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International Dispute Settlement (LAWS90022)

Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Online

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Overview

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June - Online
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This subject introduces the techniques and institutions used to manage and resolve international disputes, focusing on both diplomatic (negotiation, mediation, inquiry, and conciliation) and legal (arbitration and judicial settlement) methods. Students will explore historical and topical examples to analyse when, how, and with what effect states, corporations, and individuals have resorted to different forms of international adjudication or arbitration to settle disputes, and consider the extent to which powerful states such as China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US have embraced international dispute settlement. The subject analyses key issues that have arisen in cases across various substantive areas of international law, including decolonisation, investment, trade, climate change, human rights, nuclear testing, the law of the sea, the use of force, and territorial sovereignty. Students will become familiar with different dispute settlement bodies and mechanisms, including the International Court of Justice, investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms, the dispute settlement systems established by the World Trade Organization and the UN Law of the Sea Convention, and international human rights courts and tribunals. The subject concludes by examining and identifying emergent trends in, and challenges to, international dispute settlement.

Principal topics include:

  • The broad historical and political context of international dispute settlement
  • The international obligation to settle disputes by peaceful means
  • The role of diplomatic procedures, such as negotiation, mediation, and conciliation
  • The International Court of Justice, including issues involving state consent to jurisdiction, reservations to the optional clause, the evaluation of scientific evidence, and the Court's advisory jurisdiction
  • Investor-state dispute settlement, including issues relating to jurisdiction, the use of precedent, and the recognition and enforcement of awards
  • WTO dispute resolution procedures and the challenges facing the Appellate Body
  • Dispute settlement under the UN Law of the Sea Convention
  • International human rights courts and tribunals
  • Backlash against and reform of international dispute settlement mechanisms

Intended learning outcomes

A student who has successfully completed this subject should be able to:



  • Identify, analyse, and critically reflect on the diplomatic and legal forms of international dispute settlement
  • Understand the processes and principles by which international courts and tribunals are created, and the typical procedural rules by which they operate
  • Identify and analyse key cases of the International Court of Justice, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the World Trade Organization Appellate Body, and the dispute settlement mechanisms established by the Law of the Sea Convention
  • Identify and analyse treaties that are central to this field, including the statutes establishing relevant courts and tribunals, bilateral investment treaties, and treaties on enforcement of international arbitral awards
  • Evaluate the utility, legitimacy, and effectiveness of different dispute settlement mechanisms and the changes that are taking place in this field.

Last updated: 31 January 2024