Advanced Public International Law

Learning Outcomes

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• identify and analyse key issues of international legal policy;
• locate and analyse relevant primary and secondary source materials;
• think critically, develop, communicate and defend coherent arguments orally and in writing.
• distinguish relevant from irrelevant materials;
• present arguments in terms of international legal concepts, couched in appropriate terminology;

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the rules governing the use of force.
• the basic elements of the law of the sea;
• the bases of states’ jurisdiction over places, events and persons and the immunities from it;
• the rules on acquisition of territory;
• fundamental principles of the law of state responsibility;

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• demonstrate independence of mind in the presentation and defence of an argument, both orally and in writing.
• construct arguments clearly and coherently in writing and orally through tutorial discussion;
• express and assess the limitations of international law in a state-centered system and the challenges posed by political considerations to the rule of law in international affairs;

The syllabus in any particular academic year will be drawn from the following list, not necessarily in the order in which they appear here:

• title to territory;
• law of the sea;
• jurisdiction and immunities from it;
• state responsibility;
• legal regulation of the use of force;
• international environmental law;
• international human rights law.

Teaching and learning methods

The module will be taught by a two-hour seminar each week.

Seminars will develop:

• The key applicable principles and rules of law in the field of public international law;
• The key areas of controversy and doubt concerning those principles and rules;
• Prospects for future developments in the field.

Preparation for and participation in seminars will develop your:

• Knowledge of the concepts, principles, and rules covered in the seminars.
• Ability to manage and access a diverse range of primary and secondary sources of public international law.
• Ability to critically evaluate those sources and to participate constructively in oral discussions concerning them.
• Ability to assess competing theoretical explanations for current international law and to comment critically on international legal issues / debates.
• Time management and research skills.

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

D. Harris & S. Sivakumaran (2020). Cases and Materials on International Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell.

M. Evans (ed) (2018). Blackstone’s International Law Documents. Oxford: OUP.

Assessment strategy

A single piece of coursework (an essay or problem), 4000 words

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External