International Dispute Settlement

Following up on the introductory lectures on dispute settlement included in the Capita Selecta course, this course (10 × 2-hour sessions) will examine international dispute settlement in more depth, and with emphasis on inter-state judicial institutions, such as the International Court of Justice, and state/on-state dispute settlement. The opening lectures will address themes such as the concept of “international dispute”, the obligation to resolve disputes peacefully, the matrix of available dispute settlement options and the role and specificity of judicial dispute settlement mechanisms. Subsequent lectures will be devoted to the norms of “international legal procedure” governing international tribunals, with a focus on the International Court of Justice. The remaining lectures will turn their attention to the examination of specific judicial institutions, cross-cutting issues such as the independence and selection of judges and arbitrators, the role of the current dispute settlement “architecture”. Specific institutions which will be discussed include ITLOS, the WTO DS system and other mixed dispute settlement bodies, such as ICSID.