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Course

International Organisations - LAWS8085

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Sydney

Career: Postgraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 2

Enrolment Requirements:

Prerequisite: Academic Program must be either 9200, 9210, 5740, 9230, 9240, 5760, 9211, 5211, 9231, 5231, 9281, 5281, 9220 or 5750.

Excluded: JURD7585

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

This course will examine the principal issues concerning organisations composed of states. These include the legal status and powers of organisations, membership and participation, norm-creation, dispute settlement, enforcement of decisions, peace and security activities, and the organisations' privileges and immunities as well as their legal status and powers under national law. Primary consideration will be given to the development of the United Nations. Other universal organizations such as WTO, as well as regional ones such as the Council of Europe, the EU, the OAS, will also be dealt with. This course does not try to provide a comprehensive picture of all of these organisations. Rather it aims at helping students to understand the common legal problems faced by international institutions.


LLM Specialisations

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None, but LAWS8180 Principles of International Law or equivalent is a recommended pre- or co-requisite.

Course Objectives

This course aims to:
  • Give students a basic working knowledge of the structure of international institutions
  • Assist students to develop an understanding of the tasks and functions of international organizations
  • Give students a deeper understanding of the powers and limits of international institutions
  • Develop an awareness of different methods of intergovernmental cooperation

Main Topics

  • Basic conceptes of the law of international organisations
  • Participation in and internal structures of international organisations
  • Rule-making by international organisations
  • Dispute settlement through international organisations
  • Enforcement of decisions by international organisations
  • Peace and security activities
  • Peacekeeping and UN administration of territory
  • International organisations and national legal systems - accountability issues

Assessment

Class Participation - 20%
Essay Outline - 5%
Research Essay - 75%

Course Texts

Prescribed
Jan Klabbers, An Introduction to International Institutional Law 2nd edition. Cambridge (CUP, 2009). (=Klabbers).
Charter of the United Nations (available online)
This is the only material which must be bought by all students.

Recommended

  • C.F. Amerasinghe, Principles of the Institutional Law of International Organizations. Cambridge (CUP, 2nd ed., 2005) (=Amerasinghe).
  • Jan Klabbers (ed.), International Organizations. The Library of Essays in International Law. (Ashgate Dartmouth, 2005).
  • August Reinisch, International Organizations before National Courts. Cambridge (CUP, 2000).
  • Philippe Sands/Pierre Klein, Bowett's Law of International Institutions, 5th ed. London (Sweet & Maxwell, 2001)
  • Henry G. Schermers/Niels M. Blokker, International Institutional Law, 4th ed. (Brill, 2003).
  • Bruno Simma (ed.), The Charter of the United Nations. A Commentary. 2nd ed. Oxford (OUP, 2002) (=Simma).
Scientia walk

Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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