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2009 Course Descriptions Comparative Federalism Today twenty-four states consider themselves as federal states. Forty-five percent of the world population lives within a federal system. In many different parts of the world, federalism has become an important institutional concept for peaceful management of ethnic conflicts (cf. among others Iraq, Sudan, Congo and Sri Lanka), and some unitary states such as Spain and Italy have already important federal institutions. In the European Union, federalism is considered by many scholars as the only institutional tool to strengthen the Union and to deepen its democratic legitimacy. This course will examine federalism as it exists in the United States and in Europe, with an eye toward understanding the federal form of government more generally. The first term of the course will provide an introduction to American federalism, focusing on concepts of enumerated governmental powers, the role of courts vis-é-vis "political" safeguards of federalism, the entrenchment of federal structures in constitutional law, and the impact of federalism on a nation's foreign affairs and relation to international law. The second term, shifts focus to federalism in Europe and elsewhere, with an emphasis on the diverse forms that federalism may take, the importance of fiscal arrangements, federalism's role in mitigating ethnic and religious conflicts, and problems of secession. Students following this course should be able to analyze a specific federal system, to distinguish unitary states or confederations of sovereign member states, to develop concepts for federal institutions and to have first perceptions with regard to the constitution-making process for new federations developing either out from a unitary system (Canada, Belgium) or from an alliance of sovereign states (USA or European Union). International Criminal Law: Human Rights & Terrorism This course will introduce students to issues of the origin, definition, and application of transnational principles in the interrelated fields of collective security, human rights protection, and enforcement of norms. The first term will cover the following topics: collective security, self-defense and terrorism; international humanitarian law and terrorism; international human rights law and terrorism; international criminal law and terrorism; and the (non-existing) definition of terrorism in international law. During the second term, the class will discuss five specific cases that raise issues of terrorism and mechanisms of prosecution and punishment of alleged terrorist activity. These cases will be drawn from the domestic courts of two countries, ad hoc international tribunals, and permanent international tribunals. International Law on Trade & Environment Does trade, and by extension economic growth, harm the environment? Or rather is a certain level of economic development, including liberalized trade, required for successfully protecting the scarce resources of our planet? How does international economic law interact with international environmental law? Are they two sealed-off, silo-type compartments or rather branches of the same international law tree that closely interact? To what extent must nations cooperate to address common environmental problems and when should they get the right to unilaterally protect the environment including through the use of trade sanctions? This course offers a basic background to the institutions and legal rules in the sphere of international trade and investment law, on the one hand, and international environmental law, on the other. The course will examine more closely the interaction between trade and environment through a series of case studies. Participants will examine, in particular, a number of trade disputes that raised environmental questions (such as the Tuna Dolphin and Shrimp Turtle disputes brought against the United States, and the GMO case filed against the EC) as well as investor-state arbitration awards that pit environmental protection against the rights of foreign investors (such as the Metalclad and Methanex disputes under NAFTA Chapter 11). Besides actual cases or disputes, this course also addresses wider policy debates and ongoing negotiations including post-Kyoto negotiations to address climate change and ongoing WTO negotiations on liberalizing trade in environmental goods and services. International Taxation This course is an introduction to international taxation of business transactions. After a brief explanation of basic income tax concepts, the principal rules of the United States taxation system relating to international business will be reviewed. The course will then focus on how the United States' rules interact with taxation systems in other countries, exploring the concepts of source of income and residence of the taxpayer, and their role in the U.S. tax rules relating to international trade. The second term of the course will focus on bilateral tax treaties as a means of promoting cross-border investments and international trade through the avoidance of international double taxation. The OECD model treaty will be examined as an illustration, in particular in view of understanding its mechanism and the interaction between double tax treaties and domestic regulations. The course will also give an overview on the indirect taxation issues linked to international transactions and hence explain the mechanism of VAT-based tax systems in an international context. Introduction to American Law This course will provide a broad introduction to key elements of U.S. law. The first term will begin with some brief historical information about the legal system of the United States and will also present an overview of the structure and jurisdiction of the federal and state courts. The remainder and larger portion of the first term will start with some discussion of common-law methods of statutory construction and then move on to an examination in detail of a sequence of products liability cases in order to acquaint the student with the techniques of case analysis and give the student an understanding of how the common law changes and develops over time. The second term of the course will provide an introduction to the protection of individual rights under the American Constitution. Topics addressed will include the First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of religion and the fundamental rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process and Equal Protection clauses. Law & Corruption The first term of this course will focus on the law governing the political side of corruption and will cover comparative criminal laws designed to limit political corruption, civil law provisions for public enforcement of corruption law (like qui tam actions), and international anti-bribery statutes. The course will examine, for example, the BAE contract case, the British governments' response, and how the case might have played out in different countries. Significant time will be spent comparing the civil law and common law remedies for official corruption. Because corruption cases uniquely implicate the independence of the judiciary, the course will also examine the comparative role of prosecutor and judges in different European countries and the United States. The second term of the course will focus on the private law governing corruption — enforceability of contracts, damages, skimming-off the profits of corruption, different corrupt schemes (the use of intermediaries, consultancy contracts, etc.). Reference will be made to case law, for instance to the recent Siemens scandal. One class will be devoted to corruption in arbitration. |
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