• Offered by Law School
  • ANU College ANU College of Law
  • Classification Specialist
    Transitional
  • Course subject Laws
  • Areas of interest Law
  • Academic career PGRD
  • Course convener
    • Dr Christopher Ward
    • Prof Donald Rothwell
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Offered in Summer Session 2015
    Winter Session 2015
    See Future Offerings

The course will focus on general international law, seeking to identify, in particular, the impact of the relevant norms on the conduct of international relations and national decision-making in this area.

It forms the first part of the International Law stream's compulsory general international law component, and is complemented by Advanced Principles of International Law.

Subject matter coverage will centre on those parts of general international law that are most essential in equipping candidates with the necessary knowledge and skills to tackle more specialised areas on international law: nature, function and sources of international law, relationship between international & domestic law, international agreements, and subjects of international law (including statehood & recognition).

Special emphasis will be put on developing the students' capacity to apply international legal norms in concrete settings, and the course will include problem-solving workshops.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

The Course Objectives are to:

(a)  introduce you to the basic concepts and terminology of public international law;

(b)  provide you with an overview of the processes by which international law is formed and the most important bodies and institutions involved in the international legal system;

(c)  introduce you to the international law relating to treaties, and the relevance of treaties to current events;

(d)  introduce you to the interaction between the international legal system and the Australian legal system, with some particular focus on the international law of human rights;

(e)  introduce you to various theoretical perspectives on the formation and operation of the international legal system;

(f)   show the relevance of international law to current political and social developments at the international and national levels; and

(g)  provide you with an introduction to sources and methods of research in the field of international law.

Learning Outcomes

By the conclusion of this course, it is expected that students who have successfully completed all of the course requirements should be able to:

(a)  Define, explain, distinguish and apply the basic concepts and terminology of public international law;

(b)  Define and distinguish amongst the variety of processes by which international law is formed and the roles played by the most important bodies and institutions involved in the international legal system;

(c)  Define, explain and apply the principles of treaty law with respect to treaties and understand its relevance in the context of contemporary issues in public international law;

(d)  Recognise and appraise the interaction between the international legal system and the Australian legal system, with a particular focus on the international law of human rights;

(e)  Explain and demonstrate through particular cases the relevance of international law to current political and social developments at the international and national levels;

(f)   Select and apply a range of approaches in written communication, and apply the critical thinking required to bring about creative solutions to complex legal problems on a world stage; and

(g)  Use, interpret and apply a wide range of materials in both on-line and traditional media from international and national sources.

Other Information

This is an intensive course with a 5 day compulsory intensive (see LLM timetable for dates).
Approximately 6 weeks from the completion of the intensive your final assessment will be due. Contact with fellow students and the convenor, both prior to the intensive and after, is conducted via the Wattle course site.

Indicative Assessment

Indicative Assessment is:

1. Case and Treaty Note    50%
2.Take-Home Examination    50%

Students must rely on the approved Course Study Guide which will be posted to the Wattle course site approximately 4 weeks prior to the commencement of the course.



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Workload

34 Contact Hours (Intensive Delivery over 5 days) plus private study time

Click here for current timetable

Requisite and Incompatibility

To enrol in this course you must be studying one of the following: Master of Laws (7300XLLM, MLLM) Master of Laws specilising in International Law (7300SINTL), Master of Laws specilising in Law, Governance and Development (7300SLGD), Master of Laws specialising in Enviornmental Law (7300SENVL), Master of Laws specialising in Government and Commercial Law (7300SGCL), Master of Laws specialising in International Security Law (7300SISL), Master of Laws in Migration (NLLML), Master of Laws in International Law (NLLIL), Master of Laws in Environmental Law (NLLEN), Master of Laws in Law, Governance & Development (NLLGD), Master of Laws in International Security Law (NLLSL), Master of Laws in Government and Regulation (NLLGR), Master of Laws (Legal Practice) (7312XLLMLP), Master of Diplomacy/Master of Laws (7883SINTL, 7883XLLM), Master of Diplomacy/Master of International Law (7893XMINTL), Master of International Law (7310XMINTL), Master of Environmental Law (7309XMENVL), Master of Law, Governance & Development (7317XMLGD), Master of International Security Law (7318XMISL), Master of Government and Commercial Law (7313XMGCL), Master of Legal Practice (MLEGP), Master of Legal Studies (7305XMLEGS). OR Must be studying a Graduate Certificate of Law (CLAW) and have completed or are completing LAWS8586 Law and Legal Institutions. You are not able to enrol in this course if you have completed LAWS2250 or LAWS6250.

Prescribed Texts

Donald R. Rothwell, Stuart Kaye, Afshin Akhtarkhavari and Ruth Davis, International Law: Cases and Materials with Australian Perspectives 2nd edition

Preliminary Reading

The Course Study Guide will be available approximately 4 weeks from the commencement of the course.

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Student Contribution Band:
3
Unit value:
6 units

If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.  Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2015 $2958
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2015 $4146
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

Summer Session

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
1565 19 Feb 2015 19 Feb 2015 06 Mar 2015 07 Apr 2015 In Person N/A

Winter Session

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
1330 23 Jul 2015 23 Jul 2015 07 Aug 2015 08 Sep 2015 In Person N/A

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