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Informatie over LLM Public International Law
Hieronder staan het programma en de vakomschrijvingen van LLM Public International Law Klik op de naam van een vak in een schema om naar de omschrijving te gaan.
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| Periode | Type | Code | Naam | Taal | ECTS | Uren | |
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| semester I | compulsory | RGMIR51206 | Advanced International Law | Engels | 6 | 2 | |
| compulsory | RGDOS500 | English written proficiency support | Engels | variabel | |||
| semester I a | compulsory | RGMIR51106 | International Human Rights Law | Engels | 6 | 4 | |
| compulsory | RGMIR50906 | International Institutional Law | Engels | 6 | 4 | ||
| semester I b | compulsory | RGMIR51806 | Settlement of International Disputes | Engels | 6 | 4 | |
| compulsory | RGMIR51906 | UN Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement | Engels | 6 | 4 | ||
| semester II | compulsory | RGM0065018 | Master's thesis | Engels | 18 | ||
| semester II a | optional compulsory | RGMIR50306 | International Humanitarian Law | Engels | 6 | 2 | |
| optional compulsory | RGMBE01606 | Refugee and Asylum Law | Engels | 6 | 2 | ||
| compulsory | RGMIR51706 | Seminar International Law in Practice | Engels | 6 | 2 | ||
| semester II b | optional compulsory | RGMIR51406 | International Trade and Development Law | Engels | 6 | 4 | |
| optional compulsory | RGMIR51506 | Investment and International Law | Engels | 6 | 2 | ||
| Opmerkingen | The programme consists of 60 ECTS: | ||||||
| 1 | Advanced International Law | RGMIR51206 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Despite the existence of several special regimes in international law, e.g. international trade law, international human rights etc., no regime exists in clinical isolation. All areas of international law interact in one form or another with each other. This is unsurprising, for many reasons, but most pertinent for this course, because they share the same 'building blocks'. In order to gain a deeper understanding of how international law functions across the spectrum, the course, building on the basic knowledge of Public International Law that all participating students (should) have acquired during their bachelor studies, aims to further explore the theoretical foundations of international law and deepen the knowledge of and insight into international law and its fundamental building blocks, mainly the sources of international law and the concept of responsibility. In the first part of the course we will consider various scholarly reflections on the theoretical foundations of international law. We will then proceed with the study of the sources of international law (principles, customary law and law of treaties) and responsibility of States and international organizations. Teaching method: Students will have to study and critically reflect upon various scholarly texts and international judgments on the approaches to and the developments in international law, which will be discussed in class. Specific individual or group assignments may be part of the preparations for class. Depending on the variety in the student group, discussion of their regional, religious, economic or other differences in the perception of international law will be included. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2 | English written proficiency support | RGDOS500 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The English proficiency support comprises three parts: 1. A compulsory test 2. 7 workshops 3. One-to-one tutorials Ad 1. All students participate in a short English proficiency test upon arrival in Groningen. In this 60-minute test students have to write an argumentative essay in academic style about one of six suggested topics. Ad 2. Based on the test score, students are advised as to which workshops, if any, they should attend. These workshops address - Punctuation - Formality - articles & concord - digital tools - the verb phrases (tenses, voice) & grammar pitfalls - sentence structure - paragraph structure The advice is binding, meaning that attendance is mandatory for the students concerned. LLM students can also attend workshops to which they were not invited. Ad 3. In semester 2, one-to-one tutorials are offered for students who have followed the required workshops. These tutorials deal with written work produced by the individual students (e.g. one of the already produced papers from semester 1 or a chapter of the thesis). The tutor will provide feedback on this written piece. Please be aware that the tutorials are only available to students who have participated in the required workshops as assigned to them based on the written test. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 3 | International Human Rights Law | RGMIR51106 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This course examines the basic concepts and theories concerning human rights; the protection of human rights in positive international law, in particular through the work and case law of international human rights bodies such as the Human Rights Committee and the various regional human rights adjudicatory bodies. Lectures will focus on topics such as: • The conceptual and philosophical background to human rights; • The development of the universal human rights system including discussions of the different types of human rights monitoring bodies under the United Nations and their procedures to ensure compliance with the human rights obligations of states; • An overview of the various regional human rights monitoring bodies and recent developments therein; • The various procedures available to states, individuals, and groups to secure the protection of human rights law at the international and regional level; • A discussion on the content and scope of a select group of rights under international and regional human rights law and recent developments (f.e. the right to life; the right to freedom of expression and the right to freedom of association and assembly; and some select social and cultural rights); • A discussion of various current topics in the field of human rights law including the potential human rights obligations of non-state actors such as international financial institutions and multinational corporations, the human rights of vulnerable groups such as indigenous populations, the problem of dealing with terrorism and human rights, and the discussion about the existence of a right to development and a clean and healthy environment. • Pespectives on a career in the field of human rights and the need to actively engage in the field. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 4 | International Humanitarian Law | RGMIR50306 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This module focuses on the law applicable to international and non-international armed conflicts. It discusses the Hague law (means and methods of warfare), Geneva law (on the protection of specific groups), and customary international humanitarian law (IHL). The course will start with a historical overview of the development of IHL its legal basis and scope of application as well as the distinction between international and non-international armed conflicts (IACs and NIACs). The course will then shift from a theoretical/historical perspective towards a more practical one. This re-focus will start with the examination of the various actors and groups involved in armed conflict, the distinction between combatants and non-combatants, and controversial actors like militia and terrorists. It will then move to the various means and methods of warfare, the cardinal principles of international humanitarian law (principle of distinction, prohibition of unnecessary suffering and superfluous injury), prohibited acts (attacks on civilians, assassination and ‘no quarter’, perfidy), military necessity, military objectives, precautions to be taken when attacking. Since no area of law exists in clinical isolation from the others, the course will conclude with an examination of the highly topical interface between international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Lectures are the main teaching method, but students will have to study and critically reflect upon IHL textbooks as well as recent articles on a variety of topical and highly debated IHL issues. Group assignments, presentations and crisis simulations will be an integral part of certain of the seminars. Military and academic experts in the field of IHL will also be invited to deliver lectures on specific topics (such as targeting). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 5 | International Institutional Law | RGMIR50906 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Modern international governmental institutions and organizations started to emerge in the second half of the 19th century and in the beginning of the 20th century. World War II sealed the fate of the League of Nations but spawned the birth of the United Nations and many other international institutions and organizations. The end of the 20th century has seen a new wave, with the creation of ad hoc and permanent international (criminal) tribunals and courts and the World Trade Organization. No one doubts that international institutions and organizations are essential for international cooperation, and one may expect to see expansion of their functions and activities in the years to come. However, on the one hand, organizations are engaged in a continuous struggle to effectively pursue and fulfil their purposes within the specialised and limited nature of their competences and powers. On the other hand, the expanding scope of activities of for instance the UN Security Council and the implementation of its decisions by UN members raises questions as to the conformity of activities and decisions with international law in general, and in particular with human rights law, and has led to the discussion of for instance the organization’s international responsibility for (alleged) violations. This course focuses on the institutional law aspects of the activities displayed by international organizations, in particular –though not exclusively– of the United Nations. Topics to be discussed include: international legal personality and applicable law; privileges and immunities; the admission and representation of States; normative acts, resolutions, (binding) decisions, recommendations and authorizations; voting procedures; express, implied, and inherent powers; enforcement powers; the internal division of powers, especially within the United Nations; the international responsibility of international organizations; the question of ultra vires acts; and review of acts of international organizations. This course will be taught by way of lectures, in which various concepts common to different organizations will be introduced and critically assessed. Specific institutional problems and international controversies will be examined by reference to the law applicable within the particular organization or institution. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 6 | International Trade and Development Law | RGMIR51406 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The World Trade Organization deals with the global rules of trade between nations. Its overriding purposes are to regulate the trade in goods and services, to prevent unnecessary and discriminatory measures, and in this way to help trade flow as freely as possible — so long as there are no undesirable side effects — because this is important for economic development and well-being (wto.org). This course is intended to explore and discuss the complex field of international trade law, in particular the legal regime of the WTO, as a distinctive branch of international law and to investigate whether and how the liberalization of international trade supports or hampers economic development and well-being in developing countries. Many international documents and conferences have called “to develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system” (Millennium Development goal 8). In 2001, the WTO members states committed themselves to “continue to make positive efforts designed to ensure that developing countries, and especially the least-developed among them, secure a share in the growth of world trade commensurate with the needs of their economic development”. Answering this question requires an understanding what development means and of international development law. Exploring the right to development will for instance be a part of the course. The course will address the rules of international trade law as developed and applied in the context of the WTO, with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as a core legal instrument, and the structure and relevant case law of the WTO system for settlement of trade-related disputes. Particular attention will be given to analysing general exceptions within the trade law regime to balance trade law with general objectives of for example human rights protection, preservation of the environment and the promotion of sustainable development, and specific privileges and exemptions for developing countries. Furthermore the development of international development law will be discussed and investigated, including the legal implications of the Sustainable Development Goals of 2015. The course will be taught in a combination of lectures, discussions and presentations. The lectures will focus on introducing and discussing the legal regime, whereas in the discussion and presentations students will engage in academic dialogue related to the international trade and development regime on the basis of a reading list. The exact format will be depending on the number of participants. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 7 | Investment and International Law | RGMIR51506 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International investments are a core aspect of the global economy. Investments mostly are made by multinational corporations and are of great importance for the economies of both the home and the host states of the investments. On the one hand, investors try to reduce risks and favour a stable and predictable investment climate in which they are protected against undue interference by states. On the other hand, host states want to be able to formulate and enforce their national or regional (e.g. EU) economic, environmental, tax, human rights and other policies without being completely subjected to restrictive international investment regulations. In the past decades around 3,000 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and a number of multilateral investment treaties have been concluded worldwide to regulate and protect international investments. This course analyses the history and nature of these agreements and their development over time, revealing a cautious tendency to transform these agreements from instruments merely protecting the interests of private foreign investors into instruments which provide a more equitably balance between the interests of foreign investors and those of the host countries, in particular developing countries. Disputes about the application and interpretation of these agreements are often subjected to international investment arbitration. This, for international law rather unique, state v. non-state actor confrontation in international arbitration will be discussed, providing insights into, among others, the critique on the tribunals as a body curtailing the regulatory freedom of the host states. This course is broader than a course on international investment law, as it aims to put investment issues in the context of the evolving system of international law, including law-making aspects relating to developing a more general legal framework for international investment instead of the 3,000 bilateral arrangements, the international responsibilities of non-state actors, and developments in dispute settlement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 8 | Master's thesis | RGM0065018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The master programmes are all concluded by the writing of a Master’s thesis. This thesis should be linked to the subject matter of the master programme European Law, specialization Energy and Climate Law. Topics should be sent to the Academic Director of the programme for approval, after which a supervisor will be appointed. Every LL.M. student will receive 'Thesis Guidelines' at the beginning of the academic year. There is also a thesis class at the beginning of every semester. Before starting to write on the thesis, all students should have read the guidelines and are obliged to have participated in at least one of the two thesis classes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 9 | Refugee and Asylum Law | RGMBE01606 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This course examines issues concerning refugees and asylum seekers in an international context. The world is facing a huge number of refugees all over the world. The number of displaced persons is increasing everywhere. Because of the continuing development of means of transportation and communication, the western world also faces a huge challenge. This course will focus on the on both international standards, such as the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the New York protocol and the still developing Common European Asylum System. The first three lectures will focus on international standards and more specifically on the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the New York Protocol. Questions relating persecution, grounds for persecution, internal flight alternative, internally displaced persons, the concept of safe countries, exclusion and cessation and non-refoulement will be explored. The last three lectures will examine case law of the European Court of Human Rights on the concept of non-refoulement, the development and challenges of the Common European Asylum System and the Dutch asylum system. During the lectures discussion between students is encouraged and feedback is provided by the lecturer. In the last week, a guest lecture or a visit to a reception facility will be made. Students have the option to make one assignment. The grade on this assignment can be used to replace one, on forehand by the lecturer determined, ten point question of the written exam. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 10 | Seminar International Law in Practice | RGMIR51706 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The practice of international law is the focus of this course. Students will be asked to investigate and report on concrete questions relating to international law that have arisen or may arise in international or domestic practice. Students will be assigned a role as legal advisor to a minister for foreign affairs, legal counsel at an international organisation, counsel for a party in an international dispute, independent consultant on international law, or any other role in which the ‘client’ expects an international legal advice in the context of a law-making exercise, dispute settlement procedure or policy making. Situations to be investigated may be taken from reality and be chosen in consultation with an existing institution or an individual practitioner, or be fictitious. Depending on the scope of the problem to be tackled the assignments will be individual or assigned to a group of students. The outcome of the investigation will be a report or memorandum to the ‘client’. Students will present the report orally to the ‘client’. The situations will focus on the application of international law to a concrete problem or situation rather than on theory or scholarly views on international law. Obviously, theory of international law can be relied on to support a particular interpretation of or position in international law. It is for the course instructor(s) to assign situations to students. The course may also take the form of a moot court exercise in which students represent their ‘client’ in court. In a moot court exercise students will be expected to write a memorial and to present their arguments orally before the court. Teaching method: A specific situation will be assigned by the course instructor(s) to students individually or to a small group of students. Students will have to tackle the problem independently, but an academic tutor will be assigned to each student (group). The tutor or any other expert can be consulted with the aim of providing general assistance in analysing the problem, formulating the relevant legal questions and finding relevant sources. Students will meet at least twice during the course with their tutor to report on the progress and explain the problems they encounter before handing in their draft report. The tutor will provide feedback on the draft report at least a week before the final report is due. Assessment: The assessment is based on the final report. If a report is written jointly by a group of students all members of the group will receive the same grade. The reports are graded on the basis of the following criteria: clarity of the analysis of the situation and the legal questions that are identified; identification and explanation of the applicable law; application and interpretation of the applicable law to the specific situation; conclusions and recommendations; sources used; use of references; bibliography; style of writing; use of the English language; and oral presentation of the report. The grades for the written memorial will be the same for all students representing the same client in a moot court exercise, but individual adjustments to the grade may be made on the basis of the oral presentation and the ability to answer questions from the members of the moot court. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 11 | Settlement of International Disputes | RGMIR51806 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| One of the main objectives of law is to contribute to the peaceful settlement of disputes. Whereas in domestic law access to judicial settlement is an essential part of the legal system, in international law the consent of all parties is required in dispute settlement procedures that involve a third party (court, tribunal, fact finding commission, mediator, etc.) and the enforcement of the outcome of international procedures is not without serious limitations. In this course we will critically analyze international dispute settlement procedures in general, as well as discuss various methods and procedures of dispute settlement in more detail, such as the International Court of Justice, international (investment) arbitration, commissions of enquiry or fact-finding commissions, the WTO dispute settlement procedures, and non-compliance mechanisms in international (environmental) treaties. With the development of more specific dispute settlement procedures within various areas of international law (trade, investment, human rights, international criminal law, law of the sea, etc.) questions as to the interaction between these mechanisms arise. Does this lead to fragmentation of international law or to cross-fertilization? Do dispute settlement bodies in one area of law take account of the decisions of those in other areas? What is the role of domestic court decisions? This course is limited to peaceful methods of dispute settlement. It will not deal with international criminal courts and tribunals or with human rights bodies specifically. The course will be taught through lectures focusing on the main features of dispute settlement (procedures) and working sessions aiming at discussing specific procedural and jurisdictional issues based on case-law. Students will be asked to prepare brief assignments, find and analyse case-law and prepare for moot court exercises. An excursion to one or more courts or tribunals may form part of the course. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 12 | UN Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement | RGMIR51906 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Charter of the United Nations imposes a general prohibition to use armed force in international relations, with self-defence and collective security action by the UN Security Council as the main exceptions. Frequent use of the veto by permanent members of the Security Council during the Cold War led to the development of peacekeeping missions based on the consent of the parties to the conflict and voluntary contributions of (military) personnel by other UN members. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, a more activist Security Council started intervening in crises situations in an unprecedented manner through authorizing interventions by ‘coalitions of the able and the willing’ under Chapter VII of the Charter, by expanding the number of peacekeeping missions and widening the scope of their mandates, by creating international criminal tribunals, imposing targeted sanctions against individuals or non-state actors and by adopting decisions with legislative design. However, the (threat of) veto remains an obstacle to effective intervention in many situations. This course will deal with the international law side of the complex and highly political objectives of maintaining or restoring international peace and security. After introducing the basic rules on the use of armed force between States, the course will concentrate on UN peacekeeping and peace enforcement. As regards peacekeeping, the history, legal basis, main principles, the developing scope of mandates, and the functioning and responsibilities of peacekeeping operations will be discussed in light of the fact that current threats to or disturbances of peace and security are often of an internal character and involve non-state actors. This also affects peace enforcement: what is for instance the impact of atrocities committed within states on the interpretation of what constitutes ‘peace’ or a ‘threat to the peace’ and consequently on the implementation of the enforcement powers of the Security Council as instituted by the Charter. Humanitarian concerns and humanitarian intervention take a much more prominent role than the traditional focus on maintaining and restoring peace between States. The primary responsibilities of the Security Council will be investigated and its enforcement competence and powers under Chapter VII of the Charter will be extensively analysed. The responsibilities and functions of especially the General Assembly, and its relation with the Security Council, will be explored. A critical discussion of past and current crisis situations will be a central feature of this course, as (developments in) international law cannot be understood in ‘clinical isolation’ from the day-to-day realities in international relations. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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