Content

1. Introduction. Challenges for international law in an era of globalization and global governance; influence of globalization on international actors, normative processes and fundamental principles of international law; the manner in which international legal regimes (fail to) respond to the need to provide global public goods

2-6. Sources. Problems of treaty law in practice (provisional application, interpretation, breach, modification, termination, conflicts with other treaties or sources of international law, fragmentation and proliferation of treaty regimes); the rise of informal international law-making and its relationship to traditional public international law, in particular customary law and general principles

7-9. Subjects. The emergence of non-state actors on the international plane, in particular non-governmental organizations, multinational business enterprises and the individual; their evolving legal position (rights and obligations) in international law, their possibility to enforce claims at the international level and their role in the development and enforcement of international law

10. Practical Exercises I (discussion session)

11. Interplay between international – EU – national law. Coping with multi-layered legal orders: mutual interactions between international, EU and national law; doctrines of direct effect, consistent interpretation, the hierarchical position of international norms in domestic legal systems

12-15. Jurisdiction and immunities. Territorial and extraterritorial exercise of jurisdiction by States in an era of strong interdependence, in particular the use of sanctions; immunities and their relationship to other international and national norms, including human rights

16-17. Responsibility. Responsibility of international subjects, with a specific focus on State responsibility

18. Dispute settlement. Diplomatic and judicial methods of dispute settlement in international law, with special emphasis on the proliferation of international and regional courts and tribunals, and their contribution to the rule of law

19. Practical Exercises II (discussion session)

Course material

Sourcebook (yearly updated) which will be made available at the ‘VRG Cursusdienst’, containing the legal instruments and cases that are the most relevant for the course. Typically, a number of legal instruments and cases from the sourcebook will be assigned as reading material for each lecture.

Compulsory handbook: J Wouters, C Ryngaert, T Ruys and G De Baere, International Law: A European Perspective (Oxford, Hart, 2018), available at ‘Acco’. This book is composed of 20 chapters that largely match the topics that will be dealt with during the course. Typically, one or two chapters will be assigned as reading material for each lecture.

Format: more information

1. in part ex cathedra lectures

2. in part an interactive approach whereby students prepare themselves on the basis of the materials

This course includes two discussion sessions, implementing activating educational formats. Attendance at the discussion sessions is therefore compulsory. Planning and the content of the discussion sessions and the preparatory assignments will be communicated during the semester.