Advanced Research for LLM Students

15 credits
Autumn & spring teaching, year 1

This is an intensive module taught in the first and second terms in blocks of two weeks and three weeks respectively, introducing you to the essential research, bibliographic, on-line and writing techniques which are required for study at this level and for the production of term papers, dissertations and other assessments.

Approaches to International Law

30 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1

This module provides a thorough grounding in the key intellectual skills and theoretical framework necessary for the study of International Law at Masters level. It examines a range of methods for research in law, which may include comparative, socio-legal, empirical, critical and doctrinal research methods. The module develops knowledge of and analytical skills in relation to theoretical approaches to international law, particularly in relation to rights and responsibilities.

Dissertation (International Law)

45 credits
Autumn & spring teaching, year 1

This course gives you the opportunity to undertake a 15,000-word dissertation under faculty supervision.

Human Rights and Migration

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

The treatment of migrants is one of the most challenging issues which human rights, as a political philosophy of practical import, faces today. In the last two decades, immigration has risen to the top of the political agenda of many governments and international organizations around the world. It recurrently leads to reflexes of closure which are at odds with the ethical message embodied in the concept of human rights, generating questionable, if not straightforwardly abhorrent, practices which too often become entrenched and regarded as 'natural'.

The European Court of Human Rights is widely celebrated, and indeed praises itself, for being 'the conscience of Europe'. When the European Court decides migrant cases, does it manage to remain true to the values at the core of its institution? What about the other human rights institutions such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee or the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination? This module addresses these questions from a perspective which combines legal analysis, historical and sociological discussion, as well as ethical reflection. Every year, some topics (eg family reunification, deportation after criminal conviction, social security protection, immigration detention) are selected for in-depth analysis.

International Crimes

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

This module will focus on the four core crimes in international law, including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. In each case we will highlight their development, application in international and domestic courts and matters of controversy in relation thereto, before examining other so-called quasi-international crimes including torture, hijacking, and terrorism.

International and Transnational Offending

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

In order to assess the effectiveness of legal responses to offending that cross national boundaries, it is essential that you gain an insight into the phenomenon itself, rather than merely into the legal responses which we have examined in International and Transnational Offending. This module explores the nature and extent of both state and sub-state or individual offending. It includes such examples as the use of torture, war crimes, economic criminality, including illegal arms and drug dealing, corporate crime, computer and share frauds and organised crime and international crimes of violence.

International Law: Rights and Responsibilities

30 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1

This module is intended to introduce you to or further develop your knowledge of the nature and sources of international law. The course enables you to explore a non-traditional approach to international law by focusing on rights and responsibilities not only of states but also in relation to individuals and other putative subjects of international law. 

Law and Social Theory

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

This module introduces you to a series of readings that explore the relationship between law and social theory. The objective is to reflect on how law can be understood as a social phenomenon, whose nature and functions are intimately connected to different stages of social, economic and political development. Beginning with a consideration of classical social theory (Marx, Durkheim, and Weber) and its analysis of the relationship between law and modern society, the module proceeds to analyse more recent works of social theory and to reflect on how these might help us to understand the contemporary workings and roles of law and legal institutions. Among the themes to be explored will be law and disciplinary society, and neoliberalism and the welfare state.

The International Legal Regulation of Armed Conflict

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

This module subjects the international law of armed conflict to critical examination. Since 1945 states, international and regional organisations have used armed force in circumstances and for purposes unforeseen by the drafters of the United Nations Charter. This practice is evidence of the tension between the need for the international community to respond to new threats to international peace and security and the requirement that the use of armed force is limited by international legal controls. You will explore this practice and examine international legal rules relating to the conduct of armed force and international humanitarian law.

Law of International Business Transactions

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

This module considers the body of rules governing commercial relationships of a private law nature involving different countries. You focus on the legal rules governing the sale and supply of goods by a merchant in one country to a merchant in another country.

Law, Security and the Global Public Good

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

This module looks at the often problematic relationship between 'security' and the global 'public good' within international law. In the module we examine the historical development of international law in relation to colonialism and globalisation and go on to consider the possibilities and limitations of new modes of global governance. We will look at how international law has ordered and shaped global space in relation to property, economic organisation and the use of force and we will investigate the various legal, moral and political arguments that lie behind these changes. The module combines international law scholarship, critical theory and case studies to assess the global significance of the idea of 'security' today.

Minority Groups and Human Rights

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

This module aims to critique the development of a universal minority rights framework, focusing in particular on the rights of religious, linguistic and national minorities.

The first part of the module will provide a theoretical framework for the study of different approaches to minority rights and includes consideration of the following: Is it possible to define the term minority? To what extent can communal goods such as religion, culture and language be accommodated within an individual rights framework? What are the tensions between minority rights and the traditional liberal framework? What are the demands of minority groups in areas such as education? Should different types of minorities have different entitlements? Is a focus on the obligations and responsibilities of the State more appropriate than a focus on the rights of individuals and groups? The rest of the module focuses on the development of a universal minority rights framework with reference to relevant case-law of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), the core UN human rights treaties and minority specific instruments. You also examine the role of political supervisory mechanisms, considering the work of bodies such as the UN Independent Expert on Minorities and the OSCE's High Commissioner on National Minorities.

War, Terror, Violence and International Law

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

You will focus upon the contemporary problems of war and terrorism within a historical, political and global context. Drawing upon approaches from international law, political and critical theory and international relations, the module examines law's various attempts to define what constitutes 'legitimate violence'. In this respect we will look at some of the dominant legal, moral and political arguments behind the justification and condemnation of acts of war, terror and public violence. We will look at the law's criminalisation of non-state violence, the use of new theological arguments to justify 'humanitarian wars', the relationship between violence and international security and the ethics of violence.

Women and Human Rights

30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1

This module is divided into two halves. The first half consists of core topics providing a theoretical framework for the study of women's human rights. You will draw on feminist legal theory, human rights theory, anthropological and historical materials and international and national rights instruments and documentation. The second half focuses on the conception, implementation, adherence and breach of a specific right or related rights.