Public international law

Contenu du cours

1) Presentation of the international legal order and its links to history and the evolution of international relations;
2) Subjects of international law: States (creation, boundaries, sovereignty), international organisations (definition, personality) and individuals (rights and obligations);
3) Sources of international law : custom, treaty and other sources;
4) Implementation of international law : coercive and non coercive measures, settlement of disputes, responsibility.

Emphasis is given to the underlying tensions of the international legal order (between an ethical and a political pole) and how they characterize and influence the creation, interpretation and application of the rules of public international law.

Objectifs (et/ou acquis d'apprentissages spécifiques)

1) Ensure an understanding of the international legal order, its scope and its limits, with a particular emphasis on the tensions that caractérise it.

2) Enable mastery of the fundamental concepts, principles and rules of international law, so as to be able to apply them to practical cases, particularly current issues.

Pré-requis et Co-requis

Cours ayant celui-ci comme pré-requis

Cours ayant celui-ci comme co-requis

Méthodes d'enseignement et activités d'apprentissages

The course is based on a book (reference below), on videos available via the Virtual university page of the course and on interaction.
Participation to the course is not mandatory, except for the practical exercices (which require the submission of written assignments). Preparation of the sessions is essential.

The lectures of the course consist of ex cathedra sessions and flipped classroom (discussion and Q&A) sessions. The participation in this sessions presupposes that students:
(i) will have read the relevant chapters of the syllabus;
(ii) will have seen the videos bearing on those chapters;
(iii) will have prepared the answers to a list of questions available to students in advance that will be discussed in class.

Further details are provided in the presentation note of the course, available on Virtual University.

Contribution au profil d'enseignement

Ensure autonomy in legal reasoning by providing students with adequate conceptual and methodological tools.

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

Compulsory reading : Olivier Corten, François Dubuisson, Vaios Koutroulis et Anne Lagerwall, A Critical Introduction to International Law, 2nd edition, Brussels, Editions de l'ULB, 2024.

International instruments (treaties, IOs' resolutions,...) listed on Virtual University.

Support(s) de cours

Podcast
Syllabus
Université virtuelle

Autres renseignements

Contacts

Faculty of Law Secretariat : 02.650.39.36, 39.37, 39.40, 39.41

The professors of the course can be contacted during the course, according to what is indicated in the presentation note of the course available on Virtual University.

Campus

Solbosch

Evaluation

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

Examen écrit

Examen écrit

Question ouverte à développement long

Continuous evaluation on the basis of students' preparation and participation in practical exercises.

The written exam is composed of a case study and a more theoretical question about the tensions underlying the international legal order.
A series of international instruments' texts are available to students during the written exam. The book is not available to students during the exam.

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

During the first exam session (January), the evaluation will be based:

- on the participation in the practical exercises (25% of the final mark);

- on a written exam (75% of the final mark).

During the second exam session (August)
- for students that have obtained a note on practical exercises which is equal or superior to 10/20, the evaluation will be similar to the one of the first exam session (75% of the note based on the exam + 25% of the note based on the practical exercises);
- for students whose practical exercises note is inferior to 10/20, the evaluation will be based exclusively on the written exam (100% of the note);
- for students who were noted absent in the practical exercises and received the note of 0/5, this note will be maintained at the second exam session.

Langue(s) d'évaluation

anglais

Recherche