LAWPUBL 757 : Special Topic: International Organisations

Law

2020 Semester One (1203) (30 POINTS)

Course Prescription

No prescription

Course Overview

The activities of international organisations pervade all aspects of our lives. Yet, the actions of such organisations sometimes attract considerable controversy. This subject aims to enable students to critically analyse the legal framework that applies to international organisations through an examination of practice and case law. It will explore the features of such organisations with a particular emphasis on issues that have arisen in the major global inter-governmental institutions (for example, the United Nations) and regional organisations, including the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The subject will draw on recent examples and controversies in international organisations, including withdrawal from membership, immunity from domestic legal systems, and responsibility for human rights violations, to illustrate the application of the law to complex factual situations .

The course is designed to focus on legal issues that arise in international organisations and will include class exercises designed to enable students to engage with examples from a wide range of organisations. Topics will be drawn from the following:
• Why international organisations? Why have states established international organisations? What role(s) do they play? Why have they proliferated?
• What is the legal status of international organisations in domestic and international law? What are the consequences of legal personality?
• Powers of international organisations, including the interpretation of constituent instruments and the possibility of an organisation undertaking ultra vires acts.
• The creation and development of global and regional organisations, including the United Nations and related agencies, and regional organisations in the Asia Pacific. How should international organisations be structured? Who should be members? How should they be financed?
• Law-making and international organisations, including the role of international organisations in making treaties and contributing to customary international law, and the law-making activities of the Security Council
• Working with and for international organisations, including the role of legal advisors and the relationship between international organisations and other entities, such as non-governmental organisations
• Privileges and immunities of international organisations, including the jurisdiction of national courts over the acts of international organisations and their officials
• The legal framework that applies to the activities of international organisations – domestic law, international law, or both?
• Responsibility of international organisations for wrongful acts, including the responsibility of organisations for human rights violations
• The accountability and legitimacy of international organisations
• Reform


Course Requirements

No pre-requisites or restrictions

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 3: Solution Seeking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 6: Social and Environmental Responsibilities
Graduate Profile: Master of Laws

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate ability to critically reflect on the historical development of, and the theories for, the establishment of international organisations. (Capability 1.1, 2.1 and 2.2)
  2. Understand the principles governing the international and domestic legal status of international organisations. (Capability 2.1 and 2.2)
  3. Appreciate the internal constitutional structures of the most significant inter-governmental organisations, and have the ability to evaluate the efficacy of these organisations. (Capability 2.1, 3.1 and 4.1)
  4. Understand the role of regional organisations, including the existing institutional structures in the Asia-Pacific region, and the relationship between regional and international organisations. (Capability 2.1, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2 and 6.3)
  5. Have knowledge of recent developments in the law of international organisations, for example, the responsibility of organisations for breaches of international law, the operation of immunities in the face of allegations of human rights abuses. (Capability 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1, 4.2, 6.2 and 6.3)
  6. Demonstrate ability to apply the law to complex legal issues arising in international organisations (Capability 2.1, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1, 6.2 and 6.3)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Research outline 10% Individual Coursework
Research essay 90% Individual Coursework
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Research outline
Research essay
Research Outline
Each student must submit a research outline by 12 noon on Tuesday 31 March 2020 through CANVAS. The research outline should commence with an abstract that outlines the proposed research question and main thesis of the student’s research essay. The research outline should provide an outline of the structure of the proposed research essay. This structure should follow Appendix 7 of the New Zealand Law Style Guide (3rd edition): that is, it should contain Major headings, Minor Headings and Sub-Headings (as appropriate).

Research Essay
Each student is required to submit a research essay of no more than 12,500 words. 
The essay is to be original work, relying on secondary and primary sources, on a topic of the student’s choosing on the law of international organisations. Sample topics will be provided by the lecturer but students may devise their own topics. The essay must be the work of the enrolled student. Another person, other than the enrolled student, MUST NOT write the essay nor do the research on behalf of the enrolled student. Plagiarism is forbidden and, in that regard, each student should read and adhere to the University’s plagiarism policy.
Students must also use proper legal citations. The use of headings and sub-headings is encouraged, and footnotes rather than in-text referencing should be used. All essays are to comply with the New Zealand Law Style Guide.
Descriptive essays are not encouraged. Instead, students are expected to engage with relevant legal issues (of their own choosing) by: explaining and critiquing the law and its underlying policies; providing a conceptual analysis of the law; examining the operation of the law in practice; and developing proposals for reform.
Essays must be submitted to the Faculty of Law through CANVAS by 12 noon on 21st May 2020.


Learning Resources

Reading Materials
Reading materials will be listed on the student information system Canvas. Students may also be asked to access additional materials via the Internet or in the Davis Law Library. All students are expected to read and study all the assigned reading for each class.

Workload Expectations

There will be 36 contact hours in this course. As a postgraduate course, there is an expectation that you prepare well for each class. The nature of the substantive assessment involving independent research also requires a significant amount of work outside of class. As a general guide, you should expect a workload of six hours outside of the classroom for each hour spent in class. The guideline for the total workload for this course is 300 hours.

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course director, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website at http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a Student Academic and Support Adviser as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html).

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 20/01/2020 02:20 p.m.