2400172 – Public International Law
The lecture is designed to provide participating students with a general understanding of the foundations, subjects, and sources of public international law, its interplay with national legal regimes, and more detailed knowledge of particular subfields of public international law.
Since the lecture targets students of information systems, particular focus will be given to economic topics in international law, such as investment and trade law aspects. Due to the general importance of climate change for todays (economic) law, international climate change law and environmental law will form further focus areas.
In addition, a concise overview on human rights law, the law on State responsibility, and the peaceful settlement of disputes will be provided.
Throughout the lecture, important case law will be referenced and students are expected to read relevant cases in part to facilitate a discussion of such cases and their relevance for a subject field. Although the United Nations, including its principal judicial organ, the International Court of Justice, is one of the, if not the, key international organization in public international law, further international organizations (eg, Council of Europe, World Trade Organization) and their respective law(s) will also be touched.
Students are advised to have a statute book at hand that includes the most important international treaties and conventions (eg, Evans, Blackstone’s International Law Documents, currently 15th ed 2021).
Conducting the lecture in English intends to facilitate students to link their ideas and arguments to current debates in international law.