LLM Law / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Global Law-Making

Course unit fact file
Unit code LAWS70431
Credit rating 30
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

The question of global law-making inevitably raises some well-known scholarly controversies which this course will address: where do the rules (provided they may be regarded as rules) of international law (provided they are rules of law) come from? And more precisely: through which processes are they made, how are they ascertained, where does the international legal order begin and end, etc? Without surprise, and because they touch upon the very nature of international law, those various facets of the question of global law-making have proved controversial and have always been at the heart of heavy debates among international scholars. They are also very determinative about legal argumentation is constructed in international law. Addressing such questions of sources and global law-making will be the goal of the first part of this course. In the second part of this course, the attention will turn to the consequences of normativity at the international level, and especially the consequences of the violation of an international legal rule. In doing so, this course will introduce students to some of the key rules and mechanisms of the law of treaties and the law of international responsibility as they have been codified by the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the 2001 Articles on the Responsibility of the State for Internationally Wrongful Act and the 2011 Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations for Internationally Wrongful Act. 

This course is absolutely key in the training of any international lawyer. Being well-versed into questions of global law-making, including questions of liability, is of the utmost importance for anyone envisaging to involve in international legal matters in the future. After all, speaking the language of the sources of international law and that of the law of state responsibility is what is required to speaking like an international lawyer.  

Aims

  • Introduce students to the main sources of international law
  • Introduce students to the main law-making processes of international law
  • Teach students to determine which types of exercise of public authority at the international level qualify as international law
  • Allows students to critically reflect upon the doctrine of sources of international law
  • Introduce students to the theory of international obligations in international law
  • Introduce students to the legal regime of international treaties
  • Introduce students to the law of international responsibility
  • Introduce students to the mechanisms of invalidity, termination and responsibility for breach of international legal rules

 

 

Teaching and learning methods

The course will be taught via workshops. For each workshop, students will be requested to be familiar with current practice, recent development as well as the basic principles. The course will combine discussions on the policies, rules, and current practices.

 

Knowledge and understanding

  • Knowledge and understanding of the main processes whereby international law is made
  • Knowledge and understanding of the new forms of international law-making
  • Knowledge and understanding of the contemporary challenges to the classical doctrine of sources of international law
  • Knowledge and understanding of the participation of multiple actors to law-making processes
  • Knowledge and understanding of the rules of the law of treaties
  • Knowledge and understanding of the rules of international responsibility
  • Knowledge and understanding of the practice and case-law pertaining to the law of treaties and international responsibility

 

Intellectual skills

  • Ability to understand when and how a given norm has the potential to qualify as an international legal rule
  • Ability to understand current States practices in the making of international law
  • Ability to think about international legal issues in terms of international obligations
  • Ability to analyse contemporary legal issues though the conceptual framework of the law of treaties and law of responsibility

 

Practical skills

  • Ability to ascertain the rules of international law
  • Ability to think about international legal issues in terms of international obligations
  • Ability to analyse contemporary legal issues though the conceptual framework of the law of treaties and law of responsibility

 

Transferable skills and personal qualities

Critical legal thinking about the concept of international law as a whole

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Written exam 100%

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Assessment written exam 1.5

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Jean D'Aspremont Unit coordinator

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