International Law Teaching by Sienho Yee
Sienho Yee’s Homepage: www.sienhoyee.org
For “law school” in general, go to: www.sienhoyee.org/lawschool.htm
For student papers, go to: www.sienhoyee.org/studentpapers.htm
1. Courses.
Currently I only give special lectures on (1) sources of international law and (2) international dispute settlement.
When I was teaching at the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law, I taught a whole basket of international law courses. The following is what I wrote when I was there:
I teach these courses in Public International Law and EU Law from time to time.
Currently I am teaching:
(1) International Law. Focusing on the system, structure
and methodology of international law, see Introduction
below, Item 6 (mandatory reading); this is the introductory course that is the
basis for a proper understanding of international law questions, and serves as
the pre-requisite or recommended course
for advanced courses in international law; anyone who plans to do something in
the international arena or whose life may be affected by international issues
(about everyone these days!) should consider taking this course with a rigorous
professor, as a regular course, not a study-abroad course). Topics to be covered: 1. Introduction: nature
and history of international law; 2. Sources of international law
(creation of international norms); 3. International law in the
(2) International Dispute
Settlement (pre/co-requisite:
International Law); a detailed study of the ways and means of international
dispute settlement, focusing on the International
Court of Justice; required materials: (1) materials posted on TWEN; (2)
Collier & Lowe, The Settlement of Disputes in International Law
(OUP)). This course introduces the essential issues relating
to international dispute settlement, with an emphasis on inter-State disputes
(i.e., disputes between governments). Part I introduces the essential
mechanisms of dispute settlement (negotiation, inquiry, mediation,
conciliation, arbitration, adjudication, and UN mechanisms). Part II, the bulk
of the course (about 8 weeks), focuses on the jurisdiction and procedure of the
International Court of Justice, addressing in detail the entire process of a
case before the Court: how States consent to the Court's jurisdiction, and
procedural disputes arise and get settled, how the merits phrase of the case is
dealt with, and how post-judgment remedies may be resorted. Part III
provides a rapid introduction to the International Tribunal for Law of the Sea
and the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, and to some selected issues relating to the
settlement of mixed disputes and private disputes, in mixed tribunals and in
the
Previously
I also taught:
(3) International Crime and Punishment:
Seminar (pre/co-requisite:
International Law). Overview of the international system; substantive
international crimes (focused on the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court; and mechanisms of punishment.
students have produced excellent papers to be published, see Item 3 below;
required materials: (1) materials posted on TWEN and (2) Sienho Yee (editor), International Crime and Punishment:
Selected Issues: Volume One; Volume
Two (University Press of America); Suggested
Advance Reading: Telford Taylor, The anatomy of the Nuremberg trials: a personal
memoir (1992)). Topics to be covered: Part I: the
international law framework: states; delimitation of jurisdiction; need for
international system; sources of law; state responsibility vs. individual
responsibility; jus ad bellum vs. jus in
(4) International Human Rights Law (strongly-recommended prior course: International Law
(those serious about working in human rights should know that a solid
background in international law is essential to effective promotion/enforcement
of human rights). Overview of the
international legal system; concepts and philosophical foundations of human
rights; contents of human rights and the mechanisms of implementation; Required
course materials: (a) Louis Henkin, Gerald L. Neuman, et al.
(eds.), Human Rights (latest edition); (b) Louis Henkin,
Gerald L. Neuman, et al. (eds.), Human Rights:
Documentary Supplement (latest edition); & (c) Case supplement (latest
edition). Suggested Advance
(5) European Union Law: Basic Introduction. Structural and institutional issues and the fundamental principles. The European Court of Justice.
I have set up a home page for each course on TWEN where you can find a
syllabus containing a detailed list of topics to be covered and sample exam
questions and answers. The
(Related courses offered by other professors at the University of Colorado School of Law include: International Law; International Environmental Law; International Business Transactions; Commercial Arbitration; Comparative Criminal Procedure; Immigration; Civil Rights Law; Rights of the Child; American Indian Law; Labor Law. Students may also take “Independent Research” in various topics of international law.)
2. Independent Research, Externships & Fellowships. I supervise “Independent Research in International Law” if a student would like to produce a publishable paper. From time to time, I also supervise “externs”. Students who are accepted as interns at the international tribunals might also get credit for “externships”.
3. Research papers written by my students or my other supervisees on selected issues in international criminal law are being published under the title International Crime and Punishment: Selected Issues by the University Press of America, with two volumes already in print (see table of contents: Volume One; Volume Two).
4. Paper Presentation Program. International Law Forum (http://www.sienhoyee.org/ilf.htm)); research papers are presented by varied speakers and discussed by participants.
5. The alumni, students and faculty members of the University of Colorado School of Law have been in these projects: (1) Nuremberg Trial; (2) My Lai investigation; (3) International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (1 faculty member and 3 of his former advisees including 1 from Colorado); (4) US Representative to the United Nations General Assembly; (5) United Nations Human Rights Center; (6) Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; (7) International Monetary Fund; and (8) two Supreme Court justices were from the University of Colorado (one undergraduate; one law graduate) and they contributed to the development of international law and the US law on civil rights and civil liberty, among other things.
6. An introduction to the
International Law course follows:
International Law. By Sienho Yee (http://www.sienhoyee.org); (c) 2001; All inquires: Email: sienho.yee@colorado.edu
Required books: (1) Carter, Trimble & Bradley, International Law: cases and
materials (latest ed.);
(2) Carter, Trimble & Bradley, International Law: Selected Documents
(latest edition).
Recommended: (1) Ian Brownlie, Principles of Public
International Law (latest edition); (2) Kent R. Greenawalt, Legislation:
Statutory Interpretation: Twenty Questions (1999).
Contents:
I. Purpose and Goal
Studying international law helps us to understand the phenomenon of international law and to become better citizens and, perhaps, world citizens in this globalizing world where no person or nation is an island entirely of itself anymore. Secondly, studying international law may qualify us as counselors to others as an actor in international society. A good international law scholar often finds him- or herself sought after, formally or informally, by high officials for advice. Thirdly, doing well in international law might provide one with the wherewithal to become a leader in world affairs, in international lawmaking and/or in intellectual inquiry in general. And if the angel of fortune smiles on you, you might leave some footprints, perhaps heavy ones, in the development of international law.
By the time you begin to study international law, you probably have amassed an arsenal of legal tools. In the Public International Law course, you will have the opportunity to fine-tune these and to deploy them. You will also pick up some new techniques that are more or less peculiar to public international law such as "sources" of international law and/or the law-making process. Finally, you will also learn the essential substantive public international law principles relating to the structure of the world order and human rights, and, try to provide a rationale for most of them. In short, the course will be a fruitful one.
I believe anyone interested in pursuing a career that has something to do with the public order and/or something “international” should take a general course on international law with a rigorous teacher, as soon as possible. Moreover, those who would like to take advanced courses without taking the introduction are advised that they might find it somewhat difficult to do so. Without a solid training in the basics of the international legal system, it is very difficult to do a good job in human rights, international environmental law, or even international business.
II. Nature of Public International Law
Just as we argue about what is law, we argue about what is public international law. One view, which is sufficient for our present purposes, is that public international law is the body of rules and principles which are legally binding on States in their intercourse with each other, and binding on international organizations and individuals where appropriate. (This view presupposes what is binding, on which one may need to seek inspiration from the idea of the internal aspect of the law.) As a perceptive law student would observe, public international law is closely analogous to constitutional law; that is, it is the constitutional law of the world. Just as constitutional law is primarily concerned with public power in a national legal system, public international law is primarily concerned with public power in the international community. As the international community is far more complicated than that of any national community, public international law is more complex and, perhaps, slightly more difficult than one normally expects. But this is also the reason why public international law is more interesting. Another reason why this subject is interesting is that philosophy, international history and relations figure more prominently in public international law than in any other subject in law. There is ample room for one to achieve intellectual satisfaction, to dazzle his or her audience in this field, and to leave footprints behind.
II.A.
Topics to be covered
1. Introduction: nature and history of international law; 2. Sources
of international law (creation of international norms); 3. International law in
the
III. Advance
We can say with confidence that a good understanding of international
history and relations and legal theory will help deepen one’s understanding of
public international law. And yet, the limited time of one semester would
require us to presume that you are familiar with these topics. Those who would
like to do some advance readings over the vacations, the following may be
helpful: (a) Sienho Yee, Towards an International Law of Co-progressiveness,
in: Sienho Yee & Wang Tieya (eds.), International
Law in the Post-Cold War World (2001), 18-39 (email me for a PDF file if
you cannot find it in the Law Library); (b) Anthony Clark Arend,
Do Legal Rules Matter? -- International Law and International Politics, 38
IV. Course Books and Teaching Method
The required course books for my section of the course are: Required books: Required books: (1) Carter, Trimble & Bradley, International Law: cases and materials (4th ed., 2003); (2) Carter, Trimble & Bradley, International Law: Selected Documents (2003-2004 edition). Recommended: Ian Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law (6th ed. 2003). You are required to bring these two required books to class. I recommend to you (you are not required to purchase, but anyone who considers him- or herself a good international law scholar seems to have a copy of this book) the excellent one volume textbook: Ian Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law (6th ed. 2003). In addition to hardcopy books, you might want to take advantage of the sources on the web, and I have put up a lot of great links in my homepage, http://www.sienhoyee.org. Exploring the websites of the United Nations and the International Court of Justice will give you a good picture of what public international law is.
The teaching method to be employed will be the Socratic method. We will also experiment with some other methods, taking advantage of my teaching experiences elsewhere. We shall make adjustments as we go along. Our goal is to achieve a solid grasp of the subject at the end of the course. To that end, we shall let ideas and arguments prevail over other considerations such as style and image, which you have the opportunity to master elsewhere.
Finally, you might be curious as to what kind of careers there may be in public international law. First, the traditional employers of public international law specialists are international organizations such as the United Nations, the IMF, the World Bank, the UNESCO, etc. and the State Departments / Foreign Ministries around the world. Second, other government departments, such as the Defense Department, the Commerce Department, and the Justice Department (more specifically, the INS), also employ a large number of international lawyers. Third, now the proliferation of international courts and tribunals has produced great opportunities for those who aspire to be judges as well as to assistants to the judges, prosecutors and other staff attorneys. For example, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia now has a huge budget and employs a troop of international lawyers of various levels of sophistication. These three types of employers all have summer internships available. Fourth, almost every law school employs two or three professors of international law. Fifth, private practice and public interest work may also present some opportunities. The normal big firm practice is beginning to involve more and more public international law issues, such as immunity, choice of law, environmental impact statement, and human rights questions. The public interest litigation groups, environmental law groups and other NGOs all have a large number of international lawyers on their staff. Finally, there are also specialists in inter-State dispute settlement before the International Court of Justice. These great scholars seem to have the best of all worlds. I have posted a package of materials called “Careers in PIL” in TWEN (International Law, Course Materials section) including an article on general issues and a list of websites where you can find information about job vacancies. You can also find information at this webpage: http://home.att.net/~slomansonb/career.html.
VI. A
Word of Advice
I encourage all my students to try to produce a publication. Producing a publishable paper is a comprehensive learning process: from searching for and formulating an interesting argument, to doing the dirty work of research, to writing our thoughts up, and polishing the piece to make it read nice. Growing up from being able to write a very good paper to being able to write a publishable paper is an experience that truly there is no substitute for. Moreover, publications open the doors to employment like nothing else does.
This is not easy but there are those who like the challenge. During my first year at