International Law

This course analyzes the international law, United States law, and selected foreign law issues regarding doing business abroad. The course is conceptually organized into three primary areas: international sales, international licensing of intellectual property, and foreign direct investment. We will examine particular sub-issues related to and arising out of these three primary areas of focus. The course is taught with a particular emphasis on planning and structuring an international business transaction, using actual contracts for purposes of illustration. The course emphasizes a transactional (not litigation) approach to the practice of law, that is, advising clients, planning and structuring a transaction, drafting contracts. Because this is an internationally oriented class, transactions studied will be those that involve issues that cross national boundaries (ie buyer and seller, licensor and licensee are in different countries). Students who have taken IBT in the Madrid Summer Program are not prohibited from taking this course. Close Window

An examination of the nature and sources of international law and municipal law; the law of treaties; principles of jurisdiction; statehood and recognition of states and governments; sovereign immunity; rights of aliens; human rights; environmental issues; and regulation of international coercion. Close Window

Admiralty Law: A comprehensive survey of contemporary maritime law. Topics to be addressed include admiralty jurisdiction and procedure, the creation and enforcement of maritime liens, limitation of liability, maritime contracts, ship mortgage law, marine insurance contracts and principles, bills of lading, general average, and other maritime cargo issues, pilotage, towing, salvage, the law of seaman's injury and death, mariner's licensure, dealing with the modern piracy challenge, and an introduction to maritime environmental law. The course will have a practical focus, emphasizing legal concepts and practice tips of particular use to counsel representing ship owners, operators, seamen, marine insurance carriers, cargo interests, and others on a day-to-day basis. Close Window

This course will examine the major rules, practices, and modern developments of civil procedure used in legal systems around the globe. Study will focus on dominant legal systems, including the U.S., U.K., Continental Europe and East Asia. Anticipated coverage includes global comparison of the following issues: jurisdiction over the parties, organization of courts and the bar, pleading of facts and allegations, obtaining and proving facts, summary proceedings and provisional remedies, and appellate process. Reform efforts and prospects for the harmonization of procedure may also be covered. Grades will be based on class attendance, class participation, and a substantial writing component. Close Window

This course introduces and compares sources of law, underlying values and goals, and applications of the major legal traditions of the world, including civil law, common law, Islamic law, Talmudic law, customary law, and Asian legal systems as they originally developed and as they are evolving and changing in the world today. Course satisfies the Major Paper Requirement. Close Window

Cultural Property Law: Looted Artifacts and Stolen Heritage Interpol has estimated that stolen art and antiquities is the third largest illegal market, behind drugs and the arms trade. This two credit seminar will examine the legal framework for the protection of cultural property both internationally and in the United States, with emphasis given to the illicit international trade in art and antiquities and the repatriation of cultural objects. The course will examine classic controversies, such as the rightful ownership of the Elgin Marbles, while likewise considering more recent events such as the looting of museums in Iraq. The seminar will also survey American cultural property protections and examine their broader ethical and policy implications. Close Window

The European Union (EU) is different in many ways from a Federation, although the exercise of power in the Union has some federal traits and one can draw some useful comparisons. "European Union Law", in any case, is a heading that today refers to as many topics as "US Law" would. Therefore, it is impossible to study with some depth in one single course all relevant and substantive aspects of European Union Law. In this introductory course we will study the basic Law of European Union (institutions, law-making procedures, legal remedies, role of the European Court, relationship between EC law and national law, all of this taking into account the recently passed Constitution). This will provide you with analytical tools to feel comfortable when you have to work in any area of substantive EC law. The method of instruction will be the typical interactive approach used in American law schools, although at times I will introduce or summarize a topic with a lecture. We will be using a set of teaching materials that you should obtain before the course starts. These materials are included in the book "Foster on EU Law", by Nigel Foster. Class attendance is mandatory. Participation will be counted as an important part of the grade (50%). The exam will be a two hour exam with two or three questions based on cases pending before the European Court or important current issues in the legal and political development of the EU. Close Window

This course will cover fundamental international human rights law. It will address the sources of international law, United Nations human rights instruments, domestic jurisdiction, organizations for enforcement for human rights law, non-governmental organizations that promote human rights enforcement, and current issues in human rights law. Close Window

This course will examine federal immigration law and policy. Topics include citizenship, admissions, deportation, an introduction to refugee law, and the role of the courts in reviewing the actions of executive officials. We will examine the history of immigration to the United States, the constitutional rights of non citizens, the federal agencies that administer the immigration and citizenship laws, undocumented immigration, and the balance between national security and openness to non citizens. Close Window

This course examines the emergence of international criminal law during the last century and assesses the desirability and efficacy of international criminal prosecutions as a response to large-scale violence. The course traces the development of international criminal law, focusing primary attention on events taking place since the Nuremburg and Tokyo Tribunals, and concentrating in particular on the work of the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and East Timor, as well as the International Criminal Court. The court traces the substantive development of international criminal law through an examination of the core international crimes over which these bodies have jurisdiction: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression. The course will likewise trace the development of international criminal procedure, a unique body of law that blends features of adversarial and non-adversarial criminal justice systems in an effort to meet the challenges of prosecuting large-scale crimes that can span many years, many miles, and feature many thousands of victims. Finally, the course will examine the political context in which the prosecution of international crimes takes place. It will consider the effect of such prosecutions on peace negotiations and the desirability of international prosecutions in comparison with other responses to mass atrocities, including domestic and transnational criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, lustration efforts, and reparations schemes. Completion of Public International Law is desirable though not compulsory. Close Window

This covers the regulation of international trade at the international level by organizations such as the World Trade Organization, at the regional level by such arrangements as the North American Free Trade Agreement, and at the national level by the U.S. and its principal trading partners through various U.S. trading institutions. Topics include the constitutional allocation of authority over international trade in the U.S., customs law, non- tariff barriers, import relief measures and other trade remedies, government procurement, trade in services, regional economic integrations, and the need to examine trade issues in relation to the new trade agenda, namely labor and environmental issues and the protection of intellectual property rights. Close Window

This course will examine the historic roots of Islam and its significance as law and religion before surveying several representative systems of Islamic law. Satisfies the Writing Requirement. Close Window

The seminar examines the manner in which law and state power are used (or misused) in tackling the problems of development in Africa (economic as well as political). The insights gained and the methodology developed in the seminar will be useful in determining the appropriateness of state power in the context of other developing countries as well. Satisfies the Writing Requirement. Close Window

This minicourse in Military Law is an intensive and critical introductory examination of the foundational aspects of criminal law and procedure in the armed forces of the United States. Topics will include sources of military criminal law, the application of the Bill of Rights, alternatives to prosecution, prosecutorial control by the convening authority, the nature of the military 'jury,' judicial independence, and the appellate process. Where possible, a comparative approach will be used. Although this is largely a seminar, lecture will be used to introduce critical subjects. A graded paper is required; there is no examination. The course will be taught in five evening sessions the first two weeks of the semester, with the possibility of at least one optional session later in the semester. The text will be Fredric I. Lederer, 'Military Law, Cases and Materials' (draft 2003 edition) which will be supplied. Francis A. Gilligan & Fredric I Lederer, 'Court-Martial Procedure' 3rd edition 2006) (with 2012 supplement) will be made available. Note that this course does not address military commissions or the law of war. Close Window

This course examines the structure and functions of the U.S. government by focusing on the pervasive issue of national defense. The student will study the institutional framework for national security - including the separate powers of the President and Congress, legal issues surrounding the formulation and implementation of national security law and policy, and the role of the Judiciary in the national security process. The course will also address the national military command structure and the interaction of the President and Congress in the areas general and covert war, intelligence collection, strategic stability, and arms control. The course grade will be based upon one short paper (approx. 10 pages), a final exam and class participation. Close Window

Post-Conflict Justice and the Rule of Law This course will cover two aspects of post-conflict justice: retributive and restorative justice with respect to human depredations that occur during violent conflicts and mechanisms for restoring and enhancing justice systems that have failed or become weakened as a result of such conflicts. Areas of study will include policy issues relating to accountability, mechanisms for assessing accountability, post-conflict peacekeeping and justice, and (re-)establishing the rule of law in post-conflict environments. A paper, which will satisfy the writing requirement, will be required. Close Window

This course will examine both the benefits and the costs that have resulted from increasing interdependence among national economies as globalization facilitates the cross- border flow of capital, goods, services and technology. Selected topics will include international intellectual property; issues of increased economic growth and efficiency; job loss versus job gain due to free trade; the special needs of developing countries; economic inequality, the impact of these economic policies on global environmental degradation; economic integration (such as the creation of the World Trade Organization, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the European Union); the relationship, if any, between markets and democracy; race, ethnicity, and culture, specifically as they relate to structural market reforms. Close Window

Terrorism is a special form of political violence that has been used throughout history by both states and sub-state organizations to sustain a wide variety of causes. This course examines the challenges faced in protecting against and responding to acts of terrorism, including the conflicts of law, jurisdictional limits imposed by international and domestic legal regimes, and the need to balance increased security measures against protection of civil liberties. The course satisfies the Writing Requirement. Close Window