Admission requirements
This is a compulsory methodology course for all students intending to major in Global Justice. Students should have taken at least one 100-level course associated with the Global Justice major before enrolling on this course.
Description
This course is designed to train students in the application of advocacy, legal methodology, argumentation, and problem-solving skills. Students will be asked to develop strategies, as well as present and defend opinions, on the basis of specific cases and problems in international law and policy. This will include provision of advice, litigation of specific legal problems, and development of conflict resolution strategies. The course will also explore issues surrounding legal ethics and practice. The primary objective of this course is give a sense of the day-to-day challenges facing the practicing lawyer in an international legal context. With this objective in mind moot court exercises will be conducted during the course, with a view to enhancing the written and oral advocacy skills of students.
Course objectives
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:
*Employ various methods of legal reasoning. *Analyse statutes, cases, and other sources of law. *Discern relevant facts and apply a legal principle to those facts. *Understand the mechanics of a case in an international legal context. *Prepare and argue written and oral motions on a variety of issues. *Have a sense of the challenges encountered in the courtroom. *Appreciate the importance of case strategy. *Understand the relevance of legal ethics.
Timetable
Please see the LUC website: www.lucthehague.nl
Mode of instruction
Seminars (two 2-hour sessions per week, Weeks 1 – 7) will form the main body of this course, and a blackboard site will support in-class discussion, debate, and court simulations, as well as host readings and multi-media material. Further information with respect to compulsory reading can be found in the course syllabus. For details of how the course will proceed, see sections below on “Assessment” and “Weekly overview”.
Assessment method
Learning aim Assessment Percentage Deadline
- Interactive engagement with course material: assessed through In-class participation (20% of final grade): Ongoing Weeks 1 – 7
- Practice of advocacy and litigation skills: assessed in Moot Court (40% of final grade): Ongoing Weeks 3-7
- Expression of holistic understanding of the course: assessed in Examination (40% of final grade): Week 8
Friday at 17:00
Blackboard
this course is supported by a blackboard site
Reading list
There will be no core textbook for this course. The required reading for each week will be outlined in the course syllabus with additional readings being posted on the course Blackboard site.
Registration
This course is only open for LUC The Hague students.
Contact information –
Weekly Overview
Detail as to the week-to-week structure of the course including topics and discussion points will be available as of September 2011