Exercises of public international law

Study of the international legal order, its subjects, its sources and its implementation, all through practical exercises on current cases.

The aim of this course is to enable students to deepen their knowledge of general international law. This is a prerequisite for understanding all the other courses given in the framework of the Specialised Masters in International Law.

As the objective is not to abstractly learn and know the content of rules, but to "practice" international law, the course will deviate from the classical, ex cathedra, teaching model. Thus, students will not be required to learn a voluminous syllabus by heart, and to reproduce extracts from it, concentrating most (if not all) of their efforts during examination periods. Rather, students will need to develop and use their theoretical knowledge in order to resolve complex international law questions that arise in concrete situations. The practical exercises will lead students to identify the main questions of application or interpretation of international law raised by a real-life situation, or one that is very close to it, and to identify the solutions that can be proposed in this context.

The course is based on a book which ensures a certain clarity and stability in the identification of the course's subject-matter, a book the reading of which is absolutely essential for the successful completion of the course: Olivier Corten, François Dubuisson, Vaios Koutroulis and Anne Lagerwall, A Critical Introduction to International Law, 2nd edition, Bruxelles, éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 2024, 573 p. The book is accompanied by a series of videos whose aim is to show how the rules and principles can be used to understand current events. The course is based on the reading of the book and the viewing of the videos.

The course material will be studied in 5 sessions which will be organised in a flipped classroom format. Students will be divided into groups and will be asked to work on concrete precedents and to present arguments defending a particular thesis or position on the interpretation and application of the rules of international law. The preparation of these sessions is fundamental. To this end, before the start of each session, each group will hand in a reading sheet containing the arguments that will be presented by the group during the session. 

In the penultimate session of the course, we will revisit the precedents analysed during the previous five sessions in order to examine them as "classic" practical cases. The presentations will be conducted in pairs, with one student presenting and the other commenting on a specific precedent.

Finally, the last session of the course will be devoted to an individual interview between each student and the course teachers. The interviews will be conducted in pairs, with one student presenting and the other commenting on a specific precedent. 

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Olivier Corten, François Dubuisson, Vaios Koutroulis and Anne Lagerwall, A Critical Introduction to International Law, 2nd edition, Bruxelles, éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 2024, 573 p. 
List of instruments available on the Virtual University platform.

Course notes

• Podcast
• Université virtuelle
• Syllabus

Contacts

Questions related to the course can be asked to professor Vaios Koutroulis either during or after the sessions and in the following address: Vaios.Koutroulis@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• Personal work
• Oral presentation

Personal work

Oral presentation

The final evaluation will be carried out during the last session of the course on the same basis as the penultimate session: an individual interview consisting of an argument based on a practical case, orally, preceded by a brief preparation (during which all the written material or documents that one deems useful to bring can be made available). The interviews will be conducted in pairs, with one student presenting and the other commenting on a specific precedent. 
 
Continuous assessment will be carried out during the discussion sessions. The purpose of this evaluation is not to grade the student, but to enable him/her to determine his/her qualities and shortcomings, and on this basis to identify the gaps that need to be filled.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

100% of the note based on the final session of the course.

Language(s) of evaluation

• english