This course is intended to provide students with in-depth knowledge of, and insight into, the core principles and rules of public international law. The course will cover the traditional concepts of public international law as well as several sub-areas and contemporary issues of public international law. The course will cover the following subjects:- Introduction to international law- The law of international obligations and dispute settlement- The law of international organizations- International peace and security- The right to self-determination, statehood and recognition- Human rights in theory and practice- The International Criminal Court and the crime of aggressionA course outline can be found on Blackboard. Overviews of the prescribed literature, case law and other documents for each week are available on Blackboard as well. These overviews also include the questions students are required to prepare for the tutorials and the subjects/propositions for the papers students will have to write.
After successfully completing this course:
Students have knowledge of and insight into the existing legal framework, the foundations and the system of public international law;
Students have knowledge of the specific rules and regulations of public international law that were studied during the course;
Students have insight into contemporary challenges in public international law;
Students understand how international law operates as a system and how international law influences the behavior of states on the international plane.
Students are able to interpret and analyze the relevant legal literature and sources critically;
Students are able to present a structured legal analysis of and a legal solution to an international legal problem in written form;
Students are able to present their own opinion on issues of public international law in class on the basis of sound and convincing legal arguments.
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Mode of instruction
This course will be taught for seven weeks. There will be two classes each week: one lecture and one tutorial or seminar. The tutorials (week 1-3) are intended to discuss the lecture materials in more detail and to practice legal problem analysis through various assignments. The seminars (week 4-7) are intended to have class discussion on the topics covered by the papers that students are required to submit.
Total course load: 280 hours (10 EC)
Hours spent on attending lectures, tutorials and seminars (2 classes x 2 hours x 7 weeks): 28 hours
Time for studying prescribed materials (7 weeks): 177 hours
Time for preparing assignments/questions (3 tutorials): 15 hours
Time for writing papers, including additional reading/research (3 papers x 2,000 words): 60 hours
Students are required to write three legal papers of max. 2,000 words (excluding footnotes and bibliography) during week 4-7 on one of two subjects/propositions provided for each seminar. Students will have to submit the papers both electronically (via Turnitin on Blackboard) and in hardcopy.The three papers submitted will define the final mark for this course. Each paper will define 1/3 of the final mark.
The general course outline as well as overviews of the prescribed literature, case law and other documents for each week are available on Blackboard. These overviews also include the questions students are required to prepare for the tutorials and the subjects/propositions for the papers students will have to write.Some additional materials, such as case law, reports, and resolutions, will also be made available through Blackboard.
The following books are prescribed:
§ J. Klabbers, International Law (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2013).
§ Elementair Internationaal Recht / Elementary International Law 2015 (TMC Asser Press, The Hague 2015).
Additional materials prescribed will be made available through Blackboard or are available in the library.