Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza

The course aims to enable the students to understand the basics of international law as a distinct legal order, i.e. the law of the international society, as regards: its subjects; its sources and their making; the main content of its norms; the enforcement of its norms. Students shall also be able to understand the issue of the relations between international and national legal orders.

The course aims to provide students the ability to correctly analyse and present international legal issues; to apply their knowledge of international law to conceptualize, analyse and evaluate information pertaining to past and current cases; to debate on recent developments from an international legal perspective.

Students will be required to attain a good knowledge of the topics and issues treated during the course and to be able to consciously make use of the conceptual tools acquired.

In particular, students should demonstrate their understanding of international law through correct, well-structured and clear presentation of international legal issues, including analysis of questions arising from cases.

The programme will cover the following topics (modules):

1. the subjects of the international legal order;

2. international legal sources and their making;

3. the relationship between international law and domestic law;

4. the law of international responsibility;

4. the peaceful settlement of international disputes;

5. the use of force and the UN collective security mechanism;

6. States' territorial sovereignty, jurisdiction and immunities;

7. an overview on international human rights law, international criminal law, international economic law, international environmental law.

Attendance of classes is highly recommended. Regular attendance is necessary for preparing the exam as an "attenting student". Because attendance is not compulsory, however, students preparing for the exam on their own without attending classes ("non-attending students") will be expected to study on an textbook (see below).

For students attending class:

The course consists of lectures (usually with powerpoint presentations) and learning activities. It is delivered through in-presence live sessions and online materials. Students are required to take part to the live sessions regularly, use the online materials and do the learning activities. Any on-distance modality will only be introduced according to the then-applicable rules.

Learning activities may require reading of different types of materials (usually, a textbok chapter in advance of the class; newspaper articles, case analyses, legal documents such as treaties or parts of them, case law...), self-assessment tests and/or class discussion.

Powerpoint presentations and materials/tools supporting lectures and learning activities will be made available on the Moodle platform. It is IMPERATIVE that students wishing to attend classes enrol in the teaching platform (Moodle) prior to the beginning of the course, to have prompt access to materials and communications.

For both attending and non-attending students:

The final exam consists of a paper-based, hand-written (or, depending on the availability of IT rooms, PC-typed), non-open-book exam. It lasts 90 minutes.

The structure of the exam is as follows: (1) multiple-choice questions (10 points out of 30); (2) one essay question (10 points); (3) one short case study (10 points). For attending students, one-plus option will apply upon completion of 90% of the quizzes during the course. N.B. This structure will apply from DECEMBER 2024.

Questions or topics may vary between students having attended classes and students not attending the class. The contents of the answers will be evaluated against the course materials or the textbook, respectively.

Any on-distance modality for the exam will be allowed according to the then-applicable rules.

The evaluation (grade: out of 30, wth 18 as passing grade and with the possibility of obtaining 30 cum laude) will be based, in particular, on correct and complete elements of the answers or presentations, good structure and clarity of the text, and correct terminology.

Non-attending students must prepare on EITHER Jan Klabber's International Law (all) OR Attila Tanzi's Concise Introduction to International Law (all).

Attending students will be examined on the course topics as they will have been tackled in class. Each class topic will be developed moving from the relevant part(s) of Attila Tanzi's Concise Introduction to International Law. Studying on (duly-taken) class notes and materials uploaded on the Moodle platform is also required.