Actualités et agenda
Nos formations
Présentation
This is an optional course designed for ESPOL Master students in the first year.
International exchange students are welcome to take this course, provided they have already completed a B.A. degree and depending on the total number of places available. Please note that I do not admit auditors, i.e. students who only wish to follow the course out of a general interest but without the intention to fulfill the course requirements (see below). To suceed and obtain ECTS points, students are required to attend regularly, read all assigned texts, participate actively, and perform sufficiently on all course assignments (see below).
The course aims to provide students with a basic understanding of the logics and main principles of public international law. International law, as its name indicates, is the law that applies in the relations between (inter-) the States (-‘nation’). It is therefore not a branch of domestic law – like commercial, constitutional or yet family law – and, indeed, differs from it in many ways. Its main characteristic probably lies in the fact that the international legal order lacks a single central authority capable of ensuring universal respect for rules. It operates in a horizontal rather than vertical fashion. As a result, not only are States the main subjects of international law, but also its main guardians. This seemingly paradoxical situation is the source of most of the particularities that surround the making, the practice as well as the logics of international law. The course will seek to familiarize students with these particularities and with the content of the most important rules of international law. The purpose is to make sure that they acquire the necessary (legal) tools to critically assess and analyse how the international (legal) system works.
Readings
The course is centered on class discussions and all assigned readings are compulsory unless otherwise noted. For the quality of class discussion, it is essential that you do the readings before each session.
The reading list, compulsory readings and assessment dates will be posted on I-campus during the first week of January 2023.
Organisation of the course
Session 1 - 9 January 2023 - 12-2pm
- Course introduction
- Welcome quiz
- What is international law?
Part 1. International law in a changing world
Session 2 - 16 January 2023 - 12-2pm – What is international law?
- Is international law really “law”?
- Is international law really “international”?
Compulsory readings:
Gaubatz, KT and MacArthur, M (2001) ‘How International is “International’ Law?”’ 22(2) Michigan Journal of International Law 238-282
Anghie, A (2006) ‘Decolonizing the concept of ‘good governance’’ in Gruffydd Jones, B (ed.) Decolonizing International Relations (Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc) 109- 130
Session 3 - 30 January 2023 - 12-2pm – Who are the subjects of international law?
- States
- The Right of all peoples to self-determination
- Individuals
- International organizations
Compulsory readings:
Thürer, D (1999) ‘The “failed State” and international law’ 836 International review of the red Cross
McAdam, J (2010) ‘Disappearing States’, Statelessness and the Boundaries of International Law. UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2010-2, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1539766
Session 4 - 6 February 2023 - 12-2pm – International law and war
- From the “just war” to the United Nations
- Interventions
- Terrorism and international law
- Cyber warfare
Compulsory readings:
Hathaway, O and Shapiro, S (2019) “International Law and its transformation through the outlawry of war” 95(1) International Affairs 45-62
Hakimi, M and Katz Cogan, J (2016) ‘The two codes on the use of force’ 27(2) The European Journal of International Law 257-271
Session 5 - Methods session - 20 February 2023 - 12-2pm
- Memo, policy brief and in-class presentation: expectations
- Migration, terrorism and climate change: normative sources and empirical selection
Compulsory readings:
Burridge, A and Gill, N (2017) ‘Conveyor-Belt Justice: Precarity, Access to Justice, and uneven geographies of legal aid in UK asylum appeals’ 49(1) Antipode 23-42
Kaleck, W and Schüller, A (2019) ‘Universal Jurisdiction gains new momentum’ FICHL Policy Brief Series No. 96
Seck, S L (2017) ‘Revisiting transnational corporations and extractive industries: climate justice, feminism, and state sovereignty’ 26(2) Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems 383-414.
Session 6 - International law and protection – 27 February 2023 – 12-2pm
- Development and scope of protection of international humanitarian law
- Armed conflicts and the conduct of hostilities
- The nature and development of international human rights law
- The UN system
Compulsory readings:
Orford, A (1999) ‘Muscular Humanitarianism: reading the n
Modalités
The course will take place on site.
The course spans over 24 hours, divided in 11 sessions.
In case of any change of schedule, students will be informed through the scolarité.
The first part (sessions 1-4 and 6-8) of the course will review fundamental notions of international law. Each session in this part of the course will be organized around a short introduction to the theme by myself, followed by student-led discussions.
Session 5 will be a methods session, focused on the memo, policy brief and in-class presentations. Readings for this session are mandatory as they will help you prepare for your memo, policy brief and in-class presentations.
The second part (sessions 9-11) of the course will be organized around three topics: terrorism, migration and climate change.
These sessions will have both a research and practical import: they will build on discussions on research methods and examine law in action.
Evaluation process
The evaluation process will be threefold:
(1) In the first place, seeing that the course will not take a classic ex-cathedra form and leave substantial space for debate and discussion, students will be graded on their oral participation (20% of the final grade). It will therefore be imperative to duly prepare each session by familiarizing yourselves with the associated materials.
The course is centered on class discussions and all assigned readings are compulsory unless otherwise noted. For the quality of class discussion, it is essential that you do the readings before each session. The reading list, compulsory readings and assessment dates will be posted on I-campus during the first week of January 2023.
(2) Second, students will be required to write an assessment of the legal framework and/or case law on one of the three themes covered in the second part of the course (terrorism/migration/climate change) (1000 words) and present it in class. The memo and the in-class presentation will account for 30% of the final grade.
The memo needs to be handed out on the day of the presentation.
(3) Finally, each student will be asked to write a policy brief building on their legal framework/case-law memo. The 1500 words paper will target a specific audience, assessing and promoting changes to be made in the situation covered in the memo. This will account for 50% of the final grade.