2023/2024
International Law
Category 'Best Course for Career Development'
Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'
Type:
Mago-Lego
Delivered by:
School of International Law
When:
1 module
Open to:
students of one campus
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
28
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course on (Public) International Law examines the nature, principles, and instruments of International Law, studying in depth the structure and mechanisms of the international legal system, analysing and discussing the main issues that currently challenge the international community.
This course is primarily aimed at providing the students with the necessary tools to understand and study the nature, sources and role of Public International Law as well as to analyze and discuss the resolution of international disputes. In the first part, the course will cover a wide array of introductory and substantial topics, such as the sources and subjects of PIL, states’ sovereignty and jurisdiction, the UN legal system and the interrelations between domestic and international legal systems. In the second part, the course will address specific branches of PIL, such as International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law, Law of International Security, International Economic Law, and International Environmental Law. Moreover, the course will deal with current and emerging issues of PIL, such as terrorism, migration, cyber operations, unilateral sanctions, etc. The course will analyze and discuss treaties, decisions of the UN bodies and other international legal instruments. A special emphasis will be made on the relevant case law of international and national courts.
During the course on Public International Law, students are supposed to participate in a Moot Court exercise simulating a case before one of the international courts and complete a written test consisting of open questions and a case study. There is an oral examination at the completion of the course.
The discipline is taught in English for students who specialize in law.
Learning Objectives
- The main purpose of the course is to develop skills to apply norms of Public International Law, conduct legal research individually and in a team and solve cases involving the issues of PIL.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- The students should gain the following knowledge and understanding: the role and importance of international law in the regulation of social relations; the basic principles of Public International Law (PIL), its main features (sources, subjects), the structure and mechanisms of the international legal system.
- The students should gain the following knowledge and understanding: the role and functioning of global and regional international organizations; as well as the role, functions and procedural mechanisms of the international and regional courts, special tribunals and quasi-judicial human rights bodies.
- The students should gain the following knowledge and understanding: the PIL terminology and academic legal writing; the sources of international law and learn how to identify the applicable law to solve possible case law (weekly classes, exams, written assignments); the law of treaties and the role of states and international organizations in law-making; historical evolution of international law, human rights law and the other PIL branches and their current trends.
- The students should gain the following skills and abilities: to learn and use specific terminology and sources of PIL; to develop practical abilities of legal research and analysis of customary law, treaties, soft law, decisions, and doctrines; to use appropriate referencing and bibliographic methods.
- The students should gain the following skills and abilities: to read and correctly analyze case law (International Court of Justice, ICC, ICTY, ICTR, ECtHR, EUCJ, and international arbitration courts) using lawyering skills and legal argumentation).
- The students should gain the following skills and abilities: ─ to use the major legal databases on international law and European law such as Peace Palace Library, ICJ website, Court of Justice, HUDOC, EURLEX, JSTOR, Lexis Nexis, WESTLAW, and the major journals, blogs or dedicated websites for carrying out research activity and analyze current issues in the international law field.
- Students should gain the following competencies and abilities: to develop a professional methodology to work, learning to conduct exhaustive legal research, correct identification of relevant judicial decision and applicable law, which will be necessary for the fulfillment of their future scientific and professional tasks; to apply a systematic legal approach and using comparative methods.
- Students should gain the following competencies and abilities: to carry out professional activities in the field of Public International Law, Human Rights Law and/or Humanitarian Assistance; to identify legal issues in the field of PIL and to develop an independent analysis of such issues.
- Students should gain the following competencies and abilities: to use national and international regulatory acts and judicial decisions to protect human and civil rights and freedoms, and legitimate interests of legal entities; to represent individuals in front of domestic and international courts, as well as quasi-judicial bodies; to analyze scientific publications and reports on PIL topics.
Course Contents
- Topic 1 – Introduction to Public International Law (PIL)
- Topic 2 – Sources and Norms of Public International Law
- Topic 3 – States as Subjects of International law
- Topic 4 – The Law of Treaties
- Topic 5 – Public International Law and Municipal Law
- Topic 6 – International Organizations (Its)
- Topic 7 – Coercion and Responsibility in International Law (inactive)
- Topic 8 – International Protection of Human Rights (inactive)
- Topic 9 – Diplomatic and Consular Law (inactive)
- Topic 10 – Prohibition of the threat and use of force in International Law. International Security Law (inactive)
- Topic 11 – International Humanitarian Law (inactive)
- Topic 14 – Law of the Sea
- Topic 13 – International Criminal Law (inactive)
- Topic 14 – International Economic Law
- Topic 15 – International Environmental Law
Assessment Elements
- Classroom-based workThe students will be evaluated on their performance during the seminars. Each student is expected to attend all the seminars and be prepared on the topic of the seminar in advance. The students must study the assigned material. The knowledge of the students can be assessed in class through written tests (close and/or open questions), as well as on the ground of his/her active/inactive participation in class discussions.
- Oral examForm of the exam: oral in the form of an interview on the whole syllabus without giving time for preparation of the answer (held in small groups).
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- International law, Shaw, M. N., 2017
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Aspremont, J. d’. (2015). Epistemic Forces in International Law : Foundational Doctrines and Techniques of International Legal Argumentation. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=970454