Galway, Ireland—Summer 2007 Courses
Each student must enroll for the full six-week session and may take three of the six courses offered during the program. More information on receiving law school credit ...
Session 1: June 15 – July 4
Legal History: The Development of Human Rights Law
Professor Philip Hamilton — 9:00–10:50am
"Human rights" is an ideal that includes far more than the political rights that were articulated in the 17th and 18th centuries in such documents as the English Bill of Rights and the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. How was that limited concept of “rights” extended beyond the borders of individual countries and expanded to include such notions as economic rights and group rights? How were states persuaded to commit themselves to honor that expanded and universalized view of rights? How do we evaluate that commitment in light of recent and continuing abuses of human rights? This course attempts to address those questions by examining some of the events and ideas that contributed most significantly to the development of our current understanding of human rights and to its codification in the documents that form the basis of modern human rights law. Readings include both historical and legal materials.
International Law and International Humanitarian Law
Professor Ray Murphy — 11:00–12:50am
This course explores contemporary issues of international law and IHL or the law of armed conflict. It involves a brief introduction to the sources of international law, an examination of the United Nations Charter provisions governing the use of force, and an examination of the concept of humanitarian intervention and UN-authorized or UN-mandated peacekeeping operations. The course explores the concept, purpose, and contemporary sources of IHL; the concept of armed conflict; and the protection of civilians and the conduct of hostilities. The Convention dealing with the protection of prisoners of war is also examined. The course refers to contemporary situations such as Iraq, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, as well as drawing on a number of historical examples, and includes a review of the implementation of IHL and the role of international tribunals.
International Human Rights Law
Professor Vinodh Jaichand — 1:00–2:50pm
Students in this course study the philosophical basis of the human rights idea, the evolving substantive standards, and domestic and international mechanisms for enforcing human rights.
Session 2: July 7 – July 25
Separation of Powers*
Justice Antonin Scalia and Professor Lawrence Friedman — 9:00–10:50am
This course will examine some of the principal decisions of the United States Supreme Court dealing with the separation of powers, including cases pertaining to appointment and removal of executive officers, delegation of legislative powers, the doctrine of standing, and incursion upon and expansion of the power of the courts. The assigned readings will include brief excerpts from The Federalist and from Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Throughout the course, comparisons will be made to the treatment of similar issues in foreign countries, particularly the countries of the European Union.
*Enrollment in this course will be limited. If you would like to enroll, please submit a short statement (no more than 250 words) explaining why you want to take this course and what you think you can add to the course.
Terrorism and the Law: Balancing Protection and Rights
Professor Geoffrey Corn — 11:00am–12:50pm
This course will examine the challenges associated with implementing legal mechanisms to protect States from the threat of terrorism in a manner that also protects individual human rights. The course will focus on the post 9/11 U.S. response to international terrorism as a paradigm for this challenge and will survey legally established mechanisms used by the international community to respond to terrorist threats and acts. We will begin by exploring the international and domestic legal definitions of terrorism and their history. We will then survey non-military legal responses to terrorism, such as the use of the criminal justice system and civil responses like immigration control and sanctions. We will examine the difficulty of using such mechanisms without undermining accepted individual rights, such as freedom of speech and association. The course will then survey military responses to terrorism, focusing specifically on the difficulty of applying established humanitarian law paradigms to trans-national non-state entities. We will address the international legal authority to use force in response to terror, the legal consequence of designating the struggle against terror as a "war," and the military detention, interrogation, trial, and punishment of alleged terrorists.
Women's Rights in a Global Context
Professor Nancy Kim — 1:00–2:50pm
This course addresses the issue of women's rights as human rights on several different levels. First, we will examine the international community's treatment of women's human rights and discuss the role of politics in shaping and enforcing international standards. Then we will explore the impact of cultural, religious, and social norms on defining women's rights as human rights. Finally, we will study the problem of categorization by focusing on subgroups of women. The objective of the course is to examine and understand the issues involved in defining women's human rights, and to explore feminist and multicultural approaches to achieving compliance with international standards.
