This course consists of one week of preparatory lectures at AUP at the start of the summer session followed by a one-week visit to The Hague (36 hours of court observation and discussion at one of the International Courts).
This practicum will introduce students to the technical functioning of the international judicial system via a representative selection of its courts in The Hague. In the first week, as a follow-up to the Spring semester’s historic overview of the international judicial system and a discussion of the principles of the different fields of international justice, students will participate in workshops on the International Criminal Tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the precursors in international criminal law, before focusing on permanent international justice through workshops on the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and the Intellectual Property Rights Regime. All readings will be made available in advance on the class Blackboard site.
In the second week, students will travel to The Hague to visit several of the courts, and then devote two days to trial reporting as part of the requirements for the course. In addition to the assigned reading, class participation and the trial report, students will be encouraged to reflect in a final take-home exam on the legitimacy and enforceability of international law in the 21st century.