P. Practicing International Law: Litigating Before International Courts and Tribunals

The practicum will engage upper-level J.D. and LL.M students in the practice of international law from the perspective of litigation between States before international courts and tribunals. This is a practical course focused on analyzing the procedure, practice, and strategy of inter-state litigation before institutions such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), and ad hoc inter- state arbitral tribunals. The practicum will not deal with the conduct of commercial and investment arbitration.

The practicum will proceed through the major procedural stages of an inter-state case before an international court or tribunal, including the decision to file a suit; the choice among international fora; the problem of non-appearance; drafting of the application or special agreement; incidental proceedings (provisional measures, jurisdiction, and admissibility); choice of remedies; written submissions; oral arguments; third party interventions; assessment of evidence; deliberations and the drafting of the decision, and the relationship between litigation and other forms of dispute resolution. We will consider what the lawyers did in bringing the proceedings, the choices they made, and the implications of those strategies for the outcome, and compare the procedural approaches of different international courts and tribunals to the above subjects.

The course is designed to offer students a window into the practice of inter-state litigation from a comparative perspective. In this sense, it complements courses in substantive areas of international law for students interested in pursuing a career in international law or litigation.

The method of evaluation will consist of: class participation (20%); weekly one-page memoranda (30%); final group project (50%).