S. Emerging Trends in International Justice

On a global terrain that is increasingly divided along geopolitical lines, rule of law-supporting states have begun to use public international law, international human rights treaties as well as their own national laws in new ways to obtain accountability for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. This innovative approach is a more decentralized one than anticipated two decades ago.

These states have become frustrated by the blockages to justice through traditional multilateral fora such as the United Nations. The shift highlights a noteworthy
new direction in seeking criminal and non-criminal accountability for the most serious international crimes.

The course will use two country situations, Syria and Myanmar, as practical reference points. The syllabus will focus on three separate, yet related, legal developments and the semester will be broken down into segments tracking these three initiatives. They are: the use of international human rights treaties to litigate at the International Court of Justice; the creation of unprecedented country specific criminal accountability mechanisms; and the re-vitalized use of domestic universal jurisdiction laws in national courts. The course will examine the relevant international instruments, national laws and their application in novel ways.

The student can elect to submit either a Take-home Exam or to write a final paper. The Exam/Paper will count for 75% of the grade. As a seminar, class participation is an important component of evaluation. This is assessed through the quality of in-class presentations; the substantive insight of questions submitted from class readings; and role playing (arguing a point of law from the perspective of the parties in the litigation). The participation component will count for 25% of the grade.