This course blends mock arbitration experiences with class discussion of techniques, strategy, and ethics in international arbitration proceedings. Students directly participate in a series of practical exercises based upon a series of international arbitration fact patterns, which will entail their role-playing as advocates, cross-examiners, and arbitrators. The course emphasizes advocacy in connection with jurisdictional and procedural issues, selecting and challenging arbitrators, and other scenarios that often arise in international arbitration.

The course, taught by practitioners in the field, covers contemporary and cutting-edge aviation topics such as international commercial aviation, aviation security, and the integration of unmanned aircraft systems (i.e., drones) into the national airspace. The course material will encompass most aspects of aviation law, including the law of international civil aviation, the economic and safety regulation of air transportation, aircraft registration and certification, aircraft accidents, airport law, government immunity from tort liability, and airline liability for the carriage of passengers and cargo domestically and internationally under the Montreal Convention. Students are exposed to a range of materials, including cases, treaties, executive agreements, and regulations, with a view towards imparting practical skills that can be applied to any field of law.

This course explores practices of border fortification, incarceration, criminal law enforcement, and immigration policing. Migration and incarceration—borders and banishment—present some of the most pressing legal and moral controversies in contemporary public life. Over the past two decades, criminal-immigration matters have become the most commonly prosecuted federal crimes; populations in prison, jail and immigration detention have dramatically increased; and though major proposed immigration reforms are stymied in Congress, pressures for reform in both the immigration and criminal contexts continue to mount.

The course will begin by considering the historical, social psychological, and legal foundations of border fortification and banishment practices. Then, attention will turn to some of the crises that pervade border enforcement, policing, and incarceration settings—from the presence of millions of people in the United States without legal status, to the explosion in criminal and immigration detention, police violence, and the widespread problem of sexual assault and prison rape. Reformist alternatives to the status quo in immigration and criminal legal processes will be considered, including through examination of social movement projects, prisoner advocacy, and public interest practice settings focused on relevant reform. Course readings and discussion will center on proposed criminal and immigration law reform and more far-reaching alternatives to borders and banishment. The course will conclude by investigating various abolitionist efforts to think and work beyond borders and banishment. Students will reflect in class and in writing on the various components of the course in relation to their own interests.

There are no prerequisites. All students are welcome.

Corporations today have a global scale as well as an impact that matches or sometimes exceeds that of governments. Their activities -- from sourcing of raw materials, to processing and production of intermediate or finished goods, to distribution and sale -- have major consequences not only for the human rights of their employees but also for the rights of the individuals and communities impacted by their operations. In many countries, government regulation and oversight are either absent or largely ineffective. Companies in turn struggle to define their responsibilities in the face of these "governance gaps" -- particularly where requirements under national law fall short of international standards in areas such as hours of work and safety and healthy.

A robust and often contentious debate over these issues culminated in the development of the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (the “UNGPs”) under the leadership of Special Representative John Ruggie. These Principles establish a framework for considering the respective roles of governments and corporations and outline core concepts of human rights due diligence and effective remedy. In doing so, the UNGPs also inform and to some extent refocus efforts that have emerged over the past 20 years to address these governance gaps and have brought together stakeholders from business, labor, civil society, the investment community, and academia.

At the same time, in recent years there has been an increased push from civil society groups and certain governments to go beyond these "voluntary" efforts and develop a binding business and human rights treaty mechanism; this has met with strong opposition from business and many other governments, including the United States.

Even as "non-regulatory" approaches remain the predominant means of addressing various business and human rights challenges, there also has been a growing focus in recent years on tools through which national governments and international institutions could exercise greater leverage. This includes advocacy for stronger labor and other human rights language in trade agreements, one-way trade preference programs, procurement standards, and the rules and guidelines applied by international financial institutions -- coupled with more aggressive enforcement of those criteria. Expanded efforts to advance that "regulatory" approach in trade policy and elsewhere in some cases has been met with resistance from governments and business, but there also have been examples of emerging consensus among a diverse range of stakeholders.

This course introduces students to this quickly-evolving business and human rights landscape, including the diverse set of multi-stakeholder initiatives -- some, but not all, of which include government participation. We will discuss the guidance provided by the UNGPs and other instruments, the range of stakeholders and how they engage with one another, tools utilized by governments and corporations to implement human rights standards, and how all of these interact in the context of both sector-specific and cross-cutting legal and policy challenges.

Among the questions the course will examine are:

• Which human rights standards are most relevant to business?
• What are the appropriate linkages between business policies and practices and the promotion of human rights?
• Which business and human rights approaches are emerging as “best practices" and perhaps even as recognized norms?
• What tools to support those are being used by governments and corporations?
• Who are the principal stakeholders and what are their roles and objectives?
• What are the strategies for addressing business and human rights "governance gaps" at the national and international levels?
• What are the opportunities for increased integration of labor/human rights and trade policies, and what are the limitations?
• What mix of mandatory/regulatory and voluntary/“self-regulatory” approaches has been utilized in different situations to advance human rights objectives? Which approaches have been most effective?
• How are various business and human rights challenges playing out in specific sectors, and how do these inform the debate about different approaches?

To address these and other key questions, the course will begin with several sessions setting out the relevant legal and policy developments, with special attention to the UNGPs. It will also include a review of different stakeholders and their roles and interests, and examination of concepts of corporate responsibility and corporate accountability, and an analysis of the various approaches to business and human rights advanced by companies, governments, labor, civil society, and through multi-stakeholder initiatives. The second half of the semester will then focus on how these concepts are being applied in particular sectors to address specific business and human rights challenges.

Throughout the course, students will be asked to examine the various approaches and differing roles of key stakeholders, including by playing the roles of those addressing the key issues from the perspectives of corporations, civil society and unions, and governments. The class will be divided into three groups for purposes of this “role playing” -- with each asked to adopt all three perspectives during the course of the semester, both in students’ individual analyses of assigned readings and in group sessions during certain classes.

Learning Objectives:

Introduction to business and human rights landscape, including legal and policy developments, particularly the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The course reviews different stakeholders and roles, examines concepts of corporate responsibility and accountability, and analyzes various approaches to business and human rights advanced by stakeholders. The course will also familiarize students with sector specific business and human rights challenges.

See the Center for Applied Legal Studies website for more detailed information about the clinic.

For registration-specific supplemental materials, please see the Center for Applied Legal Studies PDF.

For information about clinic registration generally, please see the Clinic Registration Handbook.

How do we lose and save a constitutional democracy? How can democratic backsliding be prevented? What should we consider in designing a constitution? Can constitutions exist without constitutionalism? What is an authoritarian constitution? How do constitutions transitions and change occur? What forms of judicial review do courts employ? Is it possible to have an unconstitutional constitutional amendment? How do courts across the world interpret constitutions? Can constitutions be employed abusively?

Comparative constitutional law has exploded in contemporary constitutional practice and as a field of study. Events around the world—from Asia and the Middle East to Europe and Latin America—underscore the importance of understanding how constitutional democracies are born and how they can collapse. In this course, we will explore constitutions in global perspective, examining issues of constitutional structure and rights across comparative constitutional systems. We will cover topics like constitution-making, constitutional change, constitutional amendment, judicial review, and constitutional adjudication. Drawing on examples across the world, we will also examine individual rights issues, such as freedom of religion and freedom of expression, as well as constitutionalism in times of emergency and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will also consider how constitutions can be abused and the question of whether and how constitutionalism might be able to endure in fragile democracies.

Comparative law involves the study of several global legal systems - including common law, civil law and religious law – with a goal of preparing students who may find their future careers require knowledge of more than one legal system. It may also be of interest to students who desire to examine the theoretical underpinnings of other countries’ laws and courts out of academic interest.  While the goal is to explore the application of comparative methodology to national and regional legal regimes, the focus will be on both the theoretical underpinnings of the comparative legal method and the historical development of the process for comparing rules, principles, and institutions of different countries. The course also emphasizes the current use of the comparative method in both public and private law by legal actors such as lawyers, judges, and legislators.  In the light of contemporary developments, the course will also provide students the international perspective to make substantive connections between the American common law and other legal traditions, and consider recent debates whether national legal systems and institutions are converging or whether differing economic, political, and social environments are leading to greater diversity and possibly even conflict.

This course consists of an introduction to legal comparison with a focus on private law. The course is divided into two parts. The first part presents the functions and aims as well the methods of comparative law in general. After an overview of the legal systems in the world, the course analyses the civil law system in Europe and compares it with the common law system in the United States. It also shows how international and transnational laws address some of the differences between the two systems. While the course focuses on substantive law issues, in the fields of contract and tort, it also examines some structural issues -- such as the court systems, the education of lawyers and the role of judicial review. The second part of the course aims at providing an understanding of the ways in which EU law impacts the evolution of national law. Special attention is devoted to the link between private law and the Single Market, but also to the cultural and linguistic obstacles that come up in the process of harmonization of national laws in Europe. Overall, the course also aims at providing a practical introduction to issues of European law faced by American lawyers. Further it will show how legal comparison is a means for thinking about the law in broader terms.

This seminar deals with the distribution of powers between the president and Congress in the areas of war, diplomacy, international organizations, foreign assistance, commerce, money, etc. as well as the distribution of powers between the national and state governments. Such related matters as the impact on individual rights and the political question doctrine in this context are also discussed.

Students should note that Corporations is a prerequisite for Corporate Finance, Securities Regulation, Business Planning Seminar, and many corporate law seminars.

This is a basic course in business corporations. This course explores the governance structure of the corporation and the fiduciary obligations of directors and officers, with a particular focus on the nature of the public corporation. Topics studied may include: the role of shareholders in contrast with the role of directors and officers, the issues surrounding transactions in corporation control, and the procedural problems in stockholder derivative suits. Policy questions such as federal-state jurisdiction, the nature of the corporate governance system, the role of the corporation in modern society, and the role of the lawyer in corporate matters may also be included.

Note: This course will not cover alternative entities or federal securities law.

“Criminal law across borders” studies two bodies of law. One is domestic (national) criminal law applied to crimes committed outside national territory. The other is crimes under international law: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression. These are the “core crimes” tried by courts like the Nuremberg Tribunal, the tribunals for Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Along with the substantive law on these issues, we examine procedural law on topics such as jurisdiction, extradition, and immunity from prosecution. The course will also examine the problems confronting international criminal justice today, including the political backlash against holding leaders accountable for core crimes. The aim of the course is to introduce students to basic doctrines of international criminal law, as well as doctrines concerning the extraterritorial application of U.S. criminal law. It also provides an overview of the work of international criminal tribunals and the challenges they face. The course combines law, policy, and history.

The course is designed to give students an overview and practical insight on the legal aspects of doing business with or investing in Latin America. The course will focus on Mexico, but will also address legal issues associated with doing business in Central and South American countries. Topics will be discussed from the perspective of U.S. investors doing business in the region, and will cover the legal implications of cross-border distribution, licensing and joint venture arrangements, acquisitions and direct investments, labor planning and creditor rights.

This seminar provides an introduction to the increasingly important field of private international law as well as an opportunity to explore in depth specific issues now under active consideration in the various international and regional organizations working on the development, codification and harmonization of private international law. Beyond the “classic” PIL questions of jurisdiction, choice of law, judicial assistance and enforcement of judgments, we will explore such topics as international family law (including international adoption, abduction and enforcement of child support and family maintenance), alternative dispute settlement mechanisms (including international mediation and commercial and investment arbitration), as well as the cross-border aspects of such topics as data protection and privacy, bankruptcy/insolvency, secured transactions, securities law, intellectual property, transport of goods by sea, letters of credit, leasing law, consumer protection, and even wills and trusts. You may write your papers in any of these areas (among others).  All students will be expected to choose a topic to research, write and present to the class.

This course requires a paper and an oral presentation. It is open to J.D. and LL.M. students. For J.D. students who choose the 3 credit “writing seminar” option, the objective will be to research and write analytical papers of publishable quality on discrete topics of current importance in transnational practice. Students will be required to satisfy the WR requirement including (1) selection of a paper topic approved by the professor, (2) submission of an outline, followed by feedback from the professor, (3) submission of a draft paper of at least 6,000 words exclusive of footnotes, followed by feedback from the professor, and (4) submission of a final paper of at least 6,000 words exclusive of footnotes, incorporating the professor’s suggested revisions. The paper must use legal forms of citation, where appropriate.

Learning goals for this course:

Familiarity with substance of "Private International Law", where it is developed and how; understanding of the relationship between international and domestic law; ability to research effectively in the field; ability to write coherently and present conclusions orally. 

This course will use recent transactions involving infrastructure projects (domestic and international) to illustrate the legal techniques and financial issues involved in project development and financing. The course will address case studies involving energy projects, telecom, toll roads, mining, ports, airports, other infrastructure and professional sports facilities. Class discussion will include analysis of how project risk analysis is done and review of key documents used to develop, construct and finance projects. Students will participate in simulated contract negotiation and drafting exercises representing designated parties to a transaction. Coverage will include different sources of financing, including banks, capital markets, ECAs and multinational entities. There will be both a final examination (open-book) and a short drafting exercise that will be graded. Classes 11/12 will be a Special Negotiation Workshop, for which the class will be divided into groups to negotiate a financing term sheet for a model transaction. Depending on pandemic conditions, this may take place during regular classes, or may be done in person on a specified Saturday from 8am-1pm.

The required course textbook is: 

E.R. Yescombe, Principles of Project Finance (London: Academic Press, an imprint of Elsevier, 2014) (2d Edition). Please note that the second edition is materially different from the first edition, and all page number and other references in this syllabus and in the course will be to the second edition.

Additional case studies, such as Henry A. Davis, ed., Project Finance: Practical Case Studies, Second Edition (two volume set: Volume I – Water and Power, and Volume II – Resources and Infrastructure), and other materials not in the above publication will be provided.

Learning objectives:

The course is based on four major themes and aims to teach students to analyze issues in light of each theme: (i) allocation of risk, (ii) non-recourse or limited recourse arrangements, (iii) effective contract structures, and (iv) financeability. The class will focus on both theory (risk analysis and mitigation) and practice (critiquing and drafting agreements). Both the written assignment and the workshop will focus on practical matters relating to practice issues.

The course examines the role the European Court of Justice plays in the evolution of private law in Europe. It focuses on the way in which the court has interpreted the EU Treaty in order to ensure effectiveness of EU law, and analyzes some of the landmark cases in that area. The course also shows how the ECJ has dealt with the interpretation of directives, particularly in the field of consumer protection, and what impact this case law has on national law making.

This is an advanced course on constitutional principles bearing on U.S. foreign relations: primarily, separation of powers, federalism and judicial review of Executive acts and congressional legislation. It focuses on some of the most challenging issues that have divided the American polity from the inception of the Republic and continue to do so today, e.g., the allocation of foreign affairs power between the Executive and Congress; the scope of Presidential power to protect the nation in times of danger; and the proper role of the courts in deciding legal issues relating to national security.  We will study historical materials that inform the legal arguments on both sides of current controversies over Presidential and Congressional power and discuss foreign relations issues under judicial review in 2020. We also study the power to make treaties and executive agreements, the Supremacy clause and application of customary international law by U.S. courts.

In fieldwork practicum courses, students participate in weekly seminars and conduct related fieldwork at outside organizations. This fieldwork practicum course will focus on governmental protection for persons fleeing gender-based persecution and abuse. Students will participate in a two hour/week seminar and ten hours/week of fieldwork with law firms and nonprofit organizations in the D.C. metro area to assist lawyers representing clients fleeing their countries due to gender-related violence.

SEMINAR: In the two-credit, graded seminar portion of the practicum, students will discuss how shifting migration patterns and societal forces have caused more women and sexual minorities to leave their home countries and immigrate to the United States. In many countries, individuals face persecution and violence on account of their gender. This includes the use of rape as a weapon of war, domestic violence, so-called honor crimes, forced marriage, widow rituals, one child policies, forced sterilization policies, and female genital mutilation. During the seminar, students will study and learn through experience about the societal forces causing the forced migration of women and sexual minorities and how U.S. laws and policies address the immigration status of these immigrants. We will focus on forms of relief that, while available to both men and women, are primarily accessed by women and members of the LGBTQ+ community to obtain legal status in the United States. Specifically, we will focus on: asylum, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture, the Violence against Women Act, U Visas, and T Visas.

FIELDWORK: In the two-credit, mandatory pass/fail fieldwork portion of the practicum, students will work with lawyers from law firms and nonprofit agencies on real cases of immigrants fleeing their countries because of gender-based violence. Students will be assigned in teams to interview clients, prepare research and briefs, and assist the principal lawyer conducting the case. Students will also work directly with attorneys at local legal service agencies who are representing survivors of gender-based harm seeking legal status in the United States.

In 1977, the United States adopted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) to combat bribery of foreign public officials. As with many U.S.-led initiatives, it was seen at the time as naïve, quixotic, myopic, and doomed to failure. A little more than 20-years later, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) adopted its Convention on Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials, and as required by the Convention, the countries of Western Europe promptly adopted organic statutes modeled, in large measure, on the FCPA.

In the ensuing decade and a half, prosecutions of corporations for foreign bribery have become perhaps the most important prosecutorial priority for the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and certainly the most financially lucrative U.S. prosecution initiative. Transnational investigations have become a staple of these prosecutions. All 10 of the largest FCPA prosecutions have occurred since 2008; of these, eight have involved foreign corporations.

This course will cover the development of U.S., international, and foreign initiatives against public-official bribery. Because (at least in the US) most of these cases have been resolved without litigation, we will focus on critical, unresolved issues, such as the FCPA’s definition of a foreign “instrumentality” and a “foreign official,” as well as the scope of U.S. extra-territorial jurisdiction. In addition to addressing the substance of foreign and international laws and conventions, we will explore the critical issues that arise from the growing trend in trans-national investigations and prosecutions, including double jeopardy, res judicata, and international data collection.

We will explore these issues through fact-based, real-world scenarios drawn, in large part, from the “Bonny Island” case, which involved a scheme by four international corporations to bribe three successive Nigerian presidents (as well as a constellation of lower-ranking officials) to secure multi-billion dollar contracts for the construction of an LNG facility in Nigeria. We will use this factual setting to frame class participation and in-class exercises and projects, with the goal of sharpening critical thinking, tackling complex legal questions in concrete factual settings, and honing advocacy skills.

Learning Objectives:

We have the following expectations of learning outcomes:

1. We expect each student to achieve mastery of the basic concepts underlying the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, including the basic statutory terms, the elements of the various offenses, and the scope of U.S. jurisdiction. In our experience, it is impossible to fully understand and discuss more challenging questions about the scope or application of the statute without mastery of the fundamentals.
2. We expect each student to gain an understanding of the roles and policies of the U.S. enforcement authorities, the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the manner in which FCPA cases are investigated, prosecuted, and defended, as well as how the U.S. enforcement agencies would approach a problem and what outcomes are likely to result.
3. We expect each student to gain an understanding of the global enforcement landscape for anti-corruption. Students are expected to achieve a basic understanding of the OECD Convention on Bribery, other international anti-bribery conventions, and the leading state laws, including the Brazil Clean Companies Act, the UK Bribery Act, and the French Sapin II. Students will also gain an understanding of the role of the World Bank and other multi-lateral development banks in the worldwide scheme.
4. We expect students to learn the basic principles of anti-corruption compliance programs, and the manner in which anti-corruption compliance impacts the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of FCPA cases, as well as violations of similar foreign laws.
5. Through scenario-based learning, we expect students to gain a facility in applying law to fact and an understanding of how governments and defense counsel approach challenging question of jurisdiction, enforcement, and punishment in a multi-jurisdictional, cross-border setting.

Global Health Law is the flagship course offered by Georgetown University Law Center’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. This course is open to both Georgetown JD and LLM students and is compulsory for students in the National and Global Health Law LLM and the Global Health Law and Governance LLM.

The survey course explores the roles that the law, lawyers, and legal institutions play in public health across the globe. Global health law encompasses international law and policy that directly or indirectly affects health, including treaties, regulations, strategies, and expert guidelines. This course provides a strong foundation in these instruments, laws and policies, including topics such as governance of the World Health Organization, Universal Health Coverage, the International Health Regulations, the role of the UN Special Rapporteur on Health, and the proposed accord on  global pandemic preparedness. The course also explores comparative national approaches to health governance, law, and policy.

The course is divided into three modules. Module 1 covers the foundations of global health law, providing overviews of public international law, international human rights law, international trade law, and the intersections between intellectual property law and health. Module 2 covers health systems and governance, including the World Health Organization, and public health ethics and principles. Module 3 addresses the human right to health and other key emerging topics in health law such as environmental law and health, the global campaign for Universal Health coverage, and the use of litigation to advance the right to health. The course culminates in students presenting proposals to reform international law to better protect and promote global and public health outcomes.

Students will hear from leading voices in global health law and benefit from the expertise of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, as well as other resources at Georgetown University and in the broader Washington, DC community.

Course Goals/Student Learning Outcomes

1. Knowledge of the substantive foundations of global health law, including public international law; human rights law; global health governance; the interface between international trade and intellectual property law and health; and principles of public health law.
2. Knowledge of the legal issues related to a range of global health challenges, including access to health care and prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and infectious diseases.
3. Knowledge of the various roles that lawyers can play in advancing global health, including legal drafting, negotiating, litigation, and advocacy for law reform.
4. Ability to use various skills relied upon by global health lawyers, including legal research, analysis and writing, strategic thinking, and communication. 

In this intensive course, students will work with faculty and fellows at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law to gain an in­depth understanding of global health law through intensive examination and role play of one or more major problems in global health. Potential problems could include a naturally occurring infectious disease epidemic such as extensively drug resistant tuberculosis; a future epidemic such as pandemic Influenza (A) H5N; an intentional introduction of a lethal pathogen such as anthrax; and/or major chronic diseases caused by obesity or tobacco use. Students should come to this course with a basic level of understanding of global health law, including the major international health treaties and governing structures. When studying and role playing these kinds of problems, students will be asked to construct innovative methods of global health governance, drawing upon existing international health law and institutions, along with a vision for more ideal models. 

Full attendance and participation is required at all sessions. Class sessions will consist of a combination of lecture, case simulations, and discussion. Grades are based on student participation, a daily journal to be kept by students, and a final paper.

During this century, the United States has raised revenue chiefly through the income tax, which is a per capita or direct tax. In many other countries, fiscal authorities rely far more heavily on indirect taxes. With the pace of globalization accelerating, U.S. tax professionals increasingly advise foreign clients, for whom indirect taxes may constitute a large percentage of aggregate tax liability. A basic knowledge of how these taxes work is thus a valuable asset for any lawyer doing corporate or international tax work.

This course will introduce students to indirect taxation, exemplified by the European Union’s Value Added Tax (“VAT”) and Canada’s Goods and Services Tax (“GST”), two of the fastest-growing indirect taxes globally. The course will examine the economic and policy rationales for such taxes and study in detail how different types of value added taxes work, including tax calculations and cross-border aspects. Finally, the course will compare the VAT with the retail sales taxes imposed by many U.S. state and local governments and will consider the feasibility of adopting some version of a VAT in the United States. At the end of the course, students will have a broad technical understanding of indirect taxes and an appreciation of the policy concerns that animate legislative and academic discussion of this important subject.

This two-credit course will be divided into nine 3-hour class sessions. All sessions will be taught by global indirect tax professionals from KPMG’s Washington D.C. office.

This one-credit (7 session) seminar is designed to provide participants in the 2L year of the Global Law Scholars program with a concrete introduction to some of the specific skills used by practitioners in the fields of international and transnational law. Sessions are presented by a mixture of Georgetown Law faculty and outside practitioners. In addition to an overview of the basic features of international negotiation, arbitration and litigation, and an introduction to comparative law, emphasis is given to research, technical writing, fact-finding and advocacy skills. Skill development is taught through a variety of mechanisms (i.e., case studies, workshop style methods, role-playing, etc.). Student preparation for the various sessions includes readings on both skills and theoretical background. Student evaluation at the end of the course is based on class participation and completion of a short piece of technical writing (i.e. white paper).

Learning goals for this course: Ability to research and write/present a substantive legal topic. Ability to work together as a group on an advanced level topic. Awareness of relationship between international and domestic law.

This one-credit (7 session) seminar is designed to build on the experiences of the fall 2L GLS seminar (“Building an International Skill Set”) by affording participants an opportunity to apply the specific skills used by international and transnational lawyers in the context of a specific substantive area chosen by them. For 2013/14, the 2L GLS focused on constructing an international trade mechanism to promote corporate accountability in developing countries, specifically addressing environmental and human rights concerns. For 2014/15 the 2L group wrote an assessment of corporate compliance W.R. of 1502 of Dodd Frank in the area of conflict minerals. For 2015/16, the group conducted an in-depth analysis of implementation review mechanisms (CIRMs) in multilateral agreements. In 2016/17 the chosed topic was on use of armed force in outer space. Preparation for the group sessions includes background readings on the theoretical, practical and legal aspects of the relevant issues. Under the guidance of Georgetown faculty, participants determine in advance the goal of their work (for example, an analytical “white paper” on a particular substantive issue, a conference involving noted academics and experts, an advocacy effort, etc.). Student evaluation at the end of the course is based on class participation, contribution to the chosen goal, and completion of a short piece of technical writing.

Around the world, people are mobilizing to defend democracy, protect human rights, and promote sustainable development. We’ll study the international legal framework for civic activism, examining laws governing protests, social justice movements, and and nonprofit organizations. We’ll also explore the impact of national security, authoritarianism, and digital technology on civic space.

We'll take a global tour, comparing approaches in the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. We'll discuss current events, play the role of UN Ambassadors, and help countries draft laws.

This class will provide skills and contacts to help you pursue a career in international human rights law. Past classes have spoken with UN officials, a lawyer for a group allegedly engaged in terrorism, and frontline human rights defenders.

Eligible students are eligible to apply for internships at ICNL, which works on the legal framework for civil society and democracy in 100 countries.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the semester, you should have the ability to:

1. Analyze international law governing the freedoms of association, assembly, and expression;
2. Evaluate the extent to which national legislation complies with international law;
3. Craft arguments to bring national legislation closer to international law and good practice;
4. Communicate effectively with diplomats, government officials, and civic activists;
5. Analyze ethical aspects that arise in crafting laws that affect the freedoms of association, assembly, and expression; and
6. Assess the impact of law on nonprofit organizations, social movements, and protests.

In this course, students will learn how to structure and execute global securities offerings. The course begins with a brief examination of the process of an SEC-registered offering in the U.S., and the ongoing requirements of SEC reporting companies, and then continues by examining how to conduct offerings, both domestically and internationally, outside of SEC registration. Topics include the registration requirements of 5 of the Securities Act, the various exceptions from registration, including Sections 4(a)(1), 4(a)(2) and 4(a)(7) of the Securities Act, the safe harbors pursuant to those exemptions, including Regulation S, Regulation D, Rule 144, Rule 144A, and the changes to certain of those rules and regulations by recent legislation, including the JOBS Act and the FAST Act. In addition to a thorough review of the rules and regulations in the course materials, this course seeks to give students insight into how those rules and regulations are used in practice, and into the mechanics of conducting various types of securities offerings, so that upon completing the course students are better prepared to address these topics in practice. The course was jointly developed by a senior SEC staffer and a private practitioner. Note that there is no pre-requisite for this course.

A backlash against globalization has emerged in advanced economies as a result of job loss, wage stagnation, precarious work and economic insecurity for the middle class. The liberal globalization of the last three decades is under attack for the unequal distribution of its gains and its failure to provide better opportunities for ordinary working people. Reimagining the global economy will require placing work front and center. This seminar will explore the changing nature of the workplace due to global competition and technological change. It will examine important policy debates about how best to create jobs, improve working conditions, and promote economic growth and well-being. We will analyze how a variety of factors, such as new modes of production and technologies, increasing participation of women in the economy, widespread migration flows, increasing global trade and capital mobility, and the rise of informal economies challenge the assumptions underlying traditional labor and employment regulation in both developed and developing countries. We will consider an array of innovative attempts – national, international, transnational, public, private and mixed -- to improve workplace conditions and assure employment opportunity consistent with economic growth and stability. We will also inquire about the moral and political commitments associated with various approaches.
There are no prerequisites. All students are welcome.

We live in an age of Human Rights. Human Rights, as law, discourse, institutional structure, activist organizations, subject activists and local constitutional expressions, can be considered the crowning achievement of Western humanist secular liberalism that has been able to universalize its dictates. And yet, especially since the 90s, critiques of human rights have compounded from those identified with the left of liberalism. Those critiques include: the socialist, the anti-imperialist, the democratic, the multiculturalist, the feminist, the libertarian and the anarchist. The critiques have been so powerful as to create a generalized sense of skepticism in the discourse of human rights within these quarters especially among an emergent generation of activists, scholars, and public intellectuals. Those critiques have been met by a counter critique by a new generation of human rights believers/activists. The bulk of the critique of the critique points to either an empirical evidence of the effectiveness of human rights discourse or to the internal incoherence of the critical claims.

This course will examine the U.S. immigration system through legal and policy perspectives. We will explore the source, scope and constitutional limits of congressional power to regulate immigration; the executive branch implementation of immigration legislation, particularly procedures for entry and removal, and the extent of, as well as constitutional constraints on, Presidential power; and the administrative and judicial review of executive branch action. Close attention will be paid to how membership laws and policies are established and implemented: What laws and policies govern U.S. citizenship? Who is eligible to become a legal immigrant? How are annual admissions numbers set? How and why are family and employment priorities created? How does the U.S. protect refugees? With respect to the arrival of unaccompanied children from abroad, we will consider the laws and policies that govern how the U.S. government treats them. Unauthorized migration will also be examined to understand why some migrants do not use the legal route into the U.S. and what laws and policies the U.S. has in place to deter such unlawful movements at the border and control unlawful presence in the interior. We will analyze the impact of the major 1996 immigration control legislation and its implementation, with particular attention to detention and removal. We will closely examine the role of the Justice Department’s Immigration Courts, with special attention to access to justice issues. We will explore the extraordinary need for, and challenges of, immigration law reform, as well as the particular situation of the Dreamers, children without lawful immigration status brought to and raised in the United States by their parents. Finally, we will assess the various changes implemented by the Trump and Biden Administrations, particularly in connection with the treatment of asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, the resettlement of refugees from abroad, and the removal of unauthorized immigrants.

This class will cover the constitutional and political framework for the U.S. Immigration System, enforcement and adjudication agencies, immigrants, nonimmigrants, removals and deportations, detention and bond, immigration hearings, judicial review, grounds for removal and inadmissibility, “crimmigration,” immigration reform, “Chevron” deference, refugee and asylum status and other international protections. It will also include reading and analyzing major immigration cases like INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 (1987) (well-founded fear) and Matter of Kasinga, 21 I&N Dec. 357 (BIA 1996) (female genital mutilation).

The attempted extradition of Gen. Pinochet from the U.K. to Spain to account for torture and disappearances in Chile, a tragic car accident in Washington, D.C. in which a sixteen year old is killed by a Georgian diplomat, the alleged expropriation of your corporate client’s investment interests by a foreign government, a civil lawsuit against President Mugabe of Zimbabwe during a visit to the U.S., a criminal case in Chicago against a foreign consular officer for aiding and abetting a fugitive -- such cases bring into sharp relief the operation of international immunities. This two-credit course aims to introduce students to the range of jurisdictional immunities recognized by international law and how they are implemented in domestic law. We will cover diplomatic and consular immunity, foreign sovereign (or foreign state) immunity, the immunities accorded to heads of state and government, and the special status of international organizations and their staff and member representatives, including the United Nations, its specialized agencies and individuals on special missions. Increasingly, practicing lawyers (especially those who represent governments and international organizations or who practice in places where embassies, consulates, missions and international institutions are located) need to be familiar with the reach of these rules and doctrines, and the exceptions thereto. Our focus will be on the practical application of the various international conventions, domestic statutes, and judicially crafted rules which define the law of international immunities.

This course explores international finance and regulation as phenomena embedded in the concept of money.  As such, it provides an overview of the theory of money, and then explores key financial and regulatory developments tied to it, including banking and banking regulation.  A significant portion of the class will be spent exploring how these phenomena apply to digital assets, including native cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin), stablecoins and central bank digital currencies.  The course also addresses the intersection of financial regulation and international monetary law by surveying the 2008 financial crisis, the European debt crisis, recent attempts to internationalize the renminbi, and the future of the dollar as an international currency.

The knowledge, technological inventions, creative works and accumulated experience and expertise of the professional workforce increasingly drives the global economy. Unlike physical capital, this intellectual capital cannot readily be confined to the territorial setting of its origin. The development of cohesive norms to protect intellectual properties on a global basis has thus proven to be an enormous challenge. This course considers this effort by addressing the core international agreements governing intellectual property; norms and norm-making in the international intellectual property rights system; dispute settlement and the enforcement of rights; and tensions arising between intellectual property rights and distinct legal and cultural values.

In many parts of the world, women are discriminated against, abused, treated as property, and even murdered because they are women. But today, there is a substantial body of international and regional human rights law that can be used to change the national laws that permit these practices or fail to protect women against them. In addition, many countries have begun to give women equal rights in many fields. Thus, there is now a body of human rights and comparative law that advocates can use to advance equal human rights for women.

This course provides students with an overview of that law. It introduces them to the many forms of discrimination and violence women still face and teaches them about the major human rights treaties that can help women achieve equality with men. These include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the regional human rights treaties from Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Students study the work of the human rights bodies that measure state compliance with these treaties, including their guidelines and case law on issues affecting women. The course also examines comparative law on human rights issues such as sex-based discrimination in employment, inheritance, and family law rights, domestic violence and female genital mutilation, polygamy and its impact on women and children, and women’s lack of reproductive rights.

National court decisions from countries in both common law and civil law jurisdictions show how courts are using international and regional human rights law to help resolve domestic law issues. As some issues pose difficult conflicts between women’s right to equality with opposing assertions of religious and cultural rights to discriminate, the course also examines how human rights bodies resolve those conflicts and asks how they should be resolved.

Whenever merchandise crosses an international border, it is subject to customs laws and procedures.  And with the grow of international trade and commerce over the years, customs laws and procedures have become increasingly more internationalized, important, and complex.  Therefore, knowledge of customs laws and procedures is important to the practice of international trade law.

This course will provide a basic introduction to the rules and principles relating to both international and U.S. customs laws and procedures.  This will include an examination and review of those rules and principles relating to tariff classification, customs valuation, rules of origin, border enforcement of intellectual property rights and regional trading arrangements.

International efforts to facilitate trade and to harmonize and simplify customs laws and procedures will be examined and reviewed together with international organizations dealing with international customs laws and procedures (such as the World Trade Organization and the World Customs Organization).

Customs authorities are the guardians of national borders.  The role of customs authorities in combating terrorism and criminal activity and in securing and safeguarding national borders will also be examined and reviewed.

There are no prerequisite courses required for this course. 

This course aims to familiarize students with international commercial arbitration and will follow the traditional steps of international arbitration proceedings from the registration of the dispute to enforcement and challenges of an award in national courts.  This course will not rely solely on US law but, instead, adopt a global approach to international arbitration. 

This three credit course is an introductory survey of legal issues that arise in connection with international business transactions.  Subjects covered include:  (1) laws and treaties involved in cross-border business transactions; (2) core international business transactions, including international sales and letters of credit, non-establishment (agency, distribution, contract manufacturing, franchising, licensing) and establishment (branch, subsidiary, joint venture) forms of doing business, equity and debt/project finance transactions, and mergers and acquisitions; (3) fundamental legal concepts such as choice of law, choice of forum, jurisdiction, investment protection (expropriation), anti-corruption and competition regulation, and dispute resolution, focusing on litigation and arbitration, (4) the transfer and protection of intellectual property, and (5) corporate social responsibility.

The learning outcomes for this International Business Transactions course include: (1) basic knowledge and understanding of (a) substantive and procedural laws concerning international business transactions, and (b) the role of private and public international law in the conduct of international business; and (2) international legal analysis and reasoning, problem solving, professional skills, and written and oral communication in the context of international business transactions.

An introductory survey course examining transactional and litigation issues faced by international businesses. The goal of this course is to familiarize students with the broad scope of issues affecting international business prior to the students choosing other courses for further specialization and to introduce students to analytical tools used by lawyers who advise on matters related to international business. Emphasis is given to the actual practice of international business law.  Topics will include the international sale of goods (including letters of credit), international contract issues, cross-border investment, and international investments including project finance. 

This course presents an introduction to international commercial arbitration. It examines the nature of arbitration, the procedures used in international arbitration (both institutional and ad hoc) and the enforcement and setting aside of arbitral awards. The course will also cover drafting arbitration agreements, the law applicable to arbitrations (including the New York Convention, the ICSID Convention and various institutional rules), challenges to arbitration, multi-party arbitrations, jurisdiction, preliminary or interim measures and selection of the arbitral tribunal. The course also provides an introduction to arbitration between investors and states. Grades will be based primarily upon short papers addressing current issues in international arbitration.

In today's global economy, parties to cross-border commercial transactions usually choose to resolve their disputes through international arbitration. This course provides students with an understanding of the law and practice of international arbitration from the perspective of United States law. Among other things, the course will consider the alternatives to international arbitration; the international conventions and U.S. arbitration statute; the arbitration agreement; the role of courts and tribunals in determining issues of arbitrability; international arbitration rules; provisional measures; judicial enforcement of arbitration agreements and arbitration awards; and judicial setting aside of arbitration awards.

The course analyzes the regulatory framework of international contracts. On the basis of court decisions and arbitral awards, it focuses on international conventions and uniform rules of law, such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sales of Goods (CISG), the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, the Principles of European Contract Law, and INCOTERMS. The course includes some aspects of conflicts of law rules, as well as an analysis of the main international instruments governing international commercial arbitration.

Examines selected issues involving the application of criminal law to international activities and across national boundaries. The course covers both the procedural aspects of international cooperation in criminal matters (including extradition,  cross-border investigations, mutual legal assistance, and recognition of foreign penal judgments) as well as the developing substantive international law (e.g., war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, cybercrime, and trafficking in drugs, people and firearms). Particular attention is paid to the question of jurisdiction over criminal activities at the international level, in the context of activities such as money laundering, organized crime, and computer crime, including the reach of Constitutional protections to investigations and law enforcement activities overseas. Addresses the structure, jurisdiction, and jurisprudence of the ad hoc criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the statute and rules of evidence and procedure of the International Criminal Court.

This course studies two bodies of law, both concerned with “criminal law across borders.” One is domestic (national) criminal law applied to crimes committed outside national territory. The other is crimes under international law: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression. These are the “core crimes” tried by courts like the Nuremberg Tribunal, the tribunals for Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ICC’s indictment of President Putin, and many states’ proposal to establish an international tribunal for aggression make international criminal law exceptionally salient today.

Along with the substantive law on these issues, we examine the foundational topics of jurisdiction, extradition, and immunity from prosecution. The course will also examine the problems confronting international criminal justice today, including the political backlash against holding leaders accountable for core crimes. The aim of the course is to introduce students to basic doctrines of international criminal law, as well as doctrines concerning the extraterritorial application of U.S. criminal law. It also provides an overview of the work of international criminal tribunals and the challenges they face. The course combines law, policy, and history.

The textbook for the course is International and Transnational Criminal Law, 4^th edition, by David Luban, Julie O’Sullivan, David P. Stewart, and Neha Jain.

International anti-corruption has become an increasingly “hot topic” among lawyers and policymakers: governments, international organizations, and technical experts all identify corruption as a serious impediment to comprehensive economic development. If left unchecked, corruption threatens to undermine the effectiveness of development initiatives in both the public and private sectors. Growing enforcement of legal instruments such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act have placed anti-corruption squarely on the agenda of a wide variety of transnational organizations. With so many variant actors invoking the importance of anti-corruption, lawyers must not only have a working knowledge of what corruption entails, but also understand how the development of an international anti-corruption legal framework is changing the way business is conducted in a global economy.

This course explores the international legal framework of anti-corruption, the scope of anti-corruption instruments, the methodologies employed by international actors enforcing these instruments, and the policy dilemmas implicated by these endeavors.

Given the dynamic nature of anti-corruption initiatives, the course presents an interdisciplinary, interactive approach to the subject matter. The class will introduce and discuss perspectives from academic texts, policy papers and media. It is hoped that this broad-based approach will provide students with a strong theoretical foundation in anti-corruption law, foster a practical understanding of international anti-corruption work, and inspire students to integrate this avenue of study into their future professional endeavors.

Students will complete a research paper 20-25 pages in length.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this course, students will have a working knowledge of the role anti-corruption policy and political institutions (i.e., FCPA, OECD, and UNCAC) play in the field of anti-corruption. Students will be able to engage in professional discussions on the historical context of international anti-corruption efforts, the state of the current political and international climate, and the future of anti-corruption by making connections between past policy and current events. Students will be able to articulate original views, back them up with research and defend them through strategic thinking by engaging with guest-lecturing practitioners and the final oral presentation. Students will further deepen their knowledge on a particular topic within the field by conducting a research paper in which they will need to provide insightful analysis making connections among historical and current policies, institutions, and governments.

The course focuses on international law applicable to the leading environmental and natural resource issues.  It provides a framework for identifying and addressing the legal issues, links international law with relevant national laws, and focuses on ways to strengthen compliance with international obligations.  The course covers climate change, ozone depletion, transboundary pollution and hazardous waste disposal, fresh water (both surface and ground water), marine resources, biodiversity, the links between human rights and environment and between environment and trade, and the financing of sustainable development.  Special attention is given to cutting edge issues, such as synthetic biology and ecocide as an international crime.

Learning goals for this course: To enable students to become effective counsel, litigators, negotiators, arbitrators, judges, or legal advisors on a broad range of international environmental problems; to understand international instrucments and negotiations; and to be able to apply legal concepts developed in the course within different national settings for implementing international law. 

This course examines the law, institutions, and advocacy strategies designed to protect international human rights.  We will analyze civil and political rights and economic and social rights, as well as international humanitarian law, and explore key enforcement mechanisms at the national, regional, and international levels. The evolving role of NGOs and civil society actors in advancing human rights, and the responsibility of corporations, will also be examined. Both progress and enduring challenges in making human rights real “on the ground” will be a focus of this course, together with the need for effective enactment of legal standards, enforcement of those standards, and empowerment of affected communities. Current legal issues and strategies concerning climate change and human rights will also be highlighted.  

This course provides an intensive survey of international human rights law and practice, with a principal focus on interpretation and implementation of human rights obligations, commitments, and norms in the practice of states. The course has three main components: in the first unit, we examine the development of the substantive law of human rights and its sources (including treaties, customary international law, and non-binding international instruments). In the second unit, we examine implementation of international human rights in the international, regional, and domestic systems, focusing on UN organs such as the Human Rights Council and treaty bodies as well as regional systems such as the European and Inter-American Courts of Human Rights.  Finally, in the third unit we look at the application of the substantive law and implementation mechanisms in the context of current issues in international human rights, including in the context of atrocities, and the refugee crisis. The course highlights selected contemporary ethical problems in international human rights law such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and torture; application of human rights obligations, commitments, and norms to non-state actors (including corporations); positive duties on states to protect individuals from abuses by non-state actors; universality of human rights and cultural relativism; and the need to protect human rights while countering terorism, including issues relevant to U.S. law and practice. Along the way we examine issues related to international immunities, impunity, human rights litigation under the U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Victim Protection Act, and international criminal tribunals. 

This course provides an intensive survey of modern international human rights law. Tracing the historical evolution of human rights norms, we will first explore look at how and they became a dominant feature of the post-World War II, post-colonial, and post-Cold War international orders. We will cover the doctrinal and institutional mechanisms of the modern human rights system, including the core treaties and international and regional bodies, with a particular focus on how courts, both international and domestic, can give human rights the force of law--or deprive them of it. We will examine how international human rights law defines specific rights (e.g., the right to life, the prohibition of torture, freedom of expression), struggles to overcome structural and historical biases (e.g., discrimination on the basis of sex, gender, or race), and adapts to different contexts (e.g., climate change, armed conflict, social media and surveillance). Throughout the course, we will study why states and businesses respect human rights, why they don't, and how lawyers, NGOs, and other actors can work to ensure that most human rights norms are honored most of the time. Our readings will draw from case law, treaties, academic works, legal briefs, and other sources that offer a real-world sense of how 21st Century human rights law is articulated, litigated, and adjudicated.

Learning Objectives:

• Strengthen legal research, writing, and editing.
• Draft brief and bench memorandum.
• Deliver oral argument.

This project practicum will provide an opportunity for students to be involved in two projects designed to further accountability for war crimes and other atrocities.

Most of the work will be on the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), which is a project established by the United States, European Union, and United Kingdom to assist the Ukraine Office of Prosecutor General (OPG) in investigating and prosecuting war crimes and atrocities committed during the conflict that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

A second project is the Innovation Council for International Justice (ICIJ), which is an initiative that will bring together experts from a wide variety of fields to analyze efforts to achieve accountability for war crimes and atrocities in order to draw lessons for innovative future approaches to this challenge. 

In the project portion of the course, students will be involved in activities with the ACA and the ICIJ that will give them a ground-level view of how institutions to provide accountability for atrocities operate in practice. These activities will enable them to acquire skills that go well beyond the typical law school experience, and may include:

(1) coordinating, developing agendas for, attending, and summarizing meetings involving ACA subject matter experts;

(2) helping organize visits to the US by Ukrainian prosecutors, investigators, and officials, as well as ACA events;

(3) working on initiatives requested by the OPG such as a victim and witness support protection and support program;

(4) supporting the collection of information on the Ukrainian population’s experience of the war and their conceptions of what would constitute accountability for harm; and

(5) conducting occasional research for the OPG.

The seminar portion of the course will:

(1) provide students with a solid understanding of how substantive international law attempts to ensure accountability for war crimes and other atrocities;

(2) give them an appreciation of the jurisdictional issues that arise in international criminal law and their implications for seeking justice;

(3) illuminate political and social challenges in creating mechanisms to seek justice for war crimes and atrocities;

(4) prompt consideration of the conceptual and jurisprudential issues involved in ascribing criminal liability to individuals who may have engaged in significantly different activities, through discussion of concepts such as command responsibility and joint criminal enterprise;

(5) invite reflection on ethical questions that arise in seeking accountability for war crimes and atrocities, such as potential tensions between obtaining an end to conflict and securing justice; the concept of a just peace; the extent to which political considerations should inform prosecutorial decisions; the appropriate role in prosecution decisions of local communities who have been harmed by atrocities; and the relative weight in prosecution decisions of considerations such as the gravity of an offense, strength of evidence, public attention, specific deterrence of allegedly culpable individuals, and general deterrence of future perpetrators.

In these ways, the practicum is designed to enable Georgetown law students to serve as leaders in the next generation of lawyers and policymakers devoted to seeking international justice.

This survey course introduces students to the nature, sources and institutions of international law and major developments in the contemporary international legal system. It considers such topics as treaties, executive agreements, customary international law and jus cogens; recognition of states and governments; the principle of self-determination; methods of international dispute resolution, especially before international courts including the ICJ and though international arbitration; domestic jurisdiction over disputes with international elements; international immunities; the role and operation of the United Nations and other international and regional entities, such as the EU and the OAS; International Human Rights Law; Law of the Sea; Law of Outer Space; Private International Law; how the international system protects (or fails to protect) the environment; International Criminal Law; the use of force in self-defense against other countries, rebellions, or terrorist groups, humanitarian intervention, etc.

Learning goals for this course:

Ability to analyze and interpret treaties, judgments and other international law instruments. Awareness of relationship between international and domestic law, how international law is made and applied, how domestic legal systems differ in their approach to international law.

This course is a broad introduction to public international law. Students will consider the nature of international law as law, sources of international law including customary international law, and the role of national and international tribunals in international dispute resolution. The course will also cover topics including the fundamentals of treaty law, statehood, recognition of states and governments, jurisdiction and immunity, state responsibility, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international environmental law, the law of the sea, and international commercial disputes. The course will touch on other relevant topics as time permits.

How does international law apply in domestic legal systems? When are treaties and customary international law binding in national courts? What are the rules and mechanisms of “incorporation”? Do judges have a responsibility to follow generally accepted rules of international law? This seminar offers students an opportunity to research, write and make presentations about specific issues related to the status of international law in domestic legal systems. The primary focus will be on the U.S. system, but a comparative approach is included and students are encouraged to investigate the treatment of international law in foreign legal systems that directly incorporate customary international law as well as those where international legal rules always require legislative enactment.

These issues arise in varying contexts, including civil and commercial litigation against foreign parties, suits against foreign states or international organizations, human rights litigation under the Alien Tort Statute and efforts to enforce the judgments of foreign courts.  We will also consider the impact of rulings by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, questions of sovereign immunity and Acts of State, when and how international law can be used to interpret domestic statutes, and how to prove foreign law in civil and commercial cases.  More broadly, we will be exploring whether domestic courts can or should act as "enforcers" of international law, whether domestic courts should be considered part of an emergent “global judiciary,” the importance of transnational cooperation between courts, etc.

This course is open to J.D. and LL.M. students and requires a paper and an oral presentation.

Learning goals for this course:

Ability to research, use, and write about topics at the intersections of international and domestic law; awareness of how different legal systems deal with relevant topics; ability to present orally and in writing.

This seminar examines efforts to reduce poverty in countries and problems of accountability in doing so, whether in international institutions, national institutions, or the private sector. Considers various approaches to accountability. Covers issues of compliance, good governance, human rights, corruption, environmental sustainability, and experience with various accountability mechanisms in international institutions. Includes two simulations in which students must address accountability issues.

Learning goals for this course: To understand the difficulties of reducing poverty within countries and the legal issues associated with bringing accountability to doing so. Students should be able to develop insights that can be applied in both the public and private sectors.

This course will explore the global fight against impunity -- specifically, as it pertains to curbing war crimes, human rights violations, grand corruption and looted antiquities -- through class discussions, lectures and guest speakers with personal experience in fighting the impunity that is so often associated with war crimes and economic crimes. It is based on the premise that those that are willing to slaughter thousands of innocents, are also willing to steal millions of dollars and loot our collective cultural heritage – and that the fight against impunity includes both war crimes and economic crimes (and often, the international trend to focus on the former, ignores the domestic interest in prosecuting the latter). Over the semester, students in a seminar-size class will be exposed to the basics of international criminal law, international human rights law and international economic crimes, as well how the fight against impunity impacts national security and foreign policy issues. The class will focus on issues related to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, as well as the recent global efforts to fight grand corruption and recover looted assets and antiquities, including UN Convention Against Corruption and the new UN-World Bank Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative. Students will be allowed to write a paper of their choice regarding international law and the fight against impunity. Class grades will be a combination between class participation (20%) and a seminar paper (80%). Required readings (cases, statutes, articles, book excerpts, on-line treaties, etc.) will be illuminated by lecture and discussion from a professor with first-hand experience in the global fight against impunity through his personal experience with the Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein and Omar al-Bashir matters, as well his background with the UN war crimes tribunal, the White House, the Pentagon, and the World Bank’s StAR Initiative, and helping recover stolen assets on behalf of various governments. In order to take advantage of Georgetown’s unique position in the intersection of law, politics, and international affairs, the course will feature high-profile guest speakers who will highlight their own personal efforts to fight impunity and how such international efforts impact national security and foreign policy matters.

This seminar seeks to develop skills and knowledge to participate in negotiations and in particular international business negotiations. Approximately a third of course time is devoted to the negotiating process and analysis of negotiation principles and dynamics. Another third is spent on the cultural, practical, legal and strategic elements of international business transactions. The balance is spent on a series of "mock" negotiations. Students, individually and in groups, experiment with different negotiating techniques and fact situations of increasing complexity. The course requirement is principally satisfied through preparation of a comprehensive negotiated agreement and follow-up memorandum. Heavy emphasis is placed on class participation, including the negotiations. The final negotiating problem requires substantial team work with others, including strategy, analysis, and preparation. Negotiations are carried on both inside and outside normal class time.

After introductory lectures on negotiation theory and practice, the seminar students will be divided into teams for a series of simulated negotiations covering government-to-government, government-private and transnational private negotiations.  Student performance in these negotiations and class discussions will comprise most of the course grade; no research paper or examination is required.

This course provides a detailed overview and analysis of the technique of project financing in an international environment (particularly in emerging markets). The focus is on the perspectives of the various parties to the project, including output purchasers, providers of goods and services, equity holders, and especially commercial banks, international financial institutions and other lenders. The aspects peculiar to infrastructure projects in specific industries (such as power generation, ports, toll roads, etc.) are also considered.

Learning objectives:

Achieve competency in understanding and analyzing international project finance transactions, from the perspective of the various parties to the project, including:

• Identify, understand and analyze project risks during development, construction and operational phases;
• Analyze transaction structuring and identify contractual and non-contractual risk mitigation and shifting methods for project parties;
• Apply basic finance and legal principles with respect to practical and contractual remedies, as well as dispute resolution mechanisms; and
• Consider specific case studies, as well as sample transaction documents, to better understand the issues that arise in a typical international project financing.

This course examines legal, business and policy issues that arise in international project financings, particularly in emerging markets, and analyzes how such transactions are structured and negotiated and related risks are allocated. We consider the typical roles played by parties to such transactions (equity sponsors, lenders, customers, suppliers and host governments), interests associated with such roles, and how competing interests tend to be reconciled. We will focus on how negotiated arrangements are embodied in and supported by typical transaction documentation such as project documents, financing documents and legal opinions. Coverage will include illustrative local law and political risk issues. Selected international investment transactions, both actual and hypothetical, will be used to illustrate recurring themes.

Course requirements include participation in a simulated international project loan negotiation with outside experts serving as clients.

Examines legal and financial aspects of foreign investment projects, especially in developing countries, from the perspective of the investor, lender and the host country. Legal issues related to the structuring of the foreign investment, the arrangement of the private and public financing, and the construction of a project are considered. A significant amount of time will be devoted to analysis of typical international project finance documentation, but the international and host country legal issues applicable to foreign investment, support from national and multinational agencies, noncommercial risk analysis and dispute resolution will also be considered and discussed.

This course deals with international protection of intellectual property through the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the WTO agreements which cover intellectual property: the TRIPS Agreement, The Paris Convention and the Berne Convention. The course will also cover the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Dispute Settlement Understanding, which are essential in enforcing these agreements.

The course examines in detail the relevant U.S. law and how the extraterritorial application of these laws effects international enforcement of intellectual property. These laws are Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 which prohibits the importation of articles into the United States which infringe U.S. patents, trademarks, or copyrights, and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 which allows retaliation against foreign countries which impose unjustifiable or unreasonable restrictions against U.S. commerce.

The main WTO cases in intellectual property will be read and analyzed. These will include the cases on Sections 337 and 301, which have limited the United States’ ability to unilaterally affect intellectual property law. Other cases will include the U.S. – Cuba Havana Club case, the Indian Pharmaceutical case, the Internet Gaming case, the U.S. Musical Copyright case, the European Geographical Indication (GI) case, the Canada Pharmaceutical patent case, and the China Intellectual Property Violation case. The course will study the Doha Agreement, which allows the compulsory licensing of pharmaceutical patents to fight pandemic diseases particularly HIV/AIDS. Finally, the course will review any significant changes in trade law or existing trade agreements, particularly as relates to intellectual property, that may occur under the Trump administration

This course is an introduction to the law and policy of U.S. taxation of U.S. and foreign persons engaged in cross-border activities. The course will address both how individual and corporate foreign taxpayers are taxed by the United States, and how U.S. individual and corporate taxpayers are taxed by the United States on income earned in or from other countries. Topics will include U.S. jurisdiction to tax, allocation of income, withholding taxes, the foreign tax credit, deferral, transfer pricing, and tax treaties. The course will also consider how the U.S. rules in these areas are influenced by developments in other countries. The goal of the course is to provide an overview of the relevant law and policy considerations, with a focus on specific issues that are presently contested as a policy matter. Students should leave the course with an understanding of the basic framework for U.S. international tax law and a sense of some of the policy debates surrounding the current rules.

This three-credit survey course is designed to introduce students to the legal system governing international economic transactions and international economic relations, with a focus on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its constituent treaty instruments. The primary objective of the course is to give the student an in-depth overview of the world trading system and some exposure to its particular details. The course will cover the basic principles and mechanisms of international trade law, including most-favored-nation (MFN) and national treatment, and relevant law in different substantive areas, including tariffs, quotas, services, intellectual property, trade remedies, and standards.  We will also examine the issue of development in the WTO and trade treaties and whether treaty obligations constrain countries’ policy autonomy and hinder their ability to pursue successful development strategies, as well as the tensions between trade liberalization and other values, such as those concerning the environment, health and safety, workers’ welfare, and human rights.

The course will also cover current trends and issues in international trade law.  The Uruguay Round established the WTO in 1994 as the premiere forum for negotiating multilateral trade agreements and adjudicating international trade disputes; however, the negotiation and adjudication functions of the WTO currently face significant challenges.  Globally, more than 300 regional or bilateral trade agreements have been negotiated, including the recent United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), with implications for both individual countries and the global trading system overall.  The course will include current developments at the WTO, bilateral and regional trade agreements (including U.S.-Europe and U.S.-Kenya negotiations and trade models in other parts of the world like China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the African Continental Free Trade Area), Brexit, and U.S. “trade wars” pursued on national security grounds.

This three-credit course introduces students to the legal and policy aspects of international trade and investment law, two pillars of international economic law that have developed dispute settlement systems. These two areas of law affect a broad array of national legislation, regulation, and administrative practice, as well as other areas of international law and policy, such as development, human rights, climate change, and other environmental issues. Both trade law and investment law have raised anxieties regarding their linkages, effects, and overlaps with non-economic issues. The United States, European Union, China, and many other countries have actively engaged in litigation and new negotiations in both fields of law. In international trade law, governments bring legal claims against each other for breaches of obligations, while private lawyers work with private commercial interests behind the scenes and often directly on behalf of governments. International investment law, in contrast, provides direct rights to private foreign investors to bring claims against governments. These disputes are proliferating and sometimes overlap with international trade law claims. In the past, the U.S. always sought protection for its investors in developing countries, but with shifts in the global economy, the U.S. increasingly became subject to such suits by foreign investors. This course will introduce students to both of these areas of international law practice.

This course will teach students the practical aspects involved in litigation of international trade and investment disputes. Its goal is to prepare students entering either private practice or government service to handle complex litigation in those fields. The course will provide a comparative analysis of the dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Investor-State arbitration. While it will focus on procedural issues and case management, the first sessions will provide an overview of the legal framework of the multilateral trading system and investment treaty law. It will identify and analyze each phase of the proceedings of WTO disputes (under the Dispute Settlement Understanding) and of investor-State arbitrations (mainly under the arbitration rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and Chapter Eleven of the North American Free Trade Agreement). Some of the topics that will be covered include: pre-trial preparation, formal initiation of a dispute, constitution of panels and tribunals, discretionary procedural issues, evidentiary issues, jurisdictional and other preliminary objections, written pleadings, conduct of hearings, use of witnesses and experts, awards and rulings, recourses, implementation and enforcement, and in general case management. The analysis and discussions in class will be based on treaty text, jurisprudence and the practical, hands-on experience of the professors. Guest-speakers – including practitioners, government officials, or staff from relevant international organizations – will be invited to a few sessions. Students will be expected to participate in class discussions and in simulations.

Economic interdependence between countries and across production chains has grown exponentially. Yet, today, economic globalization is under attack. In this context, existing rules on international trade, and negotiating fora to potentially change those rules, are key. This course focuses on the rules and institutions established under the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as selected regional trade agreements. What are the benefits and risks of trade liberalization from legal, economic and political perspectives? How can trade liberalization go hand in hand with pursuing public policy goals such as protecting the environment or labour standards ("non-trade concerns"), job creation or promoting the economic development of poor countries? The course will offer an in-depth, practical knowledge of substantive WTO law drawing heavily on case law from dispute settlement practice. It will address the basic principles of trade in goods and trade in services as well as more specific WTO agreements on, for example, health measures, subsidies, trade remedies and intellectual property rights. The course will also focus on the unique WTO mechanism for the settlement of trade disputes, and especially on how it balances trade liberalization with non-trade concerns as well as how it copes with increasing trade tensions between OECD countries and emerging economies like Brazil, China, India and Russia.

Examines international trade laws and regulations and World Trade Organization agreements affecting international trade, and the relationship of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 and other international agreements to U.S. law and practice. Considers, in detail, the U.S. antidumping, countervailing duty, safeguards (Section 201) laws and regulations and the WTO agreements that establish multinational standards applicable to the use of those remedies. Examines the WTO agreements on services, intellectual property, and technical barriers to trade. Examines the statutory remedies, particularly Section 301, that are available to address foreign restrictions on U.S. exports of goods, capital, services, and intellectual property. Analyzes the U.S.-China "trade war" and resulting tariffs and agreements.  Evaluates the role of Congress, the U.S. Trade Representative, and other U.S. agencies in setting trade policy and overseeing administration of the trade laws. Analyzes the WTO procedures for dispute resolution and key WTO panel and Appellate Body decisions. Reviews free trade agreements, including the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as well as bilateral investment treaties. The course includes a weekly discussion of current events affecting international trade law and regulation.

This course will examine the connection between trade law and development, including aspects of international and regional trade agreements, comparative law, and diverse areas of market regulation at the national level. Overall, the seminar will highlight the role of law and regulation as a driver for sustainable development and inclusive growth and link broader legal frameworks and policy debates with the needs of individuals and enterprises. It will engage students in ways in which economic law can help encourage sustainable and inclusive development and will assess challenges associated with legal and regulatory capacity and the uneven implementation of laws in practice. Cross-cutting and inter-disciplinary approaches in the field, such as socio-legal approaches, human rights, food security, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and gender and trade will also be discussed throughout the seminar.

The seminar will take place in three phases. In Phase I, the seminar will explore the historical and institutional relationship between trade and development, including World Trade Organization (WTO) disciplines, regional trade agreements (RTAs), and other relevant international legal frameworks.  Phase II will focus on different issues and will cover a number of substantive aspects of trade and development in depth, all of which impact stakeholders and communities and hold greater potential to contribute to the common good.  Specific areas of focus will include domestic market regulation and investment, non-tariff measures, regulation of services, trade facilitation, agriculture, labor and environment, intellectual property rights, gender, and digital trade.  Phase III of the course will consist of an in-class exercise to apply the theory and substantive legal approaches discussed in Parts I and II in the context to practical trade and development challenges. 

Readings will be drawn from a variety of viewpoints and sources – law review articles, white papers, academic journals, newspapers and magazines, and excerpts from books – and will cut across trade and economic law, inclusive economic development, and business.  The readings will highlight different aspects of the legal and regulatory environment in the context of encouraging sustainable and inclusive development globally and at the grassroots level. Discussion questions will be provided for each session, which can be used as the basis for class preparation

The course will also incorporate short, practical case studies that illustrate how different issues in trade, development, and economic regulation can be applied from the perspective of different stakeholders (entrepreneurs, countries, and communities).  Seminar members will be asked to assume roles in discussion of these case studies, which will count towards class participation and lay the groundwork for the final paper.  Questions to guide the case study analysis will also be provided. 

In addition to the readings assigned for each session, optional background readings will be included for students wishing to explore a topic in greater depth (additional background reading is recommended for students who have not taken a trade law course, but the course does not have any prerequisites). 

This course will cover the interface between the intellectual property rights, international trade and public health, focusing in particular on the WTO TRIPS Agreement and subsequent decisions, including on the Covid-19 vaccines waiver. It will provide an introduction to the provisions of WTO agreements relevant to public health (other than TRIPS), and to the law and economics relating to IPRs and public health; it will cover the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement relevant to public health, and discuss the relevant disputes settled in the WTO. It will examine the background, content and implications of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health and of the subsequent TRIPS amendment implementing compulsory licensing for exports. It will devote a session to Covid-19 and infectious disease pandemics. It will also discuss the relevance of bilateral or regional free trade area agreements to the subject.

The course would study relevant national/regional implementing legislation, for example on compulsory licenses, and discuss use of the WTO export compulsory license provisions. In addition to the final paper, students will be graded on class participation, individual presentations and group exercises. 

Finally, the course will also cover recent work on trade, intellectual property and public health in other intergovernmental organizations, in particular in the World Health Organization, including on-going negotiations of the pandemic treaty. 

Please see the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic website for more detailed information about the program.

For registration-specific supplemental materials, please see the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic PDF.

For information about clinic registration generally, please see the Clinic Registration Handbook.

This course provides an overview of major principles, theories, operational concerns, and public policy issues related to complex humanitarian emergencies. The course highlights selected contemporary crises, examining causes and consequences of these emergencies. Examples include Ukraine, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, Myanmar and others. A particular focus is the role of humanitarian issues in foreign policy and international relations.

This seminar addresses modern military weapons – their development, acquisition, proliferation, use, control, and elimination – considering a set of problems that will raise the most difficult security concerns for the United States and the rest of the world in the post-cold-war era. In the seminar, we will explore a wide range of weapons technologies--including nuclear, chemical, biological, and conventional armaments--and the political and legal mechanisms that constrain them. The seminar will address historical allegations concerning the dissemination and use of these weapons; the rise and fall of various strategic doctrines; the bureaucratic processes of government decision making; and the evaluation of relevant ethical considerations surrounding possession and use. The bulk of the seminar will focus on contemporary legal and political issues such as ongoing treaty negotiations, export controls, verification of compliance, enforcement of treaty commitments, and the dismantling of redundant weaponry. The seminar is particularly recommended for those interested in exploring careers in public international law, but will also be relevant to others interested in the role of the lawyer in influencing United States public policy more generally. Each student will prepare a substantial original research paper and participate in small exercises designed to provide some simulated experience in characteristic legal tasks, such as drafting, analyzing, briefing, etc.

This seminar examines both progress and ongoing challenges in seeking meaningful justice and accountability for serious international crimes, including crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes. We’ll begin with an overview of the challenges of effective atrocity prevention and an examination of fundamental developments over the last few decades establishing international and hybrid criminal tribunals and other mechanisms of transitional justice, including truth and reconciliation commissions. Building on this foundation, and drawing upon legal scholarship, social science research, and country case studies, we will then explore a range of responses to key justice challenges recurring in a number of countries emerging from conflict. These challenges include: (1) the often complicated relationship between peace processes and justice initiatives; (2) the question of whose justice goals are being pursued and how national, regional, and international stakeholders interact in such efforts; and (3) the complexities of building enduring justice on the ground through meaningful domestic rule of law reform, outreach, cultural engagement, and other means. Students will write a substantial seminar paper within the subject matter scope of the seminar.

Three decades after the end of the Cold War, authoritarianism remains a major political force across the world.  This seminar considers the relationship between authoritarianism and law.  It mixes theoretical works with historical and contemporary case studies, drawing on insights from social science, political philosophy, and law.  The course will address: the roles of constitutions, courts, lawyers, and legal activists in authoritarian societies; the growing use of digital technologies by autocratic governments; authoritarianism’s challenges to American and international law; and the relationship between law and democratic erosion.  This course is intended to be inviting to all students, and does not assume any specific knowledge of foreign legal systems.   

Surveys the law of armed conflict (LOAC) and customary international law as applied by the United States in warfare. From where does LOAC arise? What is a war crime – and who decides? What is “unnecessary suffering,” and what drives that legal determination? When does LOAC apply and what role do other rules of law, such as domestic U.S. law and International Human Rights Law play in regulating the conduct of armed conflict? Does it cover non-state actors? What are U.S. LOAC obligations, and how are they enforced? How does one distinguish illegal combatants from prisoners of war? Where do military commissions come from, and who may be tried by them? Could the atomic bombing of Nagasaki have been a war crime? Can a superior’s order constitute a defense to war crime charges? What is the U.S. position in regard to laser weapons? Land mines? Non-lethal weapons? Torture? Rendition? Reprisals? The assassination of enemy commanders? What is an illegal order, and what should a soldier do if she receives one? How may battlefield war crimes be prosecuted? Our inquiry will focus on the law applicable to the conduct of U.S. military operations in past and current conflicts, whether or not they be declared, whether they be internal or international. Although primarily focused on the law of land warfare, the law of air and naval warfare, as well as space and information warfare, will be considered.

Learning objectives:

To gain a firm understanding of the law of armed conflict and to consider, through discussion of practical exercise from the textbook, how the law is applied in an operational context.

In this interdisciplinary colloquium, leading national and international scholars in a range of domains will explore fundamental normative and policy problems of contemporary concern in health law. Topics will include health care, public health, global health, science, regulation, politics, ethics, and policy. The colloquium will have participants from across the Georgetown University campus among faculty, senior administration, and students, as well as participants in the Washington health policy and legislative community.

Each seminar session will focus on a presentation by, or structured dialogue with, distinguished guest speakers. Students from the Law Center and other schools within Georgetown University (including Nursing and Health Studies, Medicine, Arts and Sciences, Foreign Service, Business, and other graduate programs) will be expected to prepare for intensive discussions in which experts, faculty and students explore, analyze and deepen their understanding of issues selected for consideration each month. The colloquia will be open to other students and faculty members across Georgetown University as well as interested members of the public, particularly professionals working in health law and policy in Washington.

This course reviews the basic principles of international law related to the many exclusive and inclusive uses of ocean space, especially on those critical issues affecting U.S. national security. Students will develop a comprehensive understanding of the legal regimes governing the ocean, from internal waters and other coastal zones through the regimes of the high seas, and an overall appreciation for U.S. ocean law and policy, based on relevant principles of international and national law. Topics include navigation and overflight rights, living and non-living ocean resources, military and law-enforcement activities, protecting the marine environment, marine scientific research, the law of naval warfare, and the formal and informal processes for developing ocean policy and for resolving international disputes. Students will research and engage in class discussions on a number of problems involving national security issues and the use of ocean space, including resources on the continental shelf, maritime terrorism, military exercises, maritime transportation systems, at-sea trafficking in illicit drugs, piracy, weapons of mass destruction, collection of intelligence, and naval rules of engagement.

This course will examine the substantive, ethical, moral, procedural, and practical challenges of practicing national security law in the government. Government national security and foreign affairs lawyers have significant influence on operational and policy decision-making, but generally encounter fewer external checks and less oversight than lawyers in other areas. Because of threshold doctrines such as standing and political question, courts address national security legal questions relatively rarely. There are few timely, formal checks in the area of international law, which develops over time and by consensus and often lacks a direct enforcement mechanism. In addition, much of the subject matter about which national security lawyers provide advice is classified, which can limit the scrutiny of legal analysis by Congress, the press, and the public. Therefore, national security lawyers, who provide advice on what are often extremely high stakes and difficult legal issues, shoulder a great deal of responsibility to carry out their roles ethically and effectively.

The course will use case studies and hypotheticals to explore these important challenges. Students will discuss a variety of issues, including: the players and process of national security legal decision-making; flexibility, constraint, and accountability for the national security lawyer; the challenges in providing balanced advice; whether and when it is appropriate to “push the envelope” on legal advice; the impact of secrecy on legal advice and decision-making; the importance of transparency about national security legal advice and why it is so difficult; prosecution, litigation, and national security; the appropriate role of lawyers and the law in the national security policymaking process; lawyering when the law is not developed; and the challenges and responsibilities of lawyering during war and other national security crises.

Students will be graded on several short reaction papers and one longer final paper. Class discussion will also be considered in grading.

This course will provide students with an understanding of the current matrix of nuclear non-proliferation treaties, multilateral arrangements, laws, regulations, initiatives, proposals, and organizations that aim to halt the spread of nuclear weapons and prevent nuclear terrorism. The goal is to examine the full array of tools employed by the United States to address nuclear proliferation, as well as how the Executive Branch brings these tools to bear through the inter-agency process and its joint efforts with Congress and international partners.  Virtually every element of the nonproliferation toolbox was deployed to address the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, so considerable time will be spent examining these critical cases.  We will also examine how the nuclear programs of India and Iraq shook and ultimately altered the nonproliferation regime.  Throughout the course, we will consider nonproliferation efforts in the context of great power strategies, alliance obligations, and regional rivalries, on how these factors influence the decision-making of proliferating countries and countries seeking to prevent proliferation.  A continuing theme in the course will be the evolution of nonproliferation tools over time and the role of and lawyers in that evolution.

The objective of this 1 credit course is to introduce students to the relationship between international laws governing foreign investment and efforts to protect and promote human health.  The course will examine the extent to which bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and investment chapters in trade agreements limit domestic regulatory autonomy, particularly in the field of public health.
International investment law is comprised of over 3000 BITs, which govern the acceptance and treatment of foreign investment.  BITs impose various rules limiting the freedom of domestic policy-makers, including rules governing national treatment, most-favored-nation treatment (principles of non-discrimination), fair and equitable treatment, and expropriation. Foreign investors, including trans-national corporations, are increasingly using these rules to challenge domestic regulations such as public health measures.

The course will address:

1. the theoretical perspectives underlying the international law of investment and the concept of police powers (particularly the power to protect health);
2. the different types of legal tests used to determine the regulatory legitimacy of a measure as well as the impact of varying standards of proof on analysis of this type;
3. rules governing expropriation of property rights and the circumstances in which health and environmental health measures might be considered equivalent to expropriation;
4. rules governing fair and equitable treatment as used in determining the legitimacy of domestic regulatory measures;
5. rules governing non-discrimination and their potential impact on domestic health measures that are non-discriminatory in form;
6. rules governing arbitrary or discriminatory measures; and
7. procedural issues relating to the participation of civil society in the negotiation of investment treaties and the settlement of investment disputes.

There are no prerequisites for the course, although familiarity with international law or global health law is desirable.  The course is ideal for students in the Global Health Law LLM program or for other students wanting a course on international investment law.

This fieldwork practicum course, focusing on the interaction between international human rights law and reproductive health and rights.  The course will provide an overview of international reproductive health and rights, while affording students an opportunity to work in organizations that are addressing issues in the field in various ways.

As such, students participate in a two-hour weekly seminar and work for 10 hours/week for at least 11 weeks during the semester at an outside organization.

SEMINAR: The seminar will begin by providing an overview of international human rights law as it pertains to reproductive rights. The course will then focus on access to reproductive and sexual health from an international perspective, examining States’ obligations on a variety of issues, such as maternal mortality and coerced sterilization. Analyzing recent decisions emerging from regional and international human rights bodies, such as the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission and Court on Human Rights and the CEDAW Committee (UN Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women), the seminar component will provide a necessary foundation for the students to conduct their fieldwork.

Fieldwork: Students will be placed with organizations working in the area of reproductive rights. Most likely, the work will be conducted remotely, as several of these organizations are not based in the Washington D.C. area. The work conducted for this portion of the course will be supervised by the external organization

Some of the projects may include drafting amicus briefs for cases currently pending before international bodies, and drafting briefs assessing a particular State's compliance with human rights law regarding sexual and reproductive rights to be filed in front of UN bodies (shadow reports). Through these projects, students will learn how to conduct an analysis of existing legal and regulatory frameworks for sexual and reproductive health from a human rights perspective. By working with external civil society organizations, the course will give students the opportunity to develop practical projects using international human rights law to advocate for the advancement of reproductive health rights. In the past, external partners have included organizations working on women's rights issues, such as: the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, the Center for Reproductive Rights, Women’s Link Worldwide, Human Rights Watch (Women’s Rights Division), IPAS, the Women's Equality Center, and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, among others.

Whether they are representing couples in transnational adoptions or multinational enterprises in cross-border mergers, legal practitioners increasingly are expected to consult international and foreign legal materials. This course will familiarize students with the best tools for researching international law and the domestic law of jurisdictions outside the U.S., enabling them to approach these tasks with confidence, rather than trepidation. Students will learn how to efficiently locate multilateral and bilateral treaties, decisions issued by international tribunals, documentation produced by the United Nations and other international organizations, as well as legislation and case law from selected foreign jurisdictions, including the European Union. Tools for topical research in specialized fields, such as human rights, international trade, and investor-state arbitration, also will be covered. Students will refine their information-gathering skills through a series of in-class research exercises and take-home quizzes based on real world, practice-oriented scenarios. This course will be especially beneficial for journal editors, students participating in the Jessup International Moot Court competition and other international competitions, and for students interested in pursuing careers in international law or in practicing law outside their home jurisdiction.

Overview

While the globalization of private capital markets has generated important welfare gains, it has also been responsible for episodes of financial instability, often with devastating consequences. The Course will analyze the underlying causes of international financial crises and assess the efforts of policy makers to mitigate their impact. The Course will be interdisciplinary in nature, focusing on the legal, financial and economic dimensions of these crises and the relevant policy responses. Key lessons will be distilled from an in-depth analysis of the most important episodes, including the Latin American Debt Crisis, the Asian Financial Crisis, Argentina’s default in 2001 and the crises precipitated by the Great Recession of 2008, including the Eurozone Crisis. We will also conduct a simulation, with students playing the roles of the various policy makers seeking to contain and ultimately resolve the crisis.

The Course will analyze both the common patterns of the previous international financial crises and the extent to which they have differed. In that context, the Course will investigate how the dynamics of these crises have been driven both by the evolution of credit markets (including the transition from bank lending to bond issuance) and changes in the underlying legal framework that supports these markets. The Course will analyze the competing considerations faced by policy makers as they seek to mitigate the impact of a crisis – often with large scale financial assistance – without increasing the risk of future crises through the creation of excessive moral hazard. In that context, the Course will review in some detail the role played by the International Monetary Fund in managing these crises.      

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will have gained an understanding of how global financial markets have evolved over the past 40 years and how this evolution has both promoted welfare and created significant financial instability. They will learn how the relevant legal frameworks have interacted with this evolution to shape creditor incentives, with a focus on regulatory design, contractual provisions and litigation strategies. Through in-depth case studies, they will gain insight into how public policy makers have struggled to both contain the impact of these crises while, at the same time, introducing reforms to prevent them from recurring. In particular, they will gain an understanding of the legal, policy and governance framework of the IMF and the role it plays as a financial fire fighter. More generally, they will gain an understanding of the challenges faced by policy makers when addressing a systemic crisis, with a focus on the key actors, namely: (a) the governments of the countries experiencing the crisis, (b) private creditors and (c) the IMF. Existing and former officials will participate in a number of classes to share their own perspectives regarding the key lessons to be distilled from previous episodes.

This course offers students an opportunity to learn the definitions of “rule of law” and how to reform legal and judicial systems, including measuring the impact of those reforms. The field of rule of law reform is an expanding area of practice, be it focused on strengthening the concept of ‘Rule of Law’ and its indicators or to achieve certain economic, social and/or political goals.

The course begins by reviewing various definitions of what is meant by “rule of law”, recognizing that different institutions, governments, public and private sectors want to promote reforms to legal/judicial systems perhaps seeking the same end, but through different ways. The course uses a case study methodology, including specific sessions with U.S. and foreign judges and other rule of law practitioners active in reform efforts. Topics include: Democracy and the rule of law; Access to justice; Criminal justice and Criminal procedural reform; Court administration and Case management; Commercial court reform; Alternative dispute resolution (ADR); Judicial independence and Accountability; National security and Transitional justice; Indicators to measure the rule of law; and a discussion of the role played by legal actors in addressing corruption, both within and outside the legal system.

We will consider the rationale behind rule of law reforms by examining experiences around the world, including in the United States. We will see how reforms may target more competitive market economies, stronger law enforcement, gender equality or social justice. We will learn the impact of an increase in demand from users of justice systems who want improved services, not only “formal” justice users in courts, but informal justice services like paralegals and chieftaincy also. The course will also address the often overlapping or inconsistent agendas of donors, international organizations (e.g., United Nations, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, IMF, USAID, U.S. Military, among others) in the discussion and analysis.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the course. Students will have acquired an understanding of the various definitions of ‘rule of law’ and the factors leading to and preventing successful reform efforts.

At the end of the course, students will have acquired some understanding of the differences and similarities among international organizations and their approaches to Rule of Law to be able distinguish varying objectives (e.g. democracy promotion, economic development, human rights and social justice, anti-corruption and law enforcement).

At the end of the course, students will have acquired a vocabulary and understanding of overlapping (and even inconsistent agendas) to be able to identify the “drivers” of reform and provide inputs for the design or evaluation of Rule of Law reform efforts.

International tax treaties determine why hedge funds are located where they are, how motion pictures are financed, whether the dispatch of employees abroad is economical, and why financial assets follow prescribed international paths. They determine why Netherlands and Luxembourg have a large positive balance of trade with the United States, and why recording studios are established in the Caribbean. They determine whether bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein are really secret. While tax treaties ostensibly are only about dividing up tax bases between countries and exchanging information between sovereigns, in reality they channel the flow of investment and development in the global economy.

This course assumes that students have some familiarity with basic tax treaty concepts and examines how provisions of the OECD Model Treaty and the United States Model Treaty are used by tax practitioners to achieve specific business objectives. Students will acquire an understanding of how treaty provisions help shape economic and financial decisions in different industries and economic sectors. The course uses examples drawn from actual practice to illustrate the creative use of tax treaty provisions. It is designed to be an interactive experience, with students working on case studies, discussing alternative approaches, and using different jurisdictions and changes in the form of the underlying transaction to achieve desirable tax results.

Learning objectives:

This course is intended to teach the concepts underlying the United States Model Tax Treaty and the OECD Model Tax Treaty. By the end of the course, students are expected to understand how tax treaties are organized and be able to apply the model tax treaties to factual situations in which the tax treaties are applicable.

At the same time, the course is intended to challenge the student to be aware of the ethical challenges and risks of practice in the area of international taxation. More and more, tax authorities are not only looking to penalize a taxpayer for improper tax planning, but also the tax advisor who recommended the course of action followed by the taxpayer. By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to understand where the borders of ethical behavior are when developing international tax structures and to be able to analyze risks to the clients and themselves when working in this area.

Finally, the course is intended to reinforce principles of close reading and attention to the specific wording used in the tax treaties and cases interpreting the tax treaties. By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to read and understand why specific words are used in tax treaties and the significance of these words.

This is a basic tax treaty course. It will cover fundamental tax treaty concepts such as residency, permanent establishment, business profits, limitation on benefits, and relief from double taxation (including operation of the U.S. foreign tax credit rules). There will be an overview of treaty provisions that apply to investment income and income from the performance of services. In addition, students will learn about the interaction of tax treaties with U.S. domestic tax law, the role of international organizations in interpreting tax treaties, procedures for resolving tax treaty disputes through the competent authority process, and strategies for researching tax treaties. This course is designed for students with little or no background in tax treaties. However, students will be expected to have a basic understanding of the U.S. tax rules that apply to foreign persons who receive income from the United States and U.S. persons who receive income from abroad. The course will be based primarily on the United States Model Income Tax Convention, together with selected case law and administrative authority. We will also look at selected provisions of the OECD Model Tax Convention.

This course will explore the political economy, governance, and legal regulation of global technology platform giants. After providing an introduction to the structure and operation of technology platforms, it will consider case studies from different parts of the globe that spotlight a range of current legal and policy problems, including, among others: content governance (including both content removal and content provision); privacy and data protection; internet access and digital inclusion; competition, consumer protection, and worker protection issues created by and within platform ecosystems; and platform entanglements with geopolitical and state security concerns.

The IMF is an institution that is well known, but perhaps less well understood. The course will analyze the IMF’s legal and institutional framework and assess the role that it has played in shaping the evolution of international financial and monetary law since its establishment over 70 years ago.  The course will be interdisciplinary in nature, focusing on the legal, financial, economic, and governance aspects of this influential – and often controversial – institution.

The IMF is unique among international organizations in terms of the breadth of its powers: regulatory, financial and advisory. With respect to its regulatory authority, the course will analyze the IMF’s role in overseeing the fixed exchange rate system that was established in 1945 and assess how the IMF’s jurisdiction in this area has evolved since the collapse of that system in 1971. Regarding its financial powers, the Course will review the legal and policy dimensions of IMF conditionality and assess the IMF’s often controversial role as a “financial fire fighter”, drawing lessons from the role it played in a number of financial crises, including the Latin American Debt Crisis, the Asian Financial Crisis and the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. With respect to its advisory powers, the course will analyze how the IMF has developed “soft law” in its assessment of the adequacy of policies in a broad range of areas, including bank regulation, fiscal transparency and corporate insolvency. Finally, the Course will review the IMF’s governance structure and, in that context, analyze the challenges it faces to its own legitimacy as it seeks to adjust its voting system to take into account important shifts in relative economic power among its member countries. The release of internal staff papers and Executive Board minutes under the IMF’s transparency policy will enable students to gain a unique understanding of the complexity of the decision-making process within this institution.  

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have gained an in-depth understanding of the IMF’s regulatory and financial powers, as well as its governance structure. They will also have gained insight into the role the IMF has played in shaping international monetary and financial law in an environment where there has been an increasing unwillingness of countries to surrender sovereignty in this area through substantive treaty obligations. In this context, they will learn about the role that alternative legal frameworks have been played in this area, including procedural law, soft law and private law.  A key objective will be for the students to gain an understanding of how the views regarding the nature of the IMF’s legal authority can be seen as a microcosm of evolving attitudes towards the pooling of national sovereignty. The students’ knowledge of these issues will be enhanced by a close study of internal IMF staff papers, which will enable them to obtain a unique understanding of how legal, financial and economic issues are integrated during the IMF-decision making process. Moreover, through an in-depth analysis of a number of systemic financial crisis, students will gain an appreciation of the competing considerations - and constraints - faced by policy makers in a crisis context. This appreciation will be enhanced by occasional presentations provided by present and former IMF officials who played a lead role during the crises that will be studied.

As the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) plays a central role in the development of international law and the peaceful settlement of international disputes.  When it was established, it was the only international judicial tribunal in the UN system and (for most purposes) the only international court for the settlement of inter-state disputes.  Over time, its authoritative decisions (judgments, advisory opinions, provisional measures orders) have addressed (and established the rules in) many fundamental areas of public international law.  The substantive content of the ICJ’s jurisprudence is now extensive. Collectively, its decisions form an essential part of the still-evolving structure of international law.  

In introductory international law courses, however, most students gain (at best) only a superficial understanding of the Court and its organization, procedures and substantive jurisprudence.  Few textbooks or treatises offer more than excerpts or summaries of what their authors consider the ICJ’s most important decisions. Moreover, the emergence of other international tribunals (for instance those associated with regional organizations or with specific areas such as human rights or international criminal law, as well as other specialized bodies) has expanded the corpus of authoritative decisional law in the international law field.

Nonetheless, the ICJ remains the pre-eminent judicial actor in the development of key areas of public international law.  The Court’s decisions (and the principles on which they are based) are frequently invoked in other disputes, in international negotiations, and in academic writing.  They continue to play a critical role in helping the international community settle its disputes on the basis of law.  States continue to look to the Court to maintain the rule of law in the most critical circumstances.  In February 2022, for instance, Ukraine initiated proceedings against the Russian Federation challenging the latter’s claims that genocide had occurred in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine, seeking to establish that Russia had no lawful basis to take military action against it on the basis of those false claims, and asking the Court to issue “provisional measures” to preserve Ukraine’s rights and to compel Russia to halt all military actions in Ukraine.

Learning Outcomes:

1. The goals of the seminar are both substantive and experiential: (i) to acquaint you with the structure, jurisdiction, procedure, and jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, including its evolving role in the international legal community, (ii) to provide you the opportunity to research and master a specific legal issue of your choosing, and (iii) to give you experience in writing about (and presenting) your chosen topic and conclusions at an advanced level.
2. To provide helpful background and tools to use in dealing with questions of international law as they arise in whatever area you eventually practice in, as well as an appreciation of how to deal with decisions, judgments and conclusions of international judicial tribunals in general, in order to provide you a better understanding of the evolving nature and function of law in the global society.
3. To develop your ability to think critically about a particular problem, to engage in focused, sustained, in-depth research involving a range of domestic, foreign and international legal materials, to engage in complex legal analysis, to advance your knowledge relevant to the paper topic including possible problem-solving alternatives, and to advocate effectively for a particular thesis or solution.
4. To help you sharpen your ability to write clearly, concisely and thoughtfully about complex issues and to practice and refine oral advocacy and public speaking skills through in-class presentations on your research topics make an effective oral presentation about the problem you have chosen to consider and the solution you propose to offer.

Successful management of globalization has emerged as the central challenge of our time. Globalization has been blamed for many of our social and economic problems from inequality to stagnant growth. The international regulatory failures exposed by the financial crisis of 2008-2009 have called into question not only the regulatory framework for financial stability, but also the entire framework of international norms and institutions known as Bretton Woods that have been the pillars of global economic regulation. The accompanying collapse in public trust in government experts and private elites has complicated efforts to address these challenges. Populist candidates have swept elections, particularly in the US and UK, based on platforms to reverse the course of international integration. Meanwhile, China and Russia have doubled down on leaders that embrace a return to state controlled economies and traditional notions of regional hegemony. Are we at an historical turning point characterized by GLEXIT – the abandonment of globalization – or will these challenges lead to a Globalization 2.0?

The purpose of this seminar is to look at the role of international economic law in managing globalization, both in terms of extracting the benefits and in addressing the consequences, particularly those negative effects that have fed the backlash. The focus of the seminar will be on the central regulatory regimes governing international economic activity: trade, monetary, investment, finance, competition, tax, sovereign debt and corruption. We will examine the fundamental character and role of legal norms, regulatory systems and international institutions in a world characterized by interdependence and conflict.

This is a research seminar in which the initial eight weekly classes will present a survey of regulatory regimes designed to give students a framework for what have historically been somewhat distinct “silos” but which each illustrate the recurring tensions between fragmentation and coherence. We invite student involvement in the specific topics in the field on which we focus. Each student will be asked to provide short papers responding to the readings for each of the initial sessions. Students will be expected to write a research paper on a relevant topic under the guidance of one of the professors and to make a short presentation to the class during the last third of the course. In their research paper, students will be expected to identify a contemporary, global economic regulatory issue and propose solutions drawing on insights from the seminar (and their broader studies) to analyze the problem, propose and defend possible solutions.

The seminar will be taught by professors with a wide range of experience in academia, private practice and government service. Distinguished outside experts will also be called upon to address particular topics within this framework. 

A number of broad themes will be developed to help unravel the complexity of global regulation:

• What is the role of legal norms in creating efficient and sustainable global markets? Do some problems lend themselves to different types of norms (e.g. soft versus hard law)? What about governance, the formality of legal norms (and institutions) and the role of national sovereignty and subsidiarity?
• Why do the different global economic regulatory regimes look so different? Why has trade evolved with an advanced set of norms, dispute settlement and enforcement?
• How have crises and systemic failures contributed to the development of legal regimes? Do crises lead to sustainable and effective regulatory regimes?
• What role does trust play in the character of legal regimes? Can international economic law be viewed as the objectification of trust? How can trust be sustained when global issues engage citizenry across the most diverse context imaginable?

This course examines how societies address widespread atrocities and serious crimes, e.g., crimes against humanity, genocide, human rights violations, and other abuses, through transitional justice mechanisms.  These violations often occur in conflict situations, but also can arise through repression, particularly of marginalized groups.  Broadly defined, transitional justice mechanisms are processes that provide acknowledgment, recompense and solace to victims through various accountability measures, with a long-term goal of reconciliation and/or an acknowledgement of the abuses and the adoption of measures to address the victims and steps to prevent the recurrence of the abuses/violations. The mechanisms are labeled “transitional” because they are typically implemented during or following atrocities and widespread abuses. In this regard, the crimes committed are of a scale that the judicial system, by itself, is unable to address.  The abuses require a broader and different approach. The focus in transitional justice processes is both on victims and on accountability measures that address the society as a whole. Transitional justice mechanisms can include the criminal justice system (e.g., international, national, local), as well as other non-legal approaches to justice and accountability, including truth-telling processes, reparations, reforms, memorialization. In particular, we will examine approaches to abuses and atrocities through a gender lens as well as a specific consideration of children and marginalized groups (e.g., racial, indigenous groups). In some cases, amnesties have been utilized (controversially in, e.g., South Africa). We will critically examine the underlying issues of how peace processes and transitional justice interact and support each other – and in some cases are not productive or fail.

Learning Objectives:  The course has multiple objectives; these include:

• Understanding how transitional justice mechanisms work in practice and how they may support victims and also lead to reforms that target human rights abuses on a societal scale. Examining some of the 40+ transitional justice processes that have occurred and the methods that have been employed. We will evaluate the efficacy of these processes. Ultimately, do these processes move the society to adopt and ensure human rights standards are protected/enforced?
• Understanding consultation processes that are engaged for societal input, particularly among marginalized groups, as a means of determining what process and/or mechanisms, e.g., truth commissions, prosecutions, reparations, reforms, memorialization, will be adopted and adapted to the country.  There will be, in some cases, proposals of the use of amnesties (e.g., South Africa) or innovative approaches, e.g., the Colombian Special Jurisdiction for Peace.
• Examining implementation problems and roadblocks/difficulties/challenges regarding the role of truth commissions or truth-seeking processes, the adoption of reparations, reforms and various criminal justice approaches (see below).
• Assessing strategies for working with victims and affected communities to address the violations that they have suffered. In this regard, memorials that recognize abuses, discrimination or the struggle for justice for victims and recall the violations, which may support memory and stand as markers to prior violations – how important are these efforts? 
• Finally, assessing the role of transitional justice in the United States, given the deep fissures in American society, what relevance do these experiences, both in a range of countries, but also in the United States, e.g., the Truth Commission in Greensboro, North Carolina.

This course focuses on transnational legal problems.  Transnational legal problems are problems that involve citizens of more than one country or involve activities that take place or have effects in more than one country.  Transnational legal problem-solving skills are important not only for lawyers working in the fields of human rights, international business, international dispute resolution and other distinctly “international” areas of practice.  They also are important for lawyers that do not have an international focus, because transnational legal problems frequently arise in diverse areas of law thought to be “domestic”—such as family law, environmental law, product liability litigation, civil rights litigation, criminal law, corporate law, and others.

Course Goals

The primary goal of this course is to give you an opportunity to learn how to analyze and advise clients on three fundamental issues that surround virtually any transnational legal problem:

• What is the applicable law?  National law?  If so, U.S. law or foreign law?  International law?  Private rules?
• What transnational dispute resolution methods are available and most appropriate?  Litigation in a national court?  If so, a U.S. court or a foreign court?  An international court?  Through alternative dispute resolution methods, like arbitration?
• How can the outcome of a transnational dispute resolution process be enforced?

Another goal of the course is to provide a foundation for students wishing to pursue advanced study of international, transnational law or comparative law, including international litigation, international arbitration, international trade, international investment, human rights, or international business transactions.

In our increasingly globalized world, litigation frequently transcends state or national borders.  Transnational litigation implicates the three main topics addressed by the field of Conflict of Laws (also known as Private International Law):  Jurisdiction/choice of forum; choice of law; and enforcement of foreign judgments.  This course focuses on how U.S. courts resolve these issues (although some attention will be paid to how other countries address them).  Special attention will be devoted to the extraterritorial application of US law and to conflict of laws issues that arise in transnational litigation involving Business & Human Rights. 

Understanding and dealing with U.S. export control and sanction laws have become increasingly important skills for lawyers advising clients who compete in the global economy, including manufacturers, service enterprises, financial institutions, and companies licensing their technology abroad. This course surveys the federal laws and implementing regulations governing the export and re-export of goods, services, technology and software from the United States or by persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction, the extraterritorial reach of re-export controls, prosecution strategies, restrictions on dealings with or in sanctioned countries, prohibitions against dealing with blacklisted parties, and other sanctions that apply to non-U.S. companies and individuals. We also will examine the policies underlying these rules, which are designed to address ever-changing and developing threats to the United States, including Russian aggression in the Ukraine, the nuclear threat posed by Iran, civil war in Syria, missile development in North Korea, and conventional military tensions between the United States and China.

The course is designed to impart the practical skill sets and strategies you will need to use and understand the complex regulatory regimes underpinning U.S. export controls and sanctions, and to communicate effectively with the relevant government actors.  The applicable laws include statutes such as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Trading with the Enemy Act, Arms Export Control Act, the Export Control Reform Act, and regulations issued by federal agencies such as the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and State.  Our study of these rules will include review of case law, agency guidance and prior government enforcement actions.

The course also will focus on the enforcement environment, including the trend of ever-increasing fines, the use of extradition, and imprisonment. We will discuss defense strategies and the potential for global settlements with the Departments of Justice, State, Treasury, and Commerce.

Finally, the course will emphasize developing the working knowledge necessary for hands-on practice and problem-solving in this field. In addition, the course will provide skills sets to assess proposed legislation and regulations in depth, as well as advocacy skills related to legislation and rulemaking.

Understanding and dealing with U.S. export control and sanction laws and regulations have become increasingly important skills for lawyers advising clients who compete in the global economy, including manufacturers, service enterprises, financial institutions, and companies licensing their technology abroad. This course provides an in-depth survey of the federal laws and implementing regulations governing the export and re-export of goods, services, technology and software from the United States or by persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction, the extraterritorial reach of re-export controls, restrictions on dealings with or in sanctioned countries, prohibitions against dealing with blacklisted parties, and other sanctions. 

The course is designed to impart the hands-on, practical skill sets needed by those who wish to practice in the increasingly in-demand area of export controls and sanctions compliance, including the skills needed to use and understand the various complex laws and regulations systems that implement U.S. export controls and sanctions, such as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Trading with the Enemy Act, the Arms Export Control Act, and the Export Control Reform Act, as well as regulations issued by various federal agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and State. 

This course also will provide the skill sets necessary to communicate effectively with licensing agencies, how to approach foundational determinations of agency jurisdiction and classification, and how these issues affect direct investment in the United States as regulated by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Time permitting, the course also will focus on the civil and criminal enforcement environment, including the trends of ever-increasing fines and global settlements with the Departments of Justice, State, Treasury, and Commerce. 

Concentrates on the U.S. taxation of foreign persons and foreign investments in the United States. The course covers the U.S. taxation of passive and business income of nonresident aliens and foreign corporations, the source rules, the principles and application of U.S. tax treaties, special rules governing foreign investment in U.S. real estate and other business, cross border financing transactions, the base erosion and anti-abuse tax, and tax planning possibilities involved in the foregoing.

Objectives and Overview

Addressing corruption has become a global priority. The growing number of high profile cases involving the abuse of public power for private gain has generated moral outrage, particularly at a time of rising inequality.  Moreover, there is an emerging consensus that systemic corruption not only undermines a country’s economic performance but can also lead to political instability and armed conflict. The Course will examine the societal impact of public sector corruption and the efficacy of the criminal, regulatory and administrative steps that are being taken to address it, both at the national level and international levels.  The Course will be interdisciplinary, focusing on the legal, political, economic and institutional dimensions of this highly complex problem.       

Finding a universally accepted understanding of what we mean by “corruption” can prove elusive, and the course will begin by examining how lawyers and social scientists have approached this question. The course will then identify the environments that typically enable corruption to flourish, including natural resource economies and countries that are in economic and political transition. It will also assess the debilitating impact that corruption has on overall economic performance, inequality, poverty, political stability and national security.

Taking into account the above considerations, the course will identify the key ingredients of an effective anti-corruption strategy, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach that includes not only effective criminalization and prosecution but also comprehensive regulatory and administrative reform.  While legal obligations and best practices have been established at the international level that include many of these ingredients, evidence indicates that meaningful change only takes place when domestic conditions for reform are in place, which are often precipitated by a crisis. In that context, the course will include case studies of reform based, inter alia, on the experience of the IMF, focusing on the anti-corruption program implemented by Indonesia.  Importantly, the course will also assess international efforts to address both the “supply” side of corruption (the provision of bribes to public officials by large corporations) and the problem of “concealment” (when banks in major jurisdictions assist in the laundering of the proceeds of corruption of foreign officials).  These issues will be addressed through a close study of the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention and the 40 Recommendations on Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting of the Financing of the Financial Action Task Force. Corruption within the political system will also be examined, including explicit bribery of politicians, conflicts of interests, and private financing of political campaigns (sometimes referred to as “legalized corruption”). Finally, the course will assess the merits of proposals to establish an International Court on Corruption.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have gained an understanding of those crimes that the international community does (and does not) generally accept as constituting corruption - and why there continues to be a debate on this important definitional question. They will also gain insight into the political and economic circumstances that most typically give rise to corruption and the debilitating impact that this problem can have on society. In terms of the design and implementation of an anti-corruption strategy, students will learn about the key elements of the most relevant anti-corruption conventions and international best practices, including the UN Convention Against Corruption. They will have sufficient knowledge to discuss in depth both the efficacy and limitations of these instruments, taking into account the importance of the domestic political environment.  Students’ understanding of these issues will be enhanced by in-depth case studies of corruption reform efforts, including in the context of IMF-supported programs. To that end, students will have an opportunity to discuss with IMF staff past and ongoing cases of reform.

The law of work is an increasingly important aspect of the global economy. Knowledge of this subject is useful in representing companies, unions, employees, governments and non-governmental organizations. Themes developed in the course also are central to understanding the relationship between law and globalization more broadly. We will study hard and soft law in the various forms in which it operates trans-nationally, including domestic law with foreign effects; public and private international law, such as human rights and trade law; and private codes of corporate social responsibility. The International Labor Organization (ILO), which is a touchstone in the course, is an especially interesting institutional case study: It is the world’s oldest international organization, with 180 member countries giving it near-universal representativeness, and its inclusion of governing roles for civil society groups – unions and employer associations – makes it unique among international institutions. Attention will be given to subordination of documented and undocumented migrants, women, and child laborers.

The course analyzes the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its agreements, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and the substance and status of negotiations to amend the agreements. It concentrates on the coverage of the agreements, based on their text and interpretive guidance from key dispute settlement decisions. The course also reviews the relevant economic, policy and legal aspects of the international trading system.