Aims

To give students with no legal training some basic information on the composition, organisation and functioning of the contemporary international community. on the legal order that governs it, and on the way it has developed.

Main themes

A brief presentation of the various categories of rules of law (treaties, customs, principles and unilateral acts) that apply to members of the international community (e.g. states, international organisations and the Holy See) in their mutual (i.e. amicable and conflictual) relationships.

Content and teaching methods

Content
After giving a definition of the international community, the course will present the broad outlines of the legal status of the various categories of international community member (e.g. states, international organisations, the Holy See and para-state bodies), and the status of private individuals in international law. This will be followed by an examination of the formal sources of public international law (e.g. treaties, international customs, general principles, and unilateral acts). The last part of the course is given over to the main rules of law governing international relations: the structural principles of the international community; the bases of diplomatic and consular law; the law covering the land, the sea, air and the outer atmosphere; the principles of international responsibility; and peaceful and coercive ways of regulating international disputes.
Methodology
Lectures. The course will incorporate international current events, and will identify any discrepancy between theory and reality.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Pre-requirements: A prior knowledge of the foundations of law will enable students to follow the course better.
The examination will be oral or written. If it is oral, students will have time to prepare.
They will be given a brief syllabus.
This course is an introduction to "International organisations" (SPOL 2108), which focuses on a legal-institutional approach to the "United Nations system" and the main regional organisations.