International Law (INTR)

The course aims to offer thorough instruction on the foundations and sources of the law of the sea, the principle types of maritime jurisdiction, the principles of resource management, and approaches to the settlement of maritime disputes.

Treaties are the foundation of public and private international law and national foreign affairs law. This course examines: historical development of law of treaties; concept of treaty; treaty as source of international and national law; stages of concluding treaty; reservations; accession to treaties, functions of depositary; publication of treaties; breach of treaty obligations; invalidity, termination, and suspension of treaties; denunciation and other withdrawal from treaties; treaties and jus cogens; treaties and customary rules of international law; treaties and third States; treaties and municipal law; interpretation of treaties; languages and authentic texts of treaties.

This class surveys the laws of political asylum and related protection for those fleeing danger in their home countries. It examines asylum and refugee law and policy in the United States, and sets forth the legal grounds for barring someone from asylum. It also explores the politics driving immigration policy, including asylum and refugee policy, and the federal agencies that implement those policies.

This course is intended to provide students with a general knowledge of immigration law, including such critical subjects as the constitutional powers of the federal government over immigration matters, admission and exclusion, entry, deportation, and political asylum.

This course is intended to acquaint students with the impact of globalization upon the process of litigation. It focuses upon the adjudicatory resolution of disputes created by international contracts and global business transactions through the standard legal trial process and arbitration. Various basic topics are treated, including (1) the certification and training of international lawyers; (2) the liability exposure of multinational enterprises; (3) the State as an actor in global commerce; (4) problems of comparative jurisdiction, service of process and evidence-gathering, proof of foreign law, and the enforcement of foreign judgments; (5) the extraterritorial application of national law; and (6) attempts to establish a transborder law and legal process. The course also provides a thorough introduction to international arbitration and investor-state arbitration.

This course focuses on the antitrust law of the European Union and selected other jurisdictions. It will cover international mergers, monopolies, price fixing cartels, distribution restraints, and related topics. The course examines principles of comity and cooperation among international enforcers investigating cases with a multi-national impact. We also review the antitrust laws of other selected jurisdictions, focusing on proposed and recently enacted competition laws including those of selected new entrants to the European Union and China, and on laws of other jurisdictions with an important impact on U.S. firms such as Japan. Finally, the course will consider issues such as advising multi-national clients, obtaining discovery internationally, and litigating complex cases.

This course introduces students to key concepts and doctrines of international law. The first half of the course examines fundamental issues including treaties and customary international law; actors in the international system, including the U.N. Security Council and the International Court of Justice; how international law is applied within the U.S. legal system; international dispute resolution; countries' jurisdiction to prescribe and enforce their domestic laws abroad; and immunities for state and non-state actors. The second half of the course focuses on four specific topic areas: human rights law; international criminal law; the law of the sea; and international law related to the existential threats of weapons of mass destruction and international environmental degradation. The course provides students with basic knowledge needed for both public and private international law practice.

This course examines the legal framework for international trade and its potential for growth and conflict with other areas of international law. It focuses on the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization family of agreements, including the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade. The course explores the fundamental principles embodied in international trade law, the expansion of trade agreements into new areas such as investment and intellectual property rights, and the potential conflicts between such agreements and efforts to protect labor rights and the environment. The course will analyze decisions by international trade tribunals as well as the texts of the treaties themselves.

This course explores the legal frameworks, as well as the strategic considerations, practical skills and policy considerations that are implicated in international arbitration law and practice. International arbitration is the default means by which international commercial disputes are resolved. The effectiveness of its processes and outcomes are assured through a complex interaction of international treaties, national laws, contractual agreements, specialized procedural rules, and international customs and practice norms. The regime is designed to strike an appropriate balance between party autonomy with the sovereign and transnational regulatory interests implicated in disputes. In addition to the doctrinal and practical aspects of international arbitration, this course will also explore the larger trends and theoretical questions raised in contemporary debates about the future of international arbitration. This course is one that will satisfy the prerequisite for participation in the Vis Moot Competition.

This course will provide a broad introduction to the law and regulation of facilities and services used to provide international telecommunications. The course will examine how sovereign nations agree to manage shared resources such as radio spectrum and satellite orbital slots. Additionally the course will use case studies to assess whether and how nations reach consensus on treaties and and voluntary commitments.

Special Topics