Mandate



The mandate of the WCRO is to promote the development and enforcement of international criminal and humanitarian law, primarily through the provision of specialized legal research assistance to international and internationalized criminal courts and tribunals.

International criminal and humanitarian law are developing more rapidly today than at any other time in history. By assisting U.N. and U.N.-backed tribunals, and other select clients, the WCRO hopes to contribute to the coherent development of these bodies of public international law and, specifically, to the elaboration of norms that protect individuals in the course of hostilities. The need for elaboration is particularly acute in the context of internal (non-international) armed conflicts, which, though representing the vast majority of conflicts in the world today, have historically been governed by only the most minimal standards. By helping to develop and fill gaps in this and other areas of international law, the work of the WCRO assists ongoing efforts to promote peace, stability, and human security throughout the world.

The WCRO has two principal objectives:

1. Providing specialized legal research and analysis to international criminal courts on international humanitarian and comparative law issues
2. Providing J.D. and LL.M. students with an opportunity to undertake legal research and writing projects in international humanitarian law and comparative criminal law, under the supervision of WCL international law faculty and the professional staff of the WCRO.