International Law / Area Studies 1
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International Law / Area Studies 1 LAW 1529 v00 China and International Law (http:// INTERNATIONAL LAW / AREA curriculum.law.georgetown.edu/course-search/?keyword=LAW %201529%20v00) STUDIES J.D. Seminar (cross-listed) | 2-3 credit hours Over the past forty years, China has gone from one of the most isolated This is a listing of selected courses which focus on the domestic legal countries in the world to a major player in international affairs, a leading systems of foreign countries and specific regions. exporter, and a much more influential voice on regional security matters. Yet even with the rapid economic growth and increased influence that Search International Law Area Studies Courses (http:// China has achieved over the past several decades, it maintains an curriculum.law.georgetown.edu/course-search/?cluster=cluster_58) ambivalent attitude towards many key aspects of international law and the architecture of global order. This class will explore China’s ambivalent LAW 030 v00 Asian Law and Policy Studies Seminar (http:// engagement with international law in the context of its increasing curriculum.law.georgetown.edu/course-search/?keyword=LAW prominence as an emerging power, and will in particular look to address %20030%20v00) the question of how China might adapt to the existing world order, and J.D. Seminar (cross-listed) | 3 credit hours the ways in which it might look to influence its evolution. The class This is a research seminar in which students will present their current will cover a range of issues, including China’s membership in the WTO; research on Asian law and policy at the end of seminar classes where its engagement with the international human rights regime; China’s we consider the various areas of law and development which have led approach to international cooperation on issues like global warming and to the economic dynamism of the Asia-Pacific region. The impact of the nuclear non-proliferation; and international law aspects of the dispute Asia-Pacific region on the world market and global economic activity over the South China Sea; among others. is substantial and continues to grow. In addition, the conspicuous success and some spectacular failures of Asian nations in legal and Learning Objectives: economic development have prompted suggestions that the experience of these nations may provide models (both positive and negative) for This class will provide you with a solid understanding of China’s other developing countries and regions. The seminar will explore--in approach to key international law issues, and also a sense of the connection with the role of law and legal institutions--the interaction Chinese government’s views on international law and international legal of social change, economic growth, and legal development in East and institutions more generally. By the end of the semester, you should have a Southeast Asia. Specific topics will depend on the research interests of sense of how China fits into the existing global legal order, and the ways the participants, but will include capital formation, financial regulation, in which it is seeking to influence or even alter it. In-class discussions will transnational trade and investment, intellectual property, land reform, also bring out the ways in which other states have sought to influence environmental protection, worker protection, human rights, and similar Chinese behavior, which will give you a sense of how and when relatively private and public law issues. The first few classes will introduce powerful states like China can be convinced to alter their approach to key elements of development economics relevant to law and development. international law issues. Each student will also prepare a substantial academic work of For students who have not previously taken a class on public publishable quality and present a 20-30 minute precis of it to the seminar. international law, this course will serve as a basic introduction to key The student papers are expected to meet or preferably to exceed the concepts of international law (although the readings will focus very requirements of the typical research paper in scope, depth, and quality. heavily on the Chinese approach, rather than the underlying law itself); Guest speakers may present some classes separately or together with for those who have taken prior international law courses, this course will the instructor. serve as a useful refresher. Recommended: Comparative Law (or the equivalent Comparative Law: A core goal of the class is to understand international law from the Legal Systems in Transition) or any course in Asian law. perspective of the Chinese state. In other words, students will develop a sense of why China makes the choices it does on key international law issues, and what values and political and historical dynamics drive its decision-making. In so doing, students will gain insight into a different political-legal culture, and seek to understand how different political-legal systems – including non-democratic ones like China – come to grips with legal questions in ways that may differ markedly from the approach of the U.S. government. At the same time, having taken steps to articulate China’s perspective, students may be able to see more clearly the values and political and historical factors that drive American decisions on key international law issues. Finally, a core goal of the response papers – above and beyond demonstrating an understanding of the substance of the readings – will be to give students the chance to build their skills at analyzing legal arguments, and in building their own written arguments in response to them. As noted below, response papers will be graded both on the basis of demonstrated mastery of the material, and also on the basis of the successful construction of a persuasive and fact-based argument. Recommended: International Law I: Introduction to International Law. Note: This seminar requires a paper. Students must register for the 3 credit section of the seminar if they wish to write a paper fulfilling the Upperclass Legal Writing Requirement. The paper requirements of the 2 credit section will not fulfill the Upperclass Legal Writing Requirement. 2 International Law / Area Studies LAW 1546 v00 Chinese Legal System (http:// LAW 254 v02 Japan/US Comparative Legal Study (http:// curriculum.law.georgetown.edu/course-search/?keyword=LAW curriculum.law.georgetown.edu/course-search/?keyword=LAW %201546%20v00) %20254%20v02) J.D. Course (cross-listed) | 3 credit hours LL.M Seminar (cross-listed) | 1 credit hour This course aims to provide an overview of the legal system of the This course provides a comparison of aspects of the Japanese and People's Republic of China. The focus will be more on institutions US legal systems with the objectives of (a) providing some insight into than on specific rules, because finding the rules is much simpler than the Japanese system, (b) demonstrating how legal concepts taken understanding their institutional context. We will, however, look at from an established legal system are "reinterpreted" when imported specific pieces of legislation as we go along. into a different legal system based on a different culture and history and (c) providing a basic understanding of selected Japanese legal China's legal system exists together with its political, economic, and topics. Among the substantive law areas which will be compared social structures, and cannot be understood in isolation from them. Thus, (after a survey of historical and societal foundations which affect the part of this course is necessarily about understanding modern China in Japanese and US legal systems) are various aspects of Constitutional general, not just its legal system. By the time the course is over, I hope Law including Separation of Powers, the Legal System and the Japanese that students will have an understanding of the environment within which Constitutional provision Renouncing War; the differing views of dispute Chinese law operates, and will be able to appreciate the differences resolution including Litigation, mediation and other Alternative Dispute between the way rules operate in the United States and the way they Resolution devises and their role in the legal systems of Japan and operate in China as well as the reasons for those differences. Although the US; discussion of the New (1998) Code of Civil Procedure and this course, as a survey course, does not specifically address issues of its potential effects on the future of litigation in Japan; the changing legal aspects of doing business in China (that is another course), it is a environment of the study and practice of law in Japan, including the highly recommended preparation for such a course, and it is intended to 2001 recommendations of the Council on Judicial Reform; Equality be useful to anyone contemplating a legal career involving China. and concepts of equal treatment opportunity; Criminal Law and Administrative Law. Mutually Excluded Courses: Students may not receive credit for both this course and Chinese Law Seminar. Note: WEEK ONE COURSE. This seminar will meet for one week only on the following days: Monday, January 8, 2018 through Friday, January 12, LAW 807 v00 Cross-Border Transactions in Latin America (http:// 2018, 6:00 p.m. - 8:35 p.m. curriculum.law.georgetown.edu/course-search/?keyword=LAW %20807%20v00) This course is mandatory pass/fail and will not count toward the 7 LL.M Seminar (cross-listed) | 1 credit hour credit pass/fail limit for J.D. students. Attendance at all class sessions The course is designed to give students an overview and practical insight is mandatory and all enrolled students must attend the first class in on the legal aspects of doing business with or investing in Latin America. order to remain enrolled. Students on the wait list must attend the The course will focus on Mexico, but will also address legal issues first class in order to be admitted off the wait list.