JJUB55175U Global Challenges in International Law

Volume 2021/2022
Content

This course focuses on how international law addresses global challenges. The key purpose of the course is to engage students in considerations about whether and how international law can help some of the most pressing global challenges confronting the world today. The course challenges students to look at international law as a mode of transnational problem-solving, by exploring the processes and modes of international law-making, and to critically assess the value of different kinds of international legal instruments, such as framework conventions, soft law and compacts. The course also examines past and current examples in order to understand why some international legal processes and regimes are successful while others fail. Three highly topical case-studies have been selected for analysis in this course, namely: climate change, pandemics and migration. Throughout the course, students will be expected to actively engage in discussions and group exercises. These exercises aim to give students experience in hands-on problem solving; developing the skills that will be tested in the final exam. The course is divided into three parts.

 

  1. The first part of the course provides the introduction and theoretical foundations of the course, delving into the different approaches to addressing current global challenges in international law.

 

  1. The second part of the course explores three current global challenges of key importance: climate change, pandemics, and migration. These case studies will be examined by applying the concepts and tools examined in the first part.

 

  1. The third and final part will be devoted to recapping key issues discussed throughout the course and providing students with an opportunity to get feedback on their work and prepare for the exam assignment.

 

Lecture programme:

  • Introduction and agenda-setting in international law
  • International diplomacy and other political approaches
  • International law-making
  • Regional cooperation in International Law
  • Case study 1: Climate change as a global challenge
  • Case study 1: Applying problem-solving approaches to climate change
  • Case study 2: Pandemics as a Global Challenge
  • Case study 2: Applying problem-solving approaches to COVID-19/pandemics
  • Case study 3: Migration as a global challenge
  • Case study 3: Applying problem-solving approaches to migration
  • Conclusion: The limits and possibilities of international law
  • Exam Preparation, Questions and Feedback  
Learning Outcome

The course aims to ensure that students acquire the following learning objectives:

 

Knowledge:

  • Knowledge of international legal processes and formation of new regimes
  • Knowledge of international legal policy development and associated challenges

 

Skills:

  • Skills to identify international law’s possibilities and limitations in regard to current global challenges
  • Skills to understand different types of international legal instruments and their implications and relevance across different contexts

 

Competence:

  • Competence to analyse current and future political, societal and environmental problems from the perspective of international law
  • Competence to apply different international legal approaches to problem-solving

Course materials will comprise approximately 375 pages. To ensure a diversity of perspectives and the most up-to-date teaching material, we draw assigned readings from multiple authors as opposed to a single text book. All core readings will be readily available either via upload or online links at the course website. Students are not expected to buy any books as part of the course.

Students must be able to read and understand scientific articles in English
The course builds on the BA course in International Law
This course blends interactive lectures with practical, group-based work and presentations. The first and third parts of the course are based on a series of interactive lectures, where the lecturer presents a topic and students are expected to engage in classroom discussions. The second part of the course entails two sessions per challenge: an interactive lecture and a guided problem-solving session, with group presentations and feedback. The guided problem-solving sessions are designed to teach students how to apply the approaches and tools outlined in the first part of the course to the specific challenges examined.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Preparation
  • 171,25
  • Seminar
  • 35
  • Total
  • 206,25
Oral
Individual
Collective
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Feedback by final exam (In addition to the grade)
Peer feedback (Students give each other feedback)
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment
Individual written assignment

The examination takes the form of a written assignment of maximum 17,600 characters in which students are expected to apply the approaches learned in the first part of the course to one of the three global challenge covered in the course programme. In preparing the written assignment, lecturers will assist students in topic selection.

Please note that the assignment must be written individually.
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Exam period

hand-in date: December 17, 2021

Re-exam

hand-in date: January 28, 2022