellow citizens. In addition, it is of scientific interest, for seminars on international humanitarian law would give added impetus to the study of legislative provisions thus bringing out clearly how they are applied and where there is room for improvement. Wide dissemination of knowledge on the peace-time application of international medical law is not perhaps such an imperative necessity, but these legal rules are, a natural corollary to inter- national humanitarian law and would appear essential for any doctor intending to play fully his r61e in the world today, in which events are more and more connected with the international scene. Interest in scientific teaching of international medical law is not 554 MISCELLANEOUS officer cadets must follow a 15 hour course on the Geneva Conven- tions. The Faculties of Law and Medicine of the University of Bor- deaux have had a chair in international medical law since 1952; the incumbent is a legal expert, Professor auby. This chair was created pursuant to a ministerial decree of January 20, 1952 and a decision by the University Board on February 8, 1952. Although optional, Professor auby's courses are well attended and have prompted several medical students to submit theses on interna- tional medical law. The course covers completely the subject of international medical law in time of peace and of war. The refresher courses for young medical officers at Macolin (Switzerland) in 1959, Florence in 1962, and Madrid in 1965, on the initiative of the International Committee of Military Medicine and Pharmacy, included several papers dealing with various aspects of humanitarian law. At the University of Louvain, Professor Renaer devotes a large part of his course on international medical law to medical ethics. The Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva recently appointed Mr. Jean Pictet, one of the outstanding specialists in this field, to give regular courses on humanitarian law. A report sub- mitted by the ICRC to the XXth International Conference of the Red Cross, mentioned a seminar on the Geneva Conventions at the Faculty of Political Science of the National University of Colombia, and also plans for courses in various American universities spon- sored by the American Bar Association. The University of Pristina, in Yugoslavia, also gives courses in international medical law. This list is undoubtedly not complete; we hope so. Much has still to be done. Most universities do not have chairs in inter- national humanitarian law. In too many countries military colleges do not give the Geneva Conventions the place they deserve in their programmes. The first task is to overcome the ignorance or indifference which prevails in certain circles and to bring about the necessary awaken- ing of conscience. Once this obstacle is crossed, it may be presumed that a number of practical problems connected with the organizing of courses on international medical law in universities will have to be solved. The creation of a new chair requires administrative 557 MISCELLANEOUS authorization; it may set a budgetary problem. As things stand at present courses on international medical law would probably be optional and therefore reach only a small proportion of students. For this reason it may well be more practical in certain cases to advocate the inclusion of international medical law in already existing courses for students as a whole. In the Faculty of Law, the courses on international public law would normally embody the subject of international medical law. In Medical Faculties, inter- national medical law could be included in the study of medical ethics, but it should be stressed that these rules of international law go beyond those of professional ethics. The inclusion of international medical law into existing courses should not of course be restricted to a few brief allusions. The scientific and humanitarian importance of the subject deserves to be considered a major section of courses on public international law, on the same footing as medical ethics. It could be the subject of seminars, examinations, monographs or theses for a doctor's degree. If this limited objective could be achieved to some extent, international medical law would progress to a new phase of develop- ment with great promise for the future of the humanitarian cause. A MODERN HOSPITAL According to modern theories, a hospital should be better integrated in the community than was previously the case. Vast buildings with forbidding exteriors now give way to more human, more personal constructions. A recent article alludes to this and indicates the main outline of a master plan.1 We think it to be of interest to reproduce some passages of this text. In fact, medicine is developing so fast that many hospitals which have 1 See WHO Chronicle, World Health Organisation, Geneva, 1967, No. 5. 558