Postgraduate Module Descriptor

LAWM117: The Law of International Organisations

This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.

Module Aims

The aim of the module is to provide you with a thorough understanding of the law of international organisations. You will be introduced to a variety of international as well as regional organisations and in particular to their place, role and differing functions under contemporary Public International Law. The module The law of International Organisations will be taught by a law in context approach. You will discuss issues relating to the law of international organisations predominantly from the perspective of public international law but you will also get accustomed to how some international organisations view their relationship with the international community  in order to develop a critical understanding of contemporary international developments.

Students who complete the module will have acquired a solid understanding of the role and functions of international organisations as partners of the United Nations in crisis management as well as of the relationship between international organisations and their member states.

Students will be introduced to the process of conducting research in order to develop their own research skills.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the legal framework regulating the role and functions of international organisations under international law in general;
2. Demonstrate critical understanding of the role and functions of international and regional organisations under the law of the United Nations;
3. Demonstrate critical understanding of the legal and political relationships between various international organisations;
4. Demonstrate critical understanding of the legal relationship between international organisations and their member states;
Discipline-Specific Skills5. Develop, apply and critically assess international legal arguments, using a wide range of appropriate primary materials and advanced scholarship;
6. Demonstrate critical understanding of the relationship between the different branches and sources of rules of law, including potential norm conflicts, and between legal and non-legal considerations impacting on legal argument and advice;
Personal and Key Skills7. Identify, retrieve and use efficiently and autonomously a range of library-based and electronic resources;
8. Process and evaluate effectively a substantial body of complex and sometimes contradictory legal and non-legal information;
9. Communicate and engage in debate effectively and accurately;
10. Conduct independent research.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Nigel D White, The Law of International Organisations (Manchester University Press, latest edition)

Jan Klabbers, An Introduction to International Institutional Law (Cambridge University Press, latest edition)

Jan Klabbers, Advanced Introduction to the Law of International Organizations (Edward Elgar Publishing, latest edition)

Jan Klabbers and Åsa Wallendahl (eds), Research Handbook on the Law of International Organizations (Edward Elgar Publishing, latest edition)

Philippe Sands and  Pierre Klein, Bowett's Law of International Institutions (Sweet & Maxwell, latest edition)