Gwybodaeth Modiwlau
Course Delivery
Assessment
Due to Covid-19 students should refer to the module Blackboard pages for assessment details
Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
---|---|---|
Semester Assessment | 2500 word essay | 50% |
Semester Exam | 2 Hours Open book exam | 50% |
Supplementary Assessment | Resubmit failed or missed 2500 word essay | 50% |
Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours Resit missed of failed open book exam | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Have a detailed insight into, and a critical understanding of, the salient features of the international legal system, in particular its distinctive law-making process and methods of securing compliance.
2. Have a detailed insight into, and a critical understanding of, the salient features of the international legal system, in particular its distinctive law-making process and methods of securing compliance.
3. The coursework and examination are designed to encourage and enable the students to demonstrate their detailed command of the principles and techniques of International Law.
Aims
The study of International Law provides the student with the tools to understand the legal foundations for many of the most important events featured on daily news programmes.
Brief description
The first part of this module comprises an introduction to the nature and working methods of the international legal system. The sources, subjects and methodology of international law differ from those found in most national (municipal) systems, and a study of the operation of the international legal system supplies illuminating comparisons for students of law generally. Stress is laid upon the way in which international law may work effectively in the absence of a compulsory judicial system and types of sanction commonly found in municipal systems. The study of international law alongside a system such as English Law is therefore also an exercise in jurisprudence.
The second part of the module builds upon this foundation by examining in greater depth selected areas of substantive law. The approach at this stage of the course is thematic, relating legal rules to contemporary issues of international concern, such as the use of force, the preservation of the environment, the world economic order, and the legal control of terrorism and other criminal activities that cross national boundaries.
The module is offered as an elective for both students of law and students in other degree schemes.
Content
The nature of international law
* The United Nations system
- Personality under international law
- The concept of personality in different legal systems
- States as legal persons: the concept of statehood
- The role of recognition in the creation of statehood
- The personality of international organisations
- The personality of individuals at the international level Sources of international law and the international law-making process
- Treaties: types of treaties and the treaty-making process
- Custom: the requirements of custom and its nature as a source of law
- General principles of law
- Subsidiary sources: precedent and legal writing
- Resolutions of the UN General Assembly
- Problems in the development of international law State sovereignty
- The concept of state sovereignty: the distinction between sovereignty and other legal regimes in international law
- The principles of non-intervention and the sovereign equality states
- Methods of acquiring sovereignty over territory
- The relevance of the principle of self-determination The settlement of disputes in international law
- Different methods of dispute resolution employed at the international level
- The role of force in dispute settlement
- The use of United Nations procedures
- Dispute settlement in the context of the European Communities Jurisdiction and immunity from jurisdiction
- The bases of jurisdiction
- Sovereign immunity
- Diplomatic immunity The basic principles of state responsibility
- The use of force
- Force in self-defence Force under the authority of the Security Council
- International criminal law The protection of the basic rights of individuals and groups under international law
- Basic problems arising from state sovereignty and questions of legal personality
- The major systems of protection, global and regional, established since 1945
- Problems of standard-setting and enforcement
- Detailed consideration of the system set up under the European Convention on Human Rights and comparison with other regional systems The relationship between international and municipal (state) law
- 'Monist' and 'Dualist' approaches to this question
- The extent to which international law is part of the United Kingdom legal system Delivery: 30 x 1 hour lectures 6 x 1 hour seminars
Module Skills
Skills Type | Skills details |
---|---|
Application of Number | n/a |
Communication | Seminar discussions will develop individual and group preentation and oral argument. |
Improving own Learning and Performance | Seminar participation and exam preparation will develop different aspects of personal academic development, from understanding and referencing sources through to the dissemination of ideas to others orally, and via written communication skills. |
Information Technology | Library and research skills are fundamental to preparation for seminars, the essay and exam. |
Personal Development and Career planning | Recommended topic for any considering working for regional and international organisations |
Problem solving | The coursework and examination are designed to encourage and enable the students to demonstrate their detailed command of the principles and techniques of International Law. |
Research skills | The coursework and examination are designed to encourage and enable the students to demonstrate their detailed command of the principles and techniques of International Law. |
Subject Specific Skills | Reading and understanding relevant materials in the field of Human Rights Law |
Team work | Group activities and discussion in seminars |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6