Public International Law Seminars Dr Bríd Ní Ghráinne Brid.ni_ghrainne@law.muni.cz Spring Semester 2020 Room: 041 Time: 14:00-16:00 1. Seminar dates and topics Please note that we are not following the fortnightly schedule. Sometimes our classes will be on consecutive Wednesdays. Date Topic Wednesday, 11 March Statehood States as the original subjects of international law, criteria for statehood (case-study of Kosovo, including discussion of the right to self-determination v. right to territorial integrity (ICJ Advisory Opinion, decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Secession of Quebec, Aaland Islands etc.) Wednesday, 18 March Relationship between international and domestic law monism/dualism, incorporation, notion of self-executing treaties, case law from domestic courts. Wednesday, 25 March State responsibility Responsibility of a State for its internationally wrongful acts, criteria for attribution etc. (case of Eichmann and some more recent cases). Draft Articles. Wednesday, 1 April State immunity acta iure imperii, acta iure gestionis, the absolute and restrictive doctrine. Case-study: Germany v. Italy (ICJ), Employment Disputes in Mahamdia v Algeria (CJEU Case). Wednesday, 29 April Responsibility of international organisations Al-Jedda case (House of Lords and ECtHR decisions, Behrami and Saramati cases (ECtHR), Mothers of Srebrenica et al v. State of The Netherlands and the United Nations (Supreme Court of The Netherlands). Wednesday, 6 May Test 2. Seminar format In the first half of the seminar we will have a discussion about the key issues in the respective topic. In the second half of the seminar we will engage in an interactive activity such as a quiz, problem-solving, or moot court. 3. Suggested texts In addition to the reading assigned to you by your lecturers, I highly recommend the following texts: 1. Shaw, International Law (CUP 2018) 2. Evans, International Law (OUP 2018) 3. Harris, Cases and Materials in International Law (Sweet and Maxwell 2015) 4. Assessment In the final class there will be a short test covering all the topics that we discussed. The test will consist of a series of short-answer questions covering the topics discussed during the seminars. The pass rate for this test will be 60%. Passing this test is necessary in order to receive credits for a successful participation in the seminars in spring 2020. Passing this test will not form part of the overall grade for this module. We will discuss the format of this test in more detail in the seminar on International Organizations.