SYLLABUS
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Law 315-001-03 Prof. B. Brown
M, W, Th 12:50-1:45 PM Office 855
Classroom C25 Tel. 906-5046
A. Course Description
This course will focus upon the legal and policy issues raised by the development and functioning of intergovernmental organizations. It will encompass a course in United Nations law and a comparative study of international organizations organized over 14 weeks. Issues relating to rulemaking, trusteeship, human rights, dispute settlement, and enforcement will be central to this course. Parallel with the discussion of these themes the focus each week will be upon a different organization, from a list including the UN, the World Bank, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Association (WIPO), the European Union (EU), the African Union (EU) and the Organization of American States (OAS). It will consider, among other topics, the privileges and immunities of international organizations, relations between the United States and the United Nations, the past role of and future composition of the Security Council, and the recent restructuring of the U.N. human rights mechanisms.
B. Texts:
Frederic L., Jr. Kirgis, International Organizations in Their Legal Setting, West; 2nd edition (American Casebook Series), ISBN: 0314016430
Frederic L., Jr. Kirgis, International Organizations in Their Legal Setting: Selected Documents, West, ISBN: 0314018174
A number of handouts will also be assigned and made available on the class website
C. Course Requirements and Grading
The first few class sessions will consist largely of lectures and class discussion about the nature, structure and functioning of international law and organization in general. At this stage, the goal will be to ensure that all students in the course have a basic grasp of what international law is, and of how it is created and develops. After the first week or so we will shift to a more seminar-like format emphasizing student participation.
In addition to the assigned readings, the class will discuss topics from current events relating to the law of international organizations. Every student is expected to contribute to this discussion by briefly researching and presenting at least one such topic to the class. Topics should be defined ahead of time in consultation with me. Everyone will be expected to contribute to the discussion in class. Students will be evaluated and graded on the basis of their overall contribution to discussions as well as on the basis of the presentations, and of course the final exam.
Attendance and participation are absolutely essential. Unexcused absences will result in a reduced grade or failure according to the circumstances.
Topics and Readings
l. The History of International Law and Organization: A Basic Framework
Leo Gross, The Peace of Westphalia, 1648 -1948, 42 AM. J. Int’l L. 20 (1948).
Frederic L. Kirgis, Jr., Enforcing International Law, The American Society of International Law Newsletter, January 1996
Jose E. Alvarez, Centennial Essay: In Honor Of The 100th Anniversary Of The AJIL and the ASIL: International Organizations: Then And Now , 100 A.J.I.L. 324, (2006)
A First Look at the United Nations
Read: The UN Charter
Consider what are the key aspects of the structure, and of the mission of the United Nations? Is the mechanism adequate to achieve the mission?
Text pages 1-21 (on the Legal Status of International Organizations)
ll. Voting Procedures in International Organizations
Voting and Decision-Making
Text pp. 188-237
The Bretton Woods Institutions: The World Bank and IMF
B. S. Brown, IMF Governance, the Asian Financial Crisis, and the New International Financial Architecture, Chapter in International Law in the Post-Cold War World: Essays in Memory of Li Haopei (2001)
Text pages 295-302, 564-575
lll. Membership, Representation & Withdrawal
Text pp. 137-158, 176-187
Withdrawal or Withholding of Financial Support
Text pp. 238-257
UNESCO
Text pages 257-273, 576-581
JOHN R. CROOK, editor Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law: International Economic Law: United States Supports New UNESCO Instruments on Doping in Sports and on Bioethics; Votes Against New Convention on Cultural Diversity
Herman Nys, Towards an International Treaty on Human Rights and Biomedicine? Some Reflections Inspired by UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, 13 European Journal of Health Law 5-8, (2005).
lV. International Technical Cooperation and the Theory of Functionalism; Critiques of International Organizations Including Charges of Politicization
WIPO and the ICC as Technical and Political Organizations Respectively
B.S. Brown, On the Politicization of International Criminal Law (2007)
Edward Kwakwa, Essay: Some Comments On Rulemaking At The World Intellectual Property Organization, 12 Duke J. Comp. & Int'l L. 179, (2002) 7015 words
Leo Gross, On the Degradation of the Constitutional Environment of the United Nations, 77 A.J.I.L. 569 (1983).
Anne Bayefsky, Good-bye UN hello United Democratic Nations, The Jerusalem Post, September 19, 2006, at page 15.
Deaglán de Bréadún, Despite its many flaws and failings, the world still needs the UN, The Irish Times, September 18, 2006, p. 14.
Jonah Goldberg, U.N. is unfit to fix things in Middle East, The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio), July 26, 2006 at Pg. 11A.
V. Rule Making Powers
Text pp. 274-275, 333-387
The UN Security Council and General Assembly
Stefan Talmon, Note And Comment: The Security Council As World Legislature, 99 A.J.I.L. 175, (2005) 14435 words
The Uniting for Peace Resolution, UNGA Res. 377 (V) A (1950), 3 November 1950
Vl. The European Union: Regional Supranationalism
Thomas Ash, The EU's Future: The Federalism/Intergovernmentalism Debate
NV Algemene Transport v Netherlands, Reference for a preliminary ruling: Tariefcommissie - Pays-Bas. - Case 26-62. Judgment, European Court of Justice (1963)
Rights and Immunities of International Organizations and the Duties of Host Countries
Text pages 54-68, 79-92, 104-121
Vll. Dispute Settlement and Interpretative Powers
Text pp. 415-443,
The International Court of Justice
Statute of the ICJ, Doc. Supplement pp. 37-50, esp. Articles 36, & 65-68. Text pp. 481-521
ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, 8 July 1996
Adam M. Smith, "Judicial Nationalism" in International Law: National Identity and Judicial Autonomy at the ICJ, 40 Tex. Int'l L.J. 197 (2005).
Vlll. Enforcement Techniques
Text pp. 522-564, 581-600, 617-638, 642-688
The International Labour Organization (ILO)
Junlin Ho, The International Labour Organization's Role in Nationalizing the International Movement to Abolish Child Labor, 7 Chi. J. Int'l L. 337, 2006.
Text pages 274-295, 388-414
lX. Peacekeeping, Peacemaking, Trusteeship & Hegemonic International Law
Text pp. 716-721, 731-785, 841-851
Saira Mohamed, From Keeping Peace To Building Peace: A Proposal For A Revitalized United Nations Trusteeship Council, 105 Colum. L. Rev. 809, (2005)
Hegemonic International Law & Limits Upon the Supranational Powers of the Security Council
X. Sovereignty and Intervention: Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to ProtectKofi A. Annan, Speech at Truman Library (US) 11 December 2006.
Jose E. Alvarez, EDITORIAL COMMENT: Hegemonic International Law Revisited, 97 A.J.I.L. 873, (2003)
Frederic L. Kirgis, Editorial Comment: Security Council Governance of Postconflict Societies: A Plea for Good Faith and Informed Decision Making, 95 A.J.I.L. 579, (2001)
Text pp. 852-890
The NATO Bombing of Serbia – US Intervention in Iraq—UN Response to Atrocities in Darfur
Bartram Brown, Barely Borders, 26 HARV. INT'L REV. 52 (2004).
Kofi A. Annan, Two concepts of sovereignty, The Economist, 18 September 1999
Richard H. Cooper and Juliette Voinov Kohler, The “Responsibility to Protect:” The New Global Moral Compact, © 2006.
Xl. Protecting Human Rights Through International Organization (I)
Development of the UN Charter-Based Human Rights System and the New UN Human Rights Council
Text pp. 891-928
Text pp. 955-963, 969-975
UNGA Res 60 251 (2006) Establishing the new Human Rights Council
Articles on the New UN Human Rights Council
Manual of the United Nations Human Rights Special Procedures
The OAS & Inter-American Human Rights System
Text pp. 975-995
William Andrews v. United States, Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, Case 11.139, Report Nº 57/96, Inter-Am. C.H.R., OEA/Ser.L/V/II.95 Doc. 7 rev. at 570 (1997).
Xll. Protecting Human Rights Through International Organization (II)
The European Human Rights System
Text pp. 1030-1039, 1068-1084
Soering v United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights, (1989) 11 EHRR 439, (Series A, No 161; Application No 14038/88).
The African Union and Human Rights (Topic)
Xlll. The WTO and the International Organization of TradeNsongurua J. Udombana, CRITICAL ESSAY: Can the Leopard Change Its Spots? The African Union Treaty and Human Rights, 17 Am. U. Int'l L. Rev. 1177, (2002)
Materials on the New African Court of Human Rights:
African [Banjul] Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Excerpts)
Dinah Shelton, Analysis of African Commission for Human Rights Decision Regarding Communication 155/96, 96 A.J.I.L. 937 (2002)
Khartoum Unsuitable to Elect African Judges, Africa News, January 20, 2006.
Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, How The Judges Of The African Court Emerged, Accra Mail, January 30, 2006.
PanAfrica; AU Court of Justice to Operate Soon, Africa News, January 25, 2006.
Sungjoon Cho, The Nature Of Remedies In International Trade Law, 65 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 763, (2004)
XlV. Non-Governmental Organizations
Amnesty International
Steve Charnovitz, Nongovernmental Organizations and International Law, 100 A.J.I.L. 348, (2006)