Public International Law

Course Overview

Was the US, UK and French military intervention in Syria lawful? Is Russia legally responsible for the acts of separatists in Ukraine? Could the UK lawfully pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights? Could Scotland lawfully pull out of the UK? Does the North Pole belong to any state? And just what is the International Court of Justice? The course aims to introduce students to the characteristic legal techniques and central doctrinal concerns of public international law, the law governing the conduct of states, international organisations and certain other actors on the international plane. After a brief introduction to the nature, efficacy and conceptual underpinnings of public international law, the programme examines the sources of this law, in particular, customary international law; the law of treaties; the law of state responsibility; the law regulating the peaceful settlement of international disputes; the legal criteria of statehood and the law on the creation of states; the law governing title to the territory; the law governing the assertion and exercise of jurisdiction, especially criminal jurisdiction, by states, as well as immunity from such exercise; and international human rights law.