Handbook

This course introduces students to a range of cutting-edge scholarly works in international and comparative law through a series of work-in-progress presentations by scholars working in the field, and parallel sessions introducing students to the theoretical background to relevant works.  The aim of the course is to offer students an opportunity to expand and deepen their knowledge of global law and developments gained in earlier introductory classes, and to offer students the opportunity to learn about the process of academic writing and scholarly idea-development, with a view to enhancing their ability to publish existing work and/or undertake further postgraduate study in law or other disciplines.

Students are strongly encouraged to enrol in Law in the Global Context before taking this course, as it builds on that knowledge. Students who have not completed that course should have some background in comparative and/or international law before enrolling in this course.

The content of the workshop will vary somewhat from year to year, based on the scholars presenting in the workshop. However, in selecting works for inclusion in the workshop, the aim will be to include papers that raise issues relating to:

• Idealist, institutionalist and realist theories of international law;
• The relationship between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ law in international law;
• The connections between international, comparative and transnational law;
• Critical perspectives on international law;
• The basic rationale for or utility of constitutional comparison;
• Case-selection and causation in comparative constitutional studies;
• The importance of attention to socio-political context history in the study of comparative constitutional study; and
• The relationship between constitutional law and commitments to democracy.