LLM Public International Law / Course details

This course equips students with knowledge of the foundations of international law: its sources, its actors, the concept of statehood and international legal personality and the law of state responsibility.  

 The course first addresses the sources of international law: 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, and so forth? 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 how 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.

The course then turns to the persons of the international legal system. Determining which entities bear rights and duties under international law, and thus counts as its ‘subjects and the actors’, has long been controversial. The question is allegedly regulated by the so-called ‘doctrine of Statehood’ in international law which is supplemented by a series of considerations such as recognition and self-determination. These might, or might not, be legal or simply political doctrines, and the doctrine of Statehood itself has been criticised for its imperialist and neo-colonialist dimensions. Further, one of the most sweeping changes weathered by the international legal system since the mid-twentieth century has been the rise of new actors. Although the State remains the cornerstone of the international legal system as it is commonly conceived, new actors have emerged and now take part in law-making and law-enforcement.  

 In the third 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 in questions of actors, sources and questions of liability, is of the utmost importance for anyone envisaging being involved in international legal matters in the future. 
 

• Introduce students to the main sources of international law and the ways in which normativity is produced in global governance
• Allow students to determine which types of exercise of public authority and standard-setting at the international level qualify as international law-making
• Critically reflect upon the various doctrines and agendas behind the ways in which global law-making processes are thought through, applied, and debated
• Introduce students to the doctrine of statehood in international law  
• Allow students to critically reflect on the possibility or impossibility of regulating inclusion and exclusion in international society
• Introduce students to the role and status of non-state actors in international law, and their relation to states
• Allow students to critically assess contemporary developments in matters of statehood and membership in the international legal system
• Introduce students to the main rules of the law of international responsibility
• Making students familiar with liability mechanisms available at the international level
• Allow students to determine think critically and strategically about the possible reactions & arguments available in the case of a violation of international law 
   

The course is taught through seminar-type lectures. For each session, students are requested to be familiar with current practice, recent developments as well as the basic applicable law. The course involves class discussions on the relevant policies, rules and practices.

The course may include one for the following e-learning tools with formative feedback: discussion boards, reflective practice, self-recording of videos, evaluation of wiki-entries, short essays.   

• Identify and explain the main processes of international law-making as well as new forms of international law-making emerging in contemporary global contexts
• Debate contemporary global challenges facing the classical doctrine of sources of international law
• Define, describe and explain the rules governing the birth and death of states in the international society and the rules determining the status of non-state actors in international law
• Assess the status of the principle of self-determination under international law as well as the contemporary practices of recognition
• Distinguish and evaluate the range of actors involved in international law-making processes
• Apply the rules, practice and case-law of the law of treaties as well as the rules of international responsibility in global contexts 

• Illustrate and appraise when and how a given norm has the potential to qualify as an international legal rule
• Explain and evaluate current States practices in international law-making in global contexts
• Analyse and critically assess contemporary global legal issues in terms of international obligations
• Investigate contemporary global legal issues through the conceptual framework of the law of treaties and law of responsibility
• Identify, examine and critically analyse contemporary controversies related to the birth and death of states in the international legal order
• Identify the questions related to the status of state and non-state entities and determine this status 

• Interpret and critique the rules of international law that shape and influence international law-making in global contexts  
• Identify and critically assess contemporary international legal issues in terms of international obligations
• Discuss from various viewpoints the legal questions arising in an international dispute in connection with statehood and non-state actors
• Identify and critically assess contemporary legal issues through the conceptual framework of the law of treaties and law of responsibility 

• Develop arguments and counterarguments  
• Propose complex legal ideas in writing
• Manage information technology and word processing pack