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Course

Principles of International Law - LAWS8180

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Kensington Campus

Career: Postgraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 2

Enrolment Requirements:

Prerequisite: Academic Program must be either 9200, 9210, 9230, 5740, 9240, 5760, 9285, 5285, 9211, 5211, 9231, 5231, 9220, 5750, 9281 or 5281

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

International law seeks to order human affairs at the international level. It accordingly covers a vast field, extending to issues such as autonomy or otherwise of peoples and territories, the allocation of resources (land, maritime, air), the preservation of the environment, the regulation of interstate transactions, the resolution of disputes and the maintenance of international peace and security. As the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs of the United Nations notes, international law has become not only an important but an integral part of both the international and the domestic legal orders. The centrality of international law to our everyday lives and, in particular, to our practice as lawyers, cannot now be overstated.

This course aims to provide a solid introduction to certain central topics within the overall field of international law. It is designed to stand as an effective 'stand alone' introduction suitable for all students who will enter the legal profession at their national level. It also forms the basis from which further specialization in the area of international law can proceed.


Credited programs

Please note that students enrolled in the following postgraduate programs are required to take this course in the first semester of their enrolment:
MILIR/GDILIR and MILS/GDILS students who have completed LAWS3381 Public International Law or any comparable Public International Law course in their undergraduate law degree to an appropriate standard may be exempt from completing LAWS8180 and given permission to undertake another elective in lieu of this course. Requests for exemption should be submitted for consideration to the Program Convenor, Sarah Williams, sarah.williams@unsw.edu.au along with appropriate evidence (eg academic transcript).

This course is offered in Semester 1 and 2 each academic year.

LLM Specialisations

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

This course aims to:
  • Assist students to develop an understanding of the issues involved in the regulation of human affairs beyond a single State
  • Give students a basic working knowledge of the structure of the international legal system and its relationship to the Australian legal system
  • Give students a feel for the 'dynamic' of international law, its political nature and distinction from domestic concepts of law
  • Develop an awareness of different methods of international as compared to national law in such matters as textual interpretation and working with judicial decisions
  • Assist students to recognize international legal problems in their subsequent careers and to point them in the direction of ways of resolving them

Main Topics

  • Historical and philosophical underpinnings of international law
  • Structure of international legal system
  • Sources of international law
  • The law of treaties
  • International personality, statehood and recognition
  • Responsibility of States for violations of international law
  • Title to territory
  • Jurisdiction of States and jurisdictional immunities

Assessment

Class participation and attendance Preparation and engagement in class 10%
Essay 30%
Take home exam 60%
 

Course Texts

Prescribed

  • to be advised
Recommended
  • DJ Harris, Cases and Materials on International Law (7th edition, Sweet & Maxwell, 2010)
  • Brownlie, Principles of International Law (7th edition, OUP, 2008)
  • Shaw, International Law (6th edition, Grotius/Cambridge University Press, 2010)
  • Evans, International Law (3rd edition, OUP, 2010)

Resources

Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer at the beginning of session.
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Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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