Introductory description

This module introduces students to complex emergent challenges within the field of international law. These challenges are represented by topical/contemporary issues, involving overlapping areas of international law, which are present (and increasingly relevant) within the global arena. In assessing the general efficacy of international law, this module examines the capacity of its institutions to effectively respond to (and redress) defining issues of the present day.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The first three weeks of the module (weeks 1-3) will introduce students to key institutions and processes of international law. Module content will be structured as follows:

• (Week 1) Histories of International Law

• (Week 2) The Role of the United Nations in Modernity

• (Week 3) Systems of Resolution and Reprisal

These investigations will draw heavily from both Critical Legal and TWAIL scholarship with the aim of providing a more objective (e.g. less Western-centric) account of the foundations of international law and its institutions. This component of the module will provide students with the necessary level of foundational understanding of how international law operates.

The remaining six weeks of study (4-5 and 7-10) will examine specific crises/emergent challenges that test the efficacy of international law in contemporary times. These investigations will incorporate case studies, contextual examinations and interactive exercises (e.g. problem questions).

• (Week 4) Human Rights and Pandemics

• (Week 5) Climate Change and Population Displacement

• (Week 7) Human Trafficking in Armed Conflicts

• (Week 8) Humanitarian Aid in Times of Genocide

• (Week 9) Justice, Law and Gender Apartheid

• (Week 10) Cyberwarfare and Human Security

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the operationalisation of crises within international law.
• Demonstrate understanding of contemporary and emergent challenges to international law
• Demonstrate an understanding of how relevant institutions regulate the application of international law
• Demonstrate skills in critical thinking, evaluation and conceptual analysis
• Articulate their own views (informed by appropriate scholarship) relating to the efficacy of international law

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Interdisciplinary

A central question at the heart of international law is the degree to which it is 'law' in a meaningful sense. This stems from a perceived lack of enforceability, concerns about the legitimacy (and origins) of authorship, as well as the overt influence politics seemingly has on its operation and development. In seeking to address this central question, the International Law in Crisis module teaches students how to effectively adopt an interdisciplinary approach when navigating complex issue at the intersection of politics, philosophy, history and law.

International

The relevance (and importance) of the challenges facing international law addressed on this module are truly global in character. This module will consistently draw from the international institutions as well as case law from multiple jurisdictions (from both the Global North and the Global South).

Subject specific skills

Students will learn how to examine (and respond to) emergent challenges within the field of international law. This will incorporate critically analysing the operations of relevant institutions (such as the United Nations), as well as engaging with contemporary academic scholarship and philosophy.

Transferable skills

Students will develop skills in critical thinking, conceptual analysis, close reading and how to effectively apply relevant law. Students will develop their written and oral presentation skills.