Course
objectives:
Provide the students an opportunity to acquire an understanding
of the principles of international law and the application thereof.
Students will be involved in research and study of international compared
to national legal systems in terms of law formulation and revision,
law application and law adjudication and international law in action,
with concrete cases such as the Pinochet Case, the Elian Gonzalez Case,
the Ocalan Case, the ICAO arbitration case of the US vs the EU aircraft
law in addition to classic cases such as the Corfu Channel Case, Trail
Smelter Arbitration, Fisheries Jurisdiction Cases and the Hostage Case.
Students are also expected to handle specific cases, assembling basic
facts, preparing legal argumentation and presenting/defending
the cases.
Textbook:
Ian Brownlie (ed): Basic Documents in International law
(Oxford University
Press, paperback edition)
Recommended
reading:
Malcolm N. Shaw: International law (Cambridge University
Press)
M. Cherif Bassiouni: Crimes Against Humanity in International Criminal
Law ( Kluwer Law International)
Course schedule:
Week:1 Conflicts
in the interaction of private and public entities in national and international
settings and peaceful and forceful means of determining what is equitable
and just using legal and political arenas (boundary of law and politics);
law and legal system; national/municipal law and legal system; international
law and legal system, which makes law, applies law, enforces law and
arbitrates and adjudicates laws; public versus private law; international
private and public law; survey of legal resources
Week:2 Players on the international
stage; national-international law nexus; the international public law
spectrum (solid law to soft law); 'Jus cogens'
Week:3 The making of international
law: subjects, process, makers; sources: the 'common law' approach compared
to the 'law making/legislation' approach; role of the United Nations,
of its International Law Commission and of its Sixth Committee; law
of treaties; the making of solid laws and of soft laws; legal drafting;
codification efforts
Week:4 Wrongful acts of
interest to international law; application of international law; monitoring
systems; the enforcement of international law/the enforcers; responsibilities
of States and other entities; extraterritorial jurisdiction;
extradition; the United Nations Decade of International Law
Week:5 International criminal
acts prosecution and adjudication; crimes against humanity; ad hoc mechanisms
(International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); International
Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)) compared to permanent mechanism (the International
Criminal Court)
Week:6 International law:
mitigation (negotiation and arbitration) compared to litigation (adjudication):
principles and mechanisms; the quasi-judiciary mechanisms
Week:7 Use of force: UN
Charter principles under articles 2.4, 51; sanctions under article 39;
law applicable to war situations (the Hague Convention, the Geneva Conventions,
the Nuremberg principle); international terrorism
Week:8 International law
applicable to human rights (customary, Charter-based, treaty-based):
formulation, enforcement and adjudication at the global and regional
levels; international refugee law: 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol;
international law of humanitarian situations; legal foundations of humanitarian
intervention
Week:9 International law
relating to diplomatic and consular relations; embassy bombings; taking
diplomatic hostages; diplomatic immunities: exercise, limits and abuses
Week:10 UN Program of Assistance
in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International
Law
Week:11 International law
applicable to the seas: internal waters, territorial sea, high seas,
contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf, deep seabed;
the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)
Week:12 International law
applicable to airspace matters: Conventions (Chicago, 1944; Tokyo, 1963;
the Hague, 1970; Montreal, 1971); the Outer Space legal regime; ICAO's
arbitration of US dispute of EU aircraft law
Week:13 International law
applicable to the environment: the 'soft laws'; transboundary environmental
interference and consequent legal liability; the Montreal Treaty on
the Ozone Layer; transportation of hazardous material and waste; register
of toxic chemicals
Week:14 International trade
law: United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL),
WTO law-making, enforcement, arbitration and adjudication; overall review
and wrap-up
Week:15 Final examination (in-class)
Visit to the
UN and guest speakers:
to meet and discuss with senior officials and delegates on matters pertinent
to international law
Assessment:
A combination of grading of:
attendance and participation (10%)
cases (fact-finding, legal drafting & argumentation) 3x10 (30%)
mid-semester examination (take-home) (20%)
research paper (15%)
final examination (25%)
Additional resources:
a)
Web sites:
United Nations
International Law Commision
World Trade Organization uncitral=www.un.or.at/uncitral
International Court of Justice
International Criminal Court
(ICC) www.un.org/icc www.un.org/law/icc/index.htm
International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslivia
International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda international criminal tribunal for Rwanda=www.ictr.org
Law & Diplomacy
World Politics world politics=dushkin.com
International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)=www.un.org/Depts/los/ITLOS/ITLOSproc.htm
b) International
law journals:
law journals on the world wide web; american journal of international
law; human rights quarterly; indiana
journal of global legal studies; international law journal; international
legal materials; journal of international
law and practice; stanford journal of international law; texas international
law journal; netherlands quarterly
of human rights; international legal practitioner
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