• Exam prep
o No headless memorizing
o For the essay:
▪ Clarify the important issues of the course and use these issues to focus your
understanding of specific facts and particular readings
• Mention the main theses of the authors, and after discussing these,
try fitting your own perspective on the issues with the theses, so a
thematic pattern is created. Then, link these issues with eachother
▪ Types of questions
• Define
o Shed light on the definition from multiple viewpoints
• Explain how/why
o Give reasons and examples of how and/or why something
happened or can take place
• Compare/contrast/relate
o Show how two or more things are
similar/different/connected to each other
• Analyse
o Look closely at the components of something to figure out
how it works, what it might mean and why it is important
• Discuss
o Make a broad argument about a set of arguments you have
studied
o About the readings! Not undiscussed shizzle
▪ How to write
o Write clearly
o Write comprehensively
▪ Don’t just fill up the words, use relevant information
o Write specifically
▪ Don’t write more about a case than one paragraph,
and don’t write more than 3 sentences on the case
• 0 – make a list of the parts so that you do not miss or minimize one
part
o One way to be sure you answer them all is to number them
in the question and in your outline
• 1 – introduce your main idea
• 2 – write several paragraphs to support the main idea
o Each with a single point to defend with specific examples
• 3 - Conclude with a restatement of your main point and its
significance
• 4- proofread
• If running out of time; jot down the ideas quickly
▪ Grading criteria
• Coverage
• Accuracy
• Evidence
• Structure
, • Style
▪ Mock questions
• States do not care about international law when they go to wars –
discuss
• Analyse the responsibility and structure of the ICC
• Tribunals are better than courts – Discuss
• Explain and compare the sources of international law
• Domestic law is more important than international law – discuss
• International law is just a tool for powerful states to dominate
weaker states – discuss
• Define and explain the main problems Morgenthai identifies in
international law
• “international law is an inherently European practice that began in
Salamanca, Oxford, and Leiden”. Discuss
• “The mandate system was the best way for underdeveloped nations
to prosper”. Discuss
• List and compare the subjects of international law
• “Palestine is not a state under international law”. Discuss
• What paths can states use to get out of treaties they have signed?
• “To settle disputes, states are better off adopting negotiations
rather than arbitration or adjudication.” Discuss
• Country A files a case against country B at the international court of
Justice. What will the Court check before it admits the case?
• Define and explain the criteria for self-defence under international
law?
• Lecture 1
o Le grand case
▪ America sentencing Germans to death
• Vienna convention applicable to the ICJ
o
• Lecture 2
o Germany vs Poland case
▪ Geneva convention
▪ Nationalization of German family owned company based in Poland by the
Polish state
▪ Germany sued Poland to defend its citizens
▪ ICJ:
• “from the standpoint of international law and of the court which is
its organ, municipal laws are merely facts which express the will and
constitute the activities of the states”
• “there is nothing to prevent the courts giving judgement on the
question whether or not in applying [Polish] Law, Poland is acting in
conformity with its obligations towards Germany under the Geneva
Convention”
o Exchange of Greeks and Turkish Populations – 1925 – PCIJ
▪ Question: is there a general duty to bring national law in conformity with
obligation under international law?
, • “Self evident is the principle in international law, according to which
a state which has contracted valid international obligations is bound
to make in its legislations such modifications as may be necessary to
ensure the fulfilment of the obligations undertaken”
• Antonio Cassese - “the transformation of international norms into
domestic law is not a question of international law, but rather of
domestic politics and law”
o Compliance
▪ Types of Compliance
• First order compliance
o States complying with the substantive provisions of rules
• Second order compliance
o Action that are primarily not in compliance with the rulings
of an authoritative body charged with the interpretation or
adjucation of a primary rule are sanctioned
▪ Power
• Compliance enforcement in the international field is notoriously
weak (outside of the EU)
▪ Effectiveness of international law
• Assessed by two methods
o Actual observance (compliance by states) and validity
(binding force of the law)
• On observance
o Henkin - “almost all nations observe
almost all principles of international
law and almost all of their
obligations almost all of the time”
• Conflict between the internal law and
external law, or between the authority of
the signatory and the state
o So if a person lacking authority signs
on behalf of the country it is not
valid
o Are the broader effects of treaties on society/economy
beneficial?
o Hans Morgenthau (1904-1980)
• “The concept of the political” (book)
o Response to classist realist accounts
• “the scientific man vs. Power politics” - 1946 (book)
o He himself has become more realist here
o Because mankind has become technologically advanced,
politics should be more advanced as well, but Morgenthau
states this has not happened – the man has not morally
changed
• “politics among nations” - 194..
o Textbook for Chicago university
▪ On the readings from “politics among nations”
, o International law has been perceived as a weak field due to
the majority of the people writing on it having too little
information to write with because of their inaction to do
research on it
• Morgenthau:
o “international law is a primitive type of law resembling the
kind of law which prevails in certain preliterate societies,
such as the Australian aborigines and the Yurok of northern
california. It is a primitive type of law primarily because it is
almost completely decentralised law. It is decentralised with
regard to the three basic functions which any legal system
must fulfil:
▪ Legislation
o Writing and drafting legal rules
• Domestic law
o Legislators and courts produce legal
rules for an established national
community
o Highly centralized
• International law
o Legislation depends on mutual
consent and necessity
o Largely contracts without any third
party effects
• So
o A profound problem is found with
codification in international law
o Even if states do consent to a rule
there are issues of interpretation
and binding force
o A problem is found with assuming
trust towards the authority of the
signee
o The ambiguity that international law
often assumes results in it being
“bad law”
▪ Adjudication
o Functions of the judiciary
• Necessity for a efficient judiciary acquired
by
o Compulsory jurisdiction
▪ Enforcement of the
subjectivity of the entities
under review
▪ Not present under
international law
o
▪ Enforcement
o No headless memorizing
o For the essay:
▪ Clarify the important issues of the course and use these issues to focus your
understanding of specific facts and particular readings
• Mention the main theses of the authors, and after discussing these,
try fitting your own perspective on the issues with the theses, so a
thematic pattern is created. Then, link these issues with eachother
▪ Types of questions
• Define
o Shed light on the definition from multiple viewpoints
• Explain how/why
o Give reasons and examples of how and/or why something
happened or can take place
• Compare/contrast/relate
o Show how two or more things are
similar/different/connected to each other
• Analyse
o Look closely at the components of something to figure out
how it works, what it might mean and why it is important
• Discuss
o Make a broad argument about a set of arguments you have
studied
o About the readings! Not undiscussed shizzle
▪ How to write
o Write clearly
o Write comprehensively
▪ Don’t just fill up the words, use relevant information
o Write specifically
▪ Don’t write more about a case than one paragraph,
and don’t write more than 3 sentences on the case
• 0 – make a list of the parts so that you do not miss or minimize one
part
o One way to be sure you answer them all is to number them
in the question and in your outline
• 1 – introduce your main idea
• 2 – write several paragraphs to support the main idea
o Each with a single point to defend with specific examples
• 3 - Conclude with a restatement of your main point and its
significance
• 4- proofread
• If running out of time; jot down the ideas quickly
▪ Grading criteria
• Coverage
• Accuracy
• Evidence
• Structure
, • Style
▪ Mock questions
• States do not care about international law when they go to wars –
discuss
• Analyse the responsibility and structure of the ICC
• Tribunals are better than courts – Discuss
• Explain and compare the sources of international law
• Domestic law is more important than international law – discuss
• International law is just a tool for powerful states to dominate
weaker states – discuss
• Define and explain the main problems Morgenthai identifies in
international law
• “international law is an inherently European practice that began in
Salamanca, Oxford, and Leiden”. Discuss
• “The mandate system was the best way for underdeveloped nations
to prosper”. Discuss
• List and compare the subjects of international law
• “Palestine is not a state under international law”. Discuss
• What paths can states use to get out of treaties they have signed?
• “To settle disputes, states are better off adopting negotiations
rather than arbitration or adjudication.” Discuss
• Country A files a case against country B at the international court of
Justice. What will the Court check before it admits the case?
• Define and explain the criteria for self-defence under international
law?
• Lecture 1
o Le grand case
▪ America sentencing Germans to death
• Vienna convention applicable to the ICJ
o
• Lecture 2
o Germany vs Poland case
▪ Geneva convention
▪ Nationalization of German family owned company based in Poland by the
Polish state
▪ Germany sued Poland to defend its citizens
▪ ICJ:
• “from the standpoint of international law and of the court which is
its organ, municipal laws are merely facts which express the will and
constitute the activities of the states”
• “there is nothing to prevent the courts giving judgement on the
question whether or not in applying [Polish] Law, Poland is acting in
conformity with its obligations towards Germany under the Geneva
Convention”
o Exchange of Greeks and Turkish Populations – 1925 – PCIJ
▪ Question: is there a general duty to bring national law in conformity with
obligation under international law?
, • “Self evident is the principle in international law, according to which
a state which has contracted valid international obligations is bound
to make in its legislations such modifications as may be necessary to
ensure the fulfilment of the obligations undertaken”
• Antonio Cassese - “the transformation of international norms into
domestic law is not a question of international law, but rather of
domestic politics and law”
o Compliance
▪ Types of Compliance
• First order compliance
o States complying with the substantive provisions of rules
• Second order compliance
o Action that are primarily not in compliance with the rulings
of an authoritative body charged with the interpretation or
adjucation of a primary rule are sanctioned
▪ Power
• Compliance enforcement in the international field is notoriously
weak (outside of the EU)
▪ Effectiveness of international law
• Assessed by two methods
o Actual observance (compliance by states) and validity
(binding force of the law)
• On observance
o Henkin - “almost all nations observe
almost all principles of international
law and almost all of their
obligations almost all of the time”
• Conflict between the internal law and
external law, or between the authority of
the signatory and the state
o So if a person lacking authority signs
on behalf of the country it is not
valid
o Are the broader effects of treaties on society/economy
beneficial?
o Hans Morgenthau (1904-1980)
• “The concept of the political” (book)
o Response to classist realist accounts
• “the scientific man vs. Power politics” - 1946 (book)
o He himself has become more realist here
o Because mankind has become technologically advanced,
politics should be more advanced as well, but Morgenthau
states this has not happened – the man has not morally
changed
• “politics among nations” - 194..
o Textbook for Chicago university
▪ On the readings from “politics among nations”
, o International law has been perceived as a weak field due to
the majority of the people writing on it having too little
information to write with because of their inaction to do
research on it
• Morgenthau:
o “international law is a primitive type of law resembling the
kind of law which prevails in certain preliterate societies,
such as the Australian aborigines and the Yurok of northern
california. It is a primitive type of law primarily because it is
almost completely decentralised law. It is decentralised with
regard to the three basic functions which any legal system
must fulfil:
▪ Legislation
o Writing and drafting legal rules
• Domestic law
o Legislators and courts produce legal
rules for an established national
community
o Highly centralized
• International law
o Legislation depends on mutual
consent and necessity
o Largely contracts without any third
party effects
• So
o A profound problem is found with
codification in international law
o Even if states do consent to a rule
there are issues of interpretation
and binding force
o A problem is found with assuming
trust towards the authority of the
signee
o The ambiguity that international law
often assumes results in it being
“bad law”
▪ Adjudication
o Functions of the judiciary
• Necessity for a efficient judiciary acquired
by
o Compulsory jurisdiction
▪ Enforcement of the
subjectivity of the entities
under review
▪ Not present under
international law
o
▪ Enforcement
