LLM Public International Law / Course details

The proliferation of international courts and tribunals in the early 2000s has been subject to much academic study and has changed the practical landscape of international law. International courts and tribunals have undoubtedly contributed to the development of international law. This course identifies such judicial mechanisms, explores their mechanisms, practices and procedural functionings to equip students with knowledge about how critical judicial decisions are adopted that have far-reaching implications in the international legal system. It also addresses the way such courts and tribunals interact, communicate, collaborate and clash with each other. This course is important for students who wish to better understand the functioning of international law, but also wish to approach the discipline from a practical lens.

The unit aims to: 

 - Introduce students to the general principles of dispute resolution in international law as well as the composition, structure, procedures, principles and functioning of the main international human rights courts and tribunals.

- Introduce students to main challenges faced by international courts and tribunals in practice. 

- Teach students to critically read international judicial decisions.

-Identify and describe the general principles governing dispute resolution in international law in order to be able to apply contemporary disputes. 

-Analyse commonalities and dissimilarities of the main international dispute resolution bodies in a context of the proliferation of international courts and tribunals. 

-Critique contemporary challenges facing international dispute resolution for the purpose of reform and improvement. 

-Compare the principles, procedures, institutions and norms governing international litigation across a spectrum of international courts and tribunals.

 -Assess the extent to which procedures have been shaped by practice. 

-Illustrate and decipher the politics of international dispute resolution. 

-Critically read and analyse international judicial decisions.

-Construct arguments for and against the hyper-judicialisation of international crises. 

-Locate and navigate the case-law of the main international courts and tribunals.

-Debate contemporary developments related to legal practices and litigation strategies from different perspectives.

A comprehensive prescribed and recommended readings will be included in the course syllabus that will be distributed at the start of the Course.