SYLLABUS
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 United Nations human rights mechanisms.
B. Texts: None.
Readings, or links to them, will be either posted to a website or otherwise made available to the class.
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
I. Introductory Class
Syllabus
Course requirements and organization
Opening Comments
Opening discussion
II. 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).
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 Nation
Read: The UN Charter, ICJ case on the
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?
ICJ Advisory Opinion on Reparations for Injuries
III. Membership & Voting in International Organizations
ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Conditions of Admission to the UN
ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Competence of the UNGA
VOTING
Majority voting - UN General Assembly, UN Charter Articles 9-22
The veto in the UN Security Council, Articles 23-32, action re Threats to the Peace Arts 39-41.
UNSC Legis & Reducing the Deliberative Deficit
Weighted Voting - Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, Article XII - Organization and Management (http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/aa/index.htm)
The Uniting for Peace Resolution, UNGA Res. 377 (V) A (1950), 3 November 1950
IV. Promoting International Peace & Security
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeper Abuse, Immunity and Impunity
The General Concept
Legal Framework of UN Peace Operations
- UN Peacekeeping Principles & Guidelines
http://pbpu.unlb.org/pbps/Library/Capstone_Doctrine_ENG.pdf - Andrew Ladley, Peacekeeper Abuse, Immunity and Impunity, Politics and Ethics Review, 1(1) 2005, 81-90
http://www.eupjournals.com/doi/pdf/10.3366/per.2005.1.1.81?cookieSet=1
Darfur
- Richard Williamson, Sudan: From the Diplomatic Front Line in Search of Peace
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Africa/upload/hl_1105.pdf - UNSC Res 1769 re Darfur
- UN Security Council Resolution 1769: Fact Sheet
http://www.savedarfur.org/newsroom/policypapers/fact_sheet_un_security_council_resolution_1769/ - UNSC Res 1828 Extending Darfur Force (2008)
- UNAMID Deployment on the Brink – Joint NGO Report
- PHR Urges Peacekeeper Deployment in Darfur
- Sudan/UN UNMIS Status of Mission Agreement (SOMA)
The Congo
- UNSC Res 1291 establishing MONUC (2000)
- UNSC Res 1856 re MONUC-Congo (2008)
- UNSC Res 1857 re Arms & Resource trafficking in Congo
- News Articles re MONUC & Congo
- Thomas M. Woods, Crisis in Congo and the Challenge for the International Community, http://www.heritage.org/Research/Africa/upload/wm_2124.pdf
- SOFA’s & Immunities of UN Peacekeepers
Sudan
- Sudan - From the Diplomatic Front Line in Search of Peace
- Sudan AU SOMA re Darfur
- Sudan UN UNMIS SOMA
Meeting Aggression
Joint UN AU Communique 16 June 2007
- Security Council Resolutions re Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait 661, 662, 664, 665, 666, 674, 678
- Security Council resolutions re conditions imposed on Iraq as part of peace settlement, Resolutions 687 and 1441
Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Statute of the IAEA, esp. articles XI-XII re IAEA Projects & Safeguards
The Safeguard System of the IAEA
World Nuclear Association, Safeguards to Prevent Nuclear Proliferation, ( October 2008) http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf12.html
Text of Iran Safeguard Agreement with the IAEA
Text of Iran Safeguard Agreement with the IAEA (1974)
India & the IAEA
International Response to Piracy Off Somalia
IMO Recommendations re Piracy (1999)
UNSC Res 1838 re Somalia Region Piracy
UNSC Res 1851 (2008) re Piracy off Somalia
December 17, 2008 U.N. Takes New Steps to Curb Somalia's Pirates
After several recent pirate attacks, the U.N. Security Council authorized land and air operations to help stop the flow of the fighters from bases in Somalia. Experts examine the ramifications of the U.N. action.
November 17, 2008 Somali Pirates Hijack Oil Tanker Headed for U.S.
Somali pirates hijacked a Saudi-owned supertanker Saturday hundreds of miles off the Horn of Africa, seizing the ship loaded with crude oil and its 25-member international crew, the U.S. Navy said Monday. 
Preventing Catastrophic Nuclear Terrorism
V. Protecting Human Rights Through International Organization
Evolution of the UN Charter-Based Human Rights System and the New UN Human Rights Council
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
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
Contemporary Critiques of the UN Human Rights Institutions
News Articles on UN Reform/ Critiques
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.
VI. The Growth of Supranational Institutions in Europe
The European Human Rights System
Soering v. United Kingdom, 11 EHRR 439 (1989).
Baczkowski v. Poland (2007)
The European Union
Thomas Ash, The EU's Future: The Federalism/Intergovernmentalism Debate, http://www.bigissueground.com/politics/ash-eufuture.shtml
NV Algemene Transport v Netherlands, Reference for a preliminary ruling: Tariefcommissie - Pays-Bas. - Case 26-62. Judgment, European Court of Justice (1963)
Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty, BBC January 14, 2009.
Jeff White After Sarkozy, a Czech takes EU helm, Christian Science Monitor, January 2, 2009.VII. Contemporary Critiques of the UN and Calls for Reform
VIII. International Courts and their recent proliferation
The International Court of Justice
Statute of the ICJ
ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, 8 July 1996.
ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Israeli Wall/Barrier
International Criminal Courts/Tribunals
- ICTY Statute
- ICC Statute
- Flow Chart re ICC Jurisdiction
- Warrant of Arrest for Ahmad Harun-Sudan-ICC
- Special Court for Sierra Leone
- Special Lebanon Investigation
- Letter to Security Council re Beirut Assassination of Hariri
- UNSC Res 1852 Re Hariri Investigation
- Security Council res 1595 establishing Commission to investigate
- Rafiq Harari Case UNSC Report
B.S. Brown, On the Politicization of International Criminal Law (2007)
IX. The UN Role in Iraq and Concerns About Hegemonic International Law
UNSC Resolution 1483 re Iraq MNF (2003)
Kofi A. Annan, Speech at Truman Library (US) 11 December 2006.
Bartram S. Brown, Intervention, Self-Determination, Democracy and the Residual Responsibilities of the Occupying Power In Iraq, 11 U.C. DAVIS J. INT'L L. & POL'Y 23 (2004).
Jose E. Alvarez, ,EDITORIAL COMMENT: Hegemonic International Law Revisited, 97 A.J.I.L. 873, (2003)
UNSC Res 1770 re UN Mission in Iraq (2007)
The UN and Iraq: Moving Forward?, James Traub, Stanley Foundation Policy Analysis Brief, October 2007
http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/publications/pab/Traub_PAB_1007.pdf
UNSC Res 1770 (2007) re UN Mission in Iraq
UNSC Extends ‘For Last Time’ Mandate Of Multinational Force (W/ UNSC resolution & Statements, December 2007))
X. Promotion of Democracy and the Rule of Law
Mary Dejevsky, The UN fiasco over Zimbabwe is a re-run of Iraq, The Independent, 15 July 2008.
UN, AU & SADC Roles in Zimbabwe, Kenya political crises
UNMIK, the UN Mission in Kosovo
TEXT - Power Sharing Agreement in Kenya
UN AU SADC Efforts to Resolve Kenya & Zimbabwe Crises
XI. Sovereignty and Intervention: Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect
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
UNGA Res Language on the Responsibility to Protect
The United Nations and the Responsibility to Protect
Edward C. Luck, Stanley Foundation Policy Analysis Brief, August 2008
http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/publications/pab/LuckPAB808.pdf
XII. Non-Governmental Organizations
Amnesty International
Steve Charnovitz, Nongovernmental Organizations and International Law, 100 A.J.I.L. 348, (2006)
Articles re Russia’s actions to limit the freedom of NGOs in that country
- UN NGO Rules
- ECOSOC Res E 1996 31 re UN NGO Relations
- Russia & NGOs
XIII. Alternatives to the UN: A League of Democracies or a new G20?
America and International Cooperation: What Role for a League of Democracies?
Stephen J. Stedman, Stanley Foundation Policy Brief, November 2008.
http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/publications/pab/StedmanPAB1108.pdf
Howard LaFranchi, Big players elbow on U.N. Security Council, Christian Science Monitor, September 18, 2008.
XIV. Refugee Affairs and Disaster Relief
- UN Convention re Status of refugees
- UNHCR Basic Docs
- Statute of the UNHCR
- Myanmar Cyclone Response: Issues and Problems
XV. International Economic Affairs
- The Bretton Woods Organizations and Calls for their Reform
IMF Governance and the International Financial Architecture (B. Brown)
G-20 Leaders Outline Joint Efforts to Avoid Future Economic Crises (Compiled by PBS)
OPEC Agrees to Record Output Cut to Combat Falling Oil Prices (Compiled by PBS)
- The International Food Crisis
- International Trade Negotiations