DERE-2601 Derecho Internacional (Ingls) Semestre 2015-1

Mondays & Wednesdays, 2:00 -3:20p.m Room Q307

Professor

Email

Dr. Liliana Obregn Tarazona

lobregon@uniandes.edu.co

Teaching Assistant (Monitor)

Nicols Forero Villarreal

Email
n.forero703@uniandes.edu.co

Office Location & Hours

Of. RGC 330 tel : 3394949 ext
3376
Monday-Wednesday 1011
am (make
Contact
appointment via email)
Through email, SICUAPLUS

General Information
Description
This is the introductory course to the discipline of International Law (IL). This course is
required in order to take any of the advanced courses in the IL field and to participate in
any of the international moot court competitions that Los Andes supports. This course
introduces you to the principles, concepts and basic discussions that are essential to the
knowledge of international law. Although the course has an introductory character, you
will also read critical analysis of some of the classical interpretations of IL.
You will see that IL has been commonly defined as the laws applicable to the
international community or as the law that governs the relations among States through
a system that is related to diplomacy, politics and international relations. On the other
hand, you will also understand how IL can be viewed as a discipline where a
community of lawyers and jurists share and develop their own vocabulary, have their
own sense of history and carry out certain type of professional activities. Understood as
a discipline, IL is in many ways a product of the twentieth century.
The birth of new States, the formation of institutions and organizations as subjects or
actors of IL, the economic power of transnational commerce as well as the rise of new
issues such as the protection of human rights, economic development, the fight against
organized crime, the protection of the environment arose in last century, especially after
World War II. In that sense, this course is historical and asks the question: can the
twenty-first century be understood in the same way as the past? Do the new challenges
and proposals coming from changes in technology give us a different perception of the
world today and its past? Does that matter?
Therefore, even though we may study IL in its process of rule formation, the
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establishment of the rights and responsibilities of States, and of the existing mechanisms
to promote the compliance with and application of such rules, we can also look at IL as
external observers that ask questions about IL such as an anthropologist or historian
would. For example, what seems to be the common objective of those that participate
inthis discipline? What is their project? How do they argue and persuade? How do they
see the world? What stories do they tell about the origins of the discipline and its
objectives?
This semester you will also view IL as a performance, where a series of actors (Lawyers)
appear on a stage (the International Court of Justice) to tell a story (Facts) of rights and
wrongs (International Law) to convince their audience (Judges) of the correct ending of
this drama (Justice? International Legal Responsibility?).
Expectations and Goals

Learning to research and write

By working through an international law problem during the semester, you will meet
challenges of learning independently and learn to seek and obtain relevant and sufficient
information through different methods and sources. You will learn to systematize and
analyze the purpose of their description, review and implementation based on legal
problems which you must solve through individual research. Research capacities will be
developed throughout the course, beginning with group problems to solve in class.
Questions posed to you are intended to incite inquiry. Instructions will be given on how
and where to best begin research. Cases chosen are intended for you to be able to carry
out a critical analysis of the facts and legal issues, as they are designed to allow for a wide
range of legal arguments.

Promoting prevention and conflict resolution

This courses second objective is for you to identify, formulate, evaluate and solve
international legal problems through non-litigious alternatives such as mediation,
conciliation, negotiation and arbitration. Case based activities are designed to allow you to
identify different strategies and solutions to resolve the disputes or legal problems that a
lawyer must take into account when dealing with professional practice.

Learning to communicate and argue with international legalesse

By using the moot court methodology you will acquire the language necessary to discuss
international legal problems in a written memorial as well as in a courtroom scenario. The
knowledge of the terms proper to the discipline and their usage will allow you to
participate in argumentative debates while developing a professional vocabulary. Through
these exercises, you will be able to make compelling argumentative schemes through oral
and written communication.
2

Methodology
The progress of this course is based on your commitment to listen, read, research, write
and participate in analyzing the international legal problems that we will be covering
throughout the semester. You will study a case and follow with accompanying readings and
activities. From this departure point we will investigate each subject through dedicated
discussion periods. It is crucial that you do the readings for each class on time and be
prepared to participate. To incentivize your class participation I have devised the following
forms of contributing to the course:
Group Activities
The course will promote collective learning through group activities. The groups will be
made of four students who will also work together for the final exam (see below). Group
activities will be done in class but you are welcome to prepare in groups outside of class.
IRAC writing and speaking
You will learn to write and speak using the IRAC method. Though this method is not the
only one adequate for legal writing it is a good basis to understand legal problems, in
international law or in other fields of law.
Case Briefing and Oral Presentations
Each class member will write and present at least one case brief that has been heard
before the International Court of Justice and that is useful in contributing to solve the moot
court problem
Final exam
We will do a simulation of a Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition case as a
final oral and written exam. A moot court is based on a complex case that deal with the
substantive issues of law. Students in groups of four will assume the role of applicants or
respondents. You will conduct in-depth individual and collaborative research on new topics
which makes them face learning challenges, propose alternative strategies to resolve legal
problems and formulate an action plan to defend their position. These acquired skills will be
reflected in the memorial for which you must submit written and oral arguments. You must
participate in the oral presentation.
The memorials develops your ability to communicate through written arguments in a
concise, clear and argumentative way. Furthermore, the assessment of oral arguments
forces you to make compelling argumentative schemes by choosing a strategy and
effectively using oral communication methods. For you to perform satisfactorily for the final
exam, the evaluation methodology throughout the course is aimed at gradually creating
the skills that you need to meet the objectives of promoting legal research, conflict
resolution, argumentation and student communication.
Required Materials
All visual and written materials will be posted on SICUAPLUS.
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Optional Materials
Additional readings for those of you who want to do more are always available. I will
suggest texts or you can ask me for suggestions if you want to read more about a certain
topic that interests you.
Internet Resources
These selected websites may prove helpful in your research. I welcome any assessments or
additions.
*
*
*
*

American Society of International Law (official) http://www.asil.org/

International Court of Justice ICJ (official) http://www.icj-cij.org/
ICJ- Cases, information http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/
The United Nations (official) http://un.org/

The University of Los Andes is subscribed to the following electronic sources which contain
many journals in the fields of international law, international relations, and political science,
which may be useful for your research. To access these sources go to Sistema de Bibliotecas.
Then login with your e-mail ID and go to Recursos Electronicos then Base de datos
suscritas then Derecho where you will find the following data bases:
HEINONLINE HeinOnline houses a large collection of law journals, treaties, and
legal classics and the Philip C. Jessup library, which includes the Jessup
Compendium (a compilation of materials from past Jessup Competitions) and other
ILSA publications.
LEXIS-NEXIS - provides a wide range of information on current events as well as online articles in every law journal that is published in the United States.
E-brary - Collection of electronic texts in several languages. More than 25,000 books
can be consulted.
JSTOR - provides access to full text articles of more than 250 academic journals in
the Social Sciences and Humanities, including the American Journal of International
Law, Human Rights Quarterly, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
Review
Class rules and policies

Please arrive to class on time with homework and assigned readings prepared. If you
have not read or are more than 10 minutes late, please do not enter the classroom.
Written work should be presented in English and reviewed for spelling, grammar and
punctuation BEFORE handing it in. However, I will not be grading your English
proficiency unless the quality of the writing is so poor that I can not understand the
content. In exceptional cases I will allow for a paper to be presented in Spanish but
you must ask beforehand.
Because this class involves a collective effort, attendance will be taken into account
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regularly. More than five unexcused absences will result in not passing the course.
You must complete all course requirements for a passing grade.
If you absolutely need to eat in class because it has been a long day and you are very
hungry, please try to eat non-noisy, non-smelly foods that do not bother your neighbor
or the rest of the class.
This course is conducted in conformance with the policy on academic integrity explained
in the Student Guide. Most importantly, please be aware that plagiarism (using the ideas
of another person and presenting them as your own) is a grave ethical and academic
fault. Any suspicion of plagiarism will be cause for a disciplinary process for fraud before
the relevant University officials. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to:
o Using part or all of a text or document, or a web page in a written paper
without citing the source ( A LINK IS NOT A PROPER WAY TO CITE A SOURCE
FROM THE INTERNET
o Doing individual work (i.e. discussion papers) in a group
o Copying complete parts of a text and not putting quotation marks, even if you
cite a source
Request for revising a grade should be directed to me in writing in the next eight (8)
days after I have given out the grade. A revision means that the student is also risking
that the grade goes down if I find more mistakes that I did not catch the first time.

Evaluation
Evaluation is an important aspect of this course because it tracks each class members
progress in developing argumentative and written skills. These are the percentages for
grades:
FIRST HALF
5-10 day before quizzes on SICUA (4-12pm)

10%

1 discussion paper or case brief

5%

Midterm exam

15%

Class participation

10%

Total

40%

SECOND HALF
5-10 night before class quizzes

10%

Second exam

15%

Class participation

10 %

Written Memorial

15%

Final oral exam (mooting)

15%

Total

60%

The only grades that I will approximate are 4.90 to 4.99 which will change into a 5.0
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Session
1

Course Schedule for DERE-3601 2 Derecho Internacional (Ingls) Semestre 2015-1

Mondays & Wednesdays, 2:00 pm - 3: 20 pm
Date
Topic
Required readings
Whats due
Introduction to International Law
19
Introduction
Syllabus in Class
Janua to the course
ry
21
What is
Table of contents of two IL text books
Discussion paper (max
Janua International
2 pages double
ry
Law?
spaced)
26
What are the
Janua history(ies) of
ry
IL?
28
General intro
Janua to the
ry
structure of IL

History chapter of two IL textbooks

(extra: see movie Amistad)

discussion paper
(max 2 pages double
spaced)

Introduction to International Law

By: Robert Beckman and Dagmar Butte

SUBJECTS OF IL International Legal Personality

5

02
Subjects of IL
Februar Intro, States
y

DHPSS: 249-263 (definition of

statehood) and/or readings, videos
on SICUA
Criteria of Statehood
-Montevideo Convention
-States under International law by
James Crawford
-Badinter
Opinion 1

Arbitral

Committee

Declaration on Inadmissibility of
Intervention in Domestic Affairs of
States And Protection of
Independence and Sovereignty
Recognition
DHPSS: Duty to recognize 263- 266
DHPSS:
Recognition
of
governments 292-315

04
States 2
Februar
y

Creation of States
-Devolution
The Creation of States by James
Crawford
p. 329-374

Case brief on Kosovo

Quiz (Tuesday)

-Secession
ICJ Kosovo Advisory Opinion
Bangladesh

09
Subjects of IL
Februar States 2
y

Disappearance of States
DHPSS: 286-292 (state succession)
DHPSS: 530-543 (succession in
treaty).
and/or readings, videos on SICUA
-Legal and material disappearance
of States
a) Dissolution
b) States without territory

11
Subjects of IL:
Quiz (Tuesday)
Februar International
Subjects of International law by A
y
Organizations 1 Cancado Trindade
Read from page 220-250
International
Organizations2
The Judiciary UNOverview
ICJ
http://www.un.org/Overview/brief
.html
UNCharter
http://www.un.org/aboutun/chart
er/index.html
HPSS:
820-822
(peaceful
settlement)
DHPPS: 854-868 (ICJ, compulsory
jurisdiction)
DHPSS: 868-893 (US v. Iran, US v.
Nicaragua)
7

ICJ STATUTE
10

16
Februar
y

Nationality of
Individuals and
Companies

18
Peoples and
Februar Selfy
determination

11

12

20-21
JESSUP
Februar NATIONAL
y
ROUNDS CAMARA DE
COMERCIO
23
What is a
Februar source? Analyze
y
the kind of
sources the rule
is based upon
25
What are the
Februar
sources of
y
international

DHPSS: 586-612 (substantive law,

universal declaration)
DHPSS: 607-644 (Lawless case,
reservations, enforcement)
Quiz (Tuesday)
Peoples and Self-Determination
DHPSS: 341-348 (conquest and use
of force)
Security Council Resolution 1511
(2003) adopted on 16th October
2003
(Sovereignty
under
occupation).
DHPSS:
315-331
(acquisition,
Palmas 1928, Eastern Greenland
1933, Botswana/Namibia 1999)

Case Briefs can be

done over: Eastern
Greenland, Burkina
Faso v. Mali, or El
Salvador v. Honduras

Compromis 2015

Article 38 ICJ Statute

Article 38, Statute of the ICJ

Quiz (Tuesday)

law?
13

14

02
March

04
March

What is a
treaty? How
to use a
treaty to
argue your
case

Vienna Convention on the Law of

Treaties
ILC, Commentaries to the Draft
Articles on the Law of Treaties

What is
custom? How
to use custom

ICJ. Military and

Paramilitary Activities in and
against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v.
USA), 1986 [selected paragraphs]

Quiz (Tuesday)

ICJ. Right of Passage over Indian

Territory (Portugal v. India), 1955
[from casebook] DHPSS
ICJ. Legality of Threat or Use of
Nuclear Weapons, Advisory
Opinion, 1996 [selected
paragraphs]
ICJ. Asylum (Colombia v. Per),
1950.

15

16

09
March

11
March

What are
principles of
IL? How to
use them. What
are unilateral
acts? How to
use them. What
are subsidiary
sources,
analogies, policy
and justice
arguments?
How to use
them (or not).

State
Responsibility

General Assembly Resolution

No625 of 1970 Friendly Relations
Declaratio Cherif Bassiouni, A
Funtional Approach to General
Principles of International Law. 11
Mich. J. Intl L768 (1989-1990) ILC,
Guiding Principles applicable to
unilateral declarations of States
capable of creating legal
obligations with commentaries,
2006. ICJ, Nuclear Tests, (New
Zealand v. France), 1974 ICJ. Pulp
Mills (Argentina v. Uruguay),
2010, Separate Opinion of Judge
Cancado Trindade, paras. 20-51

Quiz (Tuesday)

GA Resolution on State
Responsibility 2001.pdf

http://www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/projects
/state-responsibility-project
James Crawford, Articles on State
Responsibility, 2002.pdf

ILC, Articles on Responsibility of

States, 2001.pdf

Robert Rosentock, The ILC and

State Responsibility.pdf
17

16
March

REVIEW
OF
COMPRO
MIS AND
BEGIN
MOOTING
18
18
March
19
23
March
20
25
March
30
March
01 April
21
06 April
22
08 April
23
13 April
24
15 April
25
20 April
26
22 April
27
27 April
28
29 April
29

04 May

30

06 May

First midterm exam

COMPROMIS

CLAIM 1

CLAIM 2
CLAIM 2
CLAIM 3
CLAIM 3
CLAIM 4
CLAIM 4
Review for
exam
Second midterm exam

Memorials and Mooting

Questions & answers

10