01

02/19

Course Introduction / International Law Refresher

Lecture

Readings: Malcolm N. Shaw, International Law, chs. 2-3 (9th ed. 2021)

02

02/26

Settlement of International Disputes

Lecture, group discussions

Readings: John Merrills & Eric De Brabandere, Merrills’ International Dispute Settlement, ch. 1 (7th ed. 2022).

03

03/05

Identification of Applicable Laws

Lecture, group discussions

Readings:

Omri Sender & Michael Wood, Identification of Customary International Law, ch. 5 (2024).

Relevant Cases:

50. North Sea Continental Shelf (Germany/Netherlands; Germany/Denmark)


50. Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 Nautical Miles from the Nicaraguan Coast (Nicaragua v. Colombia)

04

03/12

To Be Rescheduled – Take Home Assignment (Details TBA)

05

03/19

Overview of International Courts and Tribunals I – Jurisdiction, Admissibility, Non-Participation / Overview of Moot Court Problems

Lecture, group discussions

Readings:

Peter Tzeng, A Strategy of Non-Participation before International Courts and Tribunals, 19 L. & Practice Int’l Courts & Trib. 5 (2020); Assigned Moot Court Problems

Relevant Cases:

50. South China Sea Arbitration (Philippines v. China) (Jurisdiction and Admissibility)


50. Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Gambia v. Myanmar)

06

03/26

Overview of International Courts and Tribunals II – Provisional Measures and Advisory Opinions / International Legal Research

Lecture, research exercises

Readings: Christopher Greenwood, Judicial Integrity and the Advisory Jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, in Enhancing the Rule of Law through the International Court of Justice 63 (Giorgio Gaja & Jenny Grote Stoutenburg, 2014).

Peace Palace Library, Research Guides, https://peacepalacelibrary.nl/research-guide

United Nations, Legal Research Guide, https://libraryresources.unog.ch/legal

NYU Law School, https://www.law.nyu.edu/library/research/researchguides

Relevant Cases:

50. Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations


50. Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russ), Provisional Measures

07

04/02

Intercollegiate Activities (No Class)

08

04/09

Statehood and Territory

Lecture, group discussions

Readings: Marcelo Kohen & Mamadou Hébié, Territorial Disputes, in The Cambridge Companion to the International Court of Justice 332 (Carlos Espósito ed., 2023).

Relevant Cases:

50. Reference re Secession of Quebec


50. Accordance with international law of the unilateral declaration of independence in respect of Kosovo


50. Island of Palmas case (Netherlands, USA)


50. Legal Status of Eastern Greenland (Denmark v. Norway)

09

04/16

Law of the Sea

Lecture, group discussions

Readings: Bernard H Oxman, Courts and Tribunals: The ICJ, ITLOS, and Arbitral Tribunals, in The Oxford Handbook of the Law of the Sea 394 (Donald R Rothwell et al. eds., 2015).

Relevant Cases:

50. Case of the S.S. Lotus (France v. Turkey)


50. Corfu Channel (United Kingdom v. Albania)


50. The M/V “Saiga” (No. 2) Case (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines v. Guinea)


50. The “Juno Trader” Case (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines v. Guinea-Bissau), Prompt Release

10

04/23

International Human Rights Law

Lecture, group discussions

Readings: Bruno Simma, Human Rights Before the International Court of Justice: Community Interest Coming to Life?, in The Development of International Law by the International Court of Justice 301 (Christian J. Tams & James Sloan eds., 2013).

Relevant Cases:

50. Soering v. United Kingdom


50. Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory


50. Ahmadou Sadio Diallo (Republic of Guinea v. Democratic Republic of the Congo)


50. KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland

11

04/30

International Environmental Law

Lecture, group discussions

Readings: Yuri Parkhomenko, Nour Nicolas & Benjamin Salas Kantor, Proving Environmental Harm Before International Courts and Tribunals, in The Environment Through the Lens of International Courts and Tribunals 483 (Edgardo Sobenes et al., 2022).

Relevant Cases:

50. Southern Bluefin Tuna Cases (New Zealand v. Japan; Australia v. Japan), Provisional Measures


50. Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay)


50. Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening)


50. Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law

12

05/07

Use of Force and International Humanitarian Law

Lecture, group discussions

Readings: Claus Kreβ, The International Court of Justice and the ‘Principle of Non-Use of Force’, in The Oxford Handbook of the Use of Force in International Law 561 (Marc Weller ed., 2015).

Relevant Cases:

50. Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States)


50. Oil Platforms (Iran v. United States)


50. Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons


50. Guyana v. Suriname


50. Prosecutor v. Tadić

13

05/14

International Criminal Law

Lecture, group discussions

Readings: Alejandro Ortega Navarro, The Role of Domestic Courts in the Prosecution of International Crimes, 2021 Hague Y.B. Int’l L. 119.

Relevant Cases:

50. Decision under article 87(7) of the Rome Statute on the non-compliance by South Africa with the request by the Court for the arrest and surrender of Omar Al-Bashir


50. Judgment in the Jordan Referral re Al-Bashir Appeal


50. Prosecutor v. Lubanga

14

05/21

Final Presentations and Discussions

15

05/28

Final Presentations and Discussions

16

06/04

Final Presentations and Discussions

17

06/11

Flexible Supplemental Instruction Week – Course-related online learning (Details TBA)

18

06/18

Flexible Supplemental Instruction Week – Individual Meetings (Details TBA)