Handbook

International law seeks to order human affairs at the international level. It accordingly covers a vast field, extending to issues such as autonomy or otherwise of peoples and territories, the allocation of resources (land, maritime, air), the preservation of the environment, the regulation of interstate transactions, the resolution of disputes and the maintenance of international peace and security. As the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs of the United Nations notes, international law has become not only an important but an integral part of both the international and the domestic legal orders. The centrality of international law to our everyday lives and, in particular, to our practice as lawyers, cannot now be overstated. This course aims to provide a contextual introduction to the central tenets of public international law through the examination of core topics and contemporary issues in the international legal system.

Main Topics

• Historical and philosophical underpinnings of international law
• Structure of international legal system
• Sources of international law
• The law of treaties
• International personality, statehood and recognition
• Jurisdiction of States and jurisdictional immunities
• Title to territory
• Responsibility of States for violations of international law