INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL AND EU LAW
Academic year and teacher
If you can't find the course description that you're looking for in the above list,
please see the following instructions >>
- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2020/2021
- Teacher
- SERENA FORLATI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- IUS/13
Training objectives
- The course, which is taught in English, aims at meeting the needs of incoming exchange students who wish to attend courses related to International law or European Union law but are not sufficiently familiar with those areas.
Students will develop a number of skills. They will develop the ability to interpret international and EU legal texts and case-law. They will learn to carry out targeted legal research in the field of International Law and European Union Law. They will learn to assess the impact of international and EU law and case-law on domestic legal orders. Prerequisites
- Students are expected to have a basic knowledge of the fundamental issues of constitutional law and private law.
Course programme
- IThe course will provide an introduction to Public International Law and EU Law, where the special features of the EU integration process will be discussed in the perspective of Public International Law. The course will address the following topics: (i) historical evolution and general features of the international and the EU legal orders; (ii)(a) international legal personality; (b) the subjective basis of EU Law: (iii) a focus on international organizations: (a) the competences and institutional structure of the United Nations (b) the competences and institutional structure of the EU; (iv) (a) the sources of International Law; (b) the sources of EU Law; (v) implementation of International and EU Law in the Domestic Legal Orders; specifically, the Italian perspective; (vi) the responsibility for internationally wrongful acts; (vi) (a) the settlement of international disputes; specifically the role of international courts and tribunals; (b) the Court of Justice of the EU and the role of domestic jurisdictions in the implementation of EU Law; (vii) the protection of fundamental human rights in International and EU Law.
Didactic methods
- Lectures supplemented by seminars by guest lecturers and on the use of legal research tools.
Learning assessment procedures
- Oral exam in English. Students who attend classes will also be offered the opportunity to sit a written exam at the end of the course. The exam will consist of open-ended questions. To pass the exam, students must score at least 18/30.
Reference texts
- For students attending the course, the exam will concern issues and materials discussed in class. It may be useful to consult the textbooks for students not attending class.
Student not attending class should prepare the exam on the following texts:
- for International Law, G Hérnandez, International Law, Oxford University Press 2019 (excluding part V)
- for EU Law, N. Foster, EU Law Directions, 6a ed., Oxford, 2018 (excluding Part 3).
Students should familiarise with the main International and EU legal texts. Useful collections include the International Law Handbook prepared by the UN Codification Division (the pdf can be downloaded free of charge at this address: legal.un.org/avl/handbook.html), Blackstone’s International Law Documents (ed by M Evans), Oxford University Press, 2019; International Law Documents (ed by J Klabbers), Cambridge University Press, 2016. For EU Law, an option is Blackstone’s EU Treaties and Legislation 2019-20, Oxford University Press, 2019. The relevant texts are also easily available online at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/collection/eu-law.html.
