Admission requirements
Admission to the full time and parttime Blended Learning advanced LL.M. programme in Air and Space Law.
Description
This course aims to provide students with knowledge of the governance of international civil aviation, including economic regulation of air services. It starts with a discussion of the constitution of international civil aviation, the Chicago Convention of 1944, which is based on sovereignty and territorial jurisdiction, and the responsibility of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for promoting safety, security, and protection of the environment.
The course moves on to economic regulation as laid down in the Chicago Convention, ICAO Assembly Resolutions and Council Decisions, air services agreements concluded between sovereign States and, in some cases, international organisations such as the EU. This is followed by a review of steps taken to liberalise air transport services, with special attention paid to European air law, including Regulation (EC) 1008/2008, and EU external relations. Other topics include slot allocation, airport charges and market liberalisation and deregulation in other parts of the world.
This course also addresses the regulatory regimes pertaining to air traffic management, the investigation of accidents, and global market-based measures (MBMs) developed to address the challenge of aviation-related emissions. Other recent developments are also considered, such as the increased use of drones, new cybersecurity risks, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), labour protections for transport workers, and the closure by States of airspace.
Course objectives
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
Define the fundamental principles of public international air law;
Explain the rules and their applicability for liability as addressed under public air law;
Analyse legal issues pertaining to public air law matters and the most important case law to propose possible ways of addressing such issues;
Apply public air law instruments and case law at the international and EU levels;
Solve practical case studies; and
Undertake an individual research project in public air law.
Timetable
Students can view the timetable in MyTimetable. Blended Leaners have the option to attend in person classes.
Mode of Instruction
This course has been divided into several different modules, each of which covers a certain specific theme. Each module provides students with theoretical knowledge through assigned reading materials and multimedia knowledge clips, and other suggested sources. Students are ultimately responsible for coming to classes prepared, which will in turn provides for elevated levels of discussion in the classroom sessions.
The lecturers make extensive use of interactive teaching, thus encouraging the students to exercise test their comprehension and understanding of the subject matter and to exercise their techniques for effective verbal communication. The level of interaction is high, and students are encouraged to reflect critically on the issues presented. Guest lecturers and expert practitioners are invited to highlight specific topical and emerging topics and themes from various perspectives.
Attendance at all lectures and on excursions is mandatory; any absence must always be reported to the Programme Coordinator and to the lecturer.
Assessment method
This course is assessed by means of:
The ICAO Simulation (15%): Group assignment. This consists of two Position Papers and active participation in a Diplomatic Conference-simulated activity;
a Paper (35%); and
an Exam (50%);
Blended learning students will work on four assignments and one final paper, to be submitted via Brightspace.
The course is successfully passed if an average grade for the course is obtained of 6.0 or higher. Assessment components for which only a pass or fail can be obtained, must be successfully completed by the student to pass the course. Only one retake may be granted to a student per course.
No retake will be granted to a student who has obtained a weighted average grade for the course of 6.0 or higher, cf Article 12.2 Course and Examination Regulations. No retake will be allowed if a student has not taken the scheduled exam, or any other scheduled form of assessment, and handed in written proof of a conscientious effort to meet the deadline. This is without prejudice to justified reasons of health, family or any other force majeure that could prevent the student from attending class or from participating in the assessment, cf. Article 12.3.
If a student fails an assessment component that is part of an activity that cannot be retaken, the form of the retake will be up to the discretion of the relevant lecturer, cf. Article 12.1.
The grade obtained in the retake assessment will replace the grade of the failed assessment and will be included in the weighting of the grade for the course.
Reading list
Steven Truxal, Economic and Environmental Regulation of International Aviation: From Inter-national to Global Governance, (Routledge, 2017)
Pablo Mendes de Leon (ed.), Introduction to Air Law, (Kluwer, 2022)
Registration
Students will be registered automatically for the course in uSis and Brightspace.
Contact
International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL)
Law School, Leiden University
Steenschuur 25, 2311 ES Leiden, Netherlands
Postal address: P.O. Box 9520, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands
Phone : +31 71 527 8081
Website: www.iiasl.aero
Contact: airandspace@law.leidenuniv.nl
Disclaimer
Currently these pages are being updated to reflect the courses for 2024 - 2025. Until these pages are fixed as per 1 September 2024 no rights can be claimed from the information which is currently contained within. Should there be any future extenuating circumstances which may impinge our teaching and assessment, these could necessitate modification of the course descriptions after 1 September. This will only happen in the event of strict necessity and the interests of the students will be taken into account. Should there be a need for any change during the course, this will be informed to all students on a timely basis. Modifications after 1 September 2024 may only be done with the approval and consent of the Faculty Board and Programme Director.