University of Aberdeen School of Law: LLM in Public International Law and Globalisation

LLM in Public International Law and Globalisation

The aim of the programme is to introduce students to the problems of understanding the limits of international legal regulation in the present crisis of globalisation. For this it is necessary:

• to understand the historical and political context in which the international law has arisen;
• to be able to assess critically the continued viability of the law in an era of crisis where the power of the nation state is shaken by supra-national political, economic and social factors;
• to be able to assess realistically the place of non-state actors in the international system;
• to be able to gage critically the possibilities of reforming international institutions;
• to imagine how principles and rules of international law need to be developed to face globalisation.

More specifically the programme considers whether globalisation has given rise to problems which states are not able to regulate through custom or treaty, and whether soft law can be a substitute. The question is asked systematically how far globalisation weakens the capacity of states taken together to regulate pressing issues of international society; examples are:

• terrorism;
• nuclear weapons proliferation;
• climate change;
• migration and refugee flows; and
• the exercise of economic and political power by multinational corporations.

An interdisciplinary approach (law, politics, economics and cultural studies) is offered to see how far national, regional and international institutions can be adapted to globalisation.

Finally, the question is explored whether there is a cosmopolitan culture, which can ground new principles of international law, or whether these have to be drawn inductively from different regional cultures.

International Law, Globalisation and International Relations at Aberdeen

Aberdeen Law School is an ideal forum for international studies, because it has a very wide portfolio of subjects covered by its staff, giving it at present the ranking of top Law School in Scotland and fifth in the UK. Faculty members are from all continents and nationalities. Apart from the immediate team of five established international specialist teaching on the core options of the degree, there are many other specialists in, inter alia, human rights, company law, intellectual property law, air and space law, private international law, animal rights, civil law and other comparative legal systems, whose courses are open to students. (Click here to learn more about the Law School staff).

This Masters Programme also reflects the place of the Law School in the College of Arts and Social Sciences. It does not have a Law Degree as a prerequisite for entry. Within the College there are companion masters degree courses on globalisation, security, and area studies, which reflect the experience of academics drawn from the Middle East , Latin America , Africa and East Asia (click here to find out more about these courses). There is a comparative literature and philosophy programme linked to the Centre for Modern Thought. It is a policy of the College to encourage close liaison among academics across traditional disciplinary divides.

Syllabus

Students must complete four taught courses, a Research Methods Course and a dissertation. At least two courses must be taken from the list below. The other two may be taken from any MA or LLM in the CASS, subject to the approval of the Programme Coordinator. You can find details of all of our masters level courses in the Postgraduate Catalogue of Courses.

Research Theory and Method in International Law (Compulsory)

Students are introduced to an advanced level of knowledge and research technique with respect to the practice of states as agents of law creation, having regard to the distinctive roles of different states, large and small in various parts of the globe. Patterns of inter-state cooperation are considered at global and regional level, in the areas of politics, economics, culture etc. This sets the ground for understanding the limitations of existing patterns of law-making and whether any substitutions are emerging in the context of debates about global governance. What are the limitations of international institution-making? Does the power of new economic and cultural forces render the old politics of inter-state law making obsolete? Where are the new intellectual tools international lawyers can acquire to equip them for the tasks of globalisation already identified in the programme?

The co-ordinator of this course is Professor Tony Carty.

 Cultural Difference, Globalisation and International Law

This course will explore the ways in which globalisation has had an impact on cultures, and the way that international law has both facilitated and responded to that impact. One aspect of this is the way in which international economic rules have had an impact on so-called "cultural industries" such as electronic media, publishing, sound recording, film and video, and on the ability of the State to regulate such industries in defence of the certain cultural values. Another aspect is the way in which such rules, and the international economic institutions which oversee them, have had an impact on sub-State groups, such as minorities and indigenous peoples, through, for example, large-scale development projects, selective protection of certain forms of property, and so forth. The course will also consider the implications of responses to globalisation, such as the emergence of the preservation and promotion of cultural diversity as an international public policy goal.

The course will provide students with an understanding of the international law relating to culture, broadly understood with a view to: enhance students' knowledge and understanding of treaty norms, soft law norms, case law and academic writing relating to cultural issues; develop skills in legal reasoning, problem solving and the assessment of the legal norms and theoretical questions relating to cultural issues.

The co-ordinator of this course is Dr Robert Dunbar.

International Law and the Use of Force

The main topics of the course are:

• the evolution of the legal standards on the use of force in International Law,
• how International Law has reacted to the most recent cases involving the use of force in International Law, and
• what are the implications of the current legal construction of the use of force in the field of international politics?

The course will offer a multidisciplinary approach to the topic in order to gain a critical understanding. The basic problem is that the political use of force in global society is no longer confined to inter-state conflict. International terrorism transgresses state boundaries and intra-state conflict is an occasion for frequent foreign state interventions. Arguments for humanitarian intervention come from individual states, regional groupings and global institutions. A common thread of all these developments is a loss of the monopoly by states of the use of force, which had been a hallmark of international law and relations since the Peace of Westphalia. Are there any principles for ordering the development of global political violence at the present time?

The co-ordinator of this course is Professor Tony Carty.

Transnational Litigation and Jurisdiction

This course in the fundamentals of state jurisdiction will help students both to develop a sound doctrinal competence with regard to theoretical problems and to gain essential insights into the practical matters in the conduct of transnational litigation that involves special types of parties and subject matter. The ground the course covers includes:

• the notion of jurisdiction and its ramifications in international law;
• the notion of State and related immunity;
• exceptions to State immunity under current international law;
• the notion of universal jurisdiction;
• the protection of human rights and the issues of jurisdiction;
• the role of international tribunals.

The course will familiarise students with the notions of and interaction between State jurisdiction and immunity in the broad context of globalisation. It will help students gain a deeper insight into various jurisdictional problems involved in initiating transnational litigation by examining a selection of core issues in this field.

The co-ordinator of this course is Dr Xiaodong Yang.

Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development

This course considers how intellectual property rights promote and hinder global development, especially in the light of international commitments in the right to health and education. Topics will range from access to medicine, exploitation of traditional medical knowledge, access to educational materials, exploitation of folklore and designs, and the use of geographical indications for trade.

The course co-ordinator of this course is Dr Catherine Ng.

Further information

For application and admission enquiries, please contact the Law School ’s Postgraduate Secretary:

Email: law-pg-enquiries@abdn.ac.uk

Telephone: +44 (0) 1224 272443 / Fax: +44 (0) 1224 272442

Post: School of Law, Taylor Building, Old Aberdeen AB24 3UB, United Kingdom