Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2011.
| Credit Points: | 12.50 |
| Level: | 7 (Graduate/Postgraduate) |
| Dates & Locations: | This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011: August, Parkville - Taught on campus. | Pre-teaching Period Start | not applicable | | Teaching Period | not applicable | | Assessment Period End | not applicable | | Last date to Self-Enrol | not applicable | | Census Date | not applicable | | Last date to Withdraw without fail | not applicable |
Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here. |
| Time Commitment: | Contact Hours: The total class time is between 24 and 26 hours.
Total Time Commitment: Not available |
| Prerequisites: | Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject. |
| Corequisites: | Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject. |
| Recommended Background Knowledge: | Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject. |
| Non Allowed Subjects: | Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject. |
| Core Participation Requirements: | Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject. |
| Subject Overview: |
Principal topics will include:
- An assessment of the historical method within international law and why this is necessary
- If, or why, the historical method has been avoided or marginalised
- What, generally, is the modus operandi of international lawyers in their treatment of historical questions and considerations
- Underpinnings of the concept of the freedom of the oceans (in Mare Liberum (1609)), and its connections to imperial trade and commerce
- Function of religion in the history of international law, as exemplified in the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), and continuing impact of these modalities (such as the Lateran Treaty of 1929)
- International law and its response to slavery and to the slave trade as reflected in national jurisprudence (e.g. case of the Antelope (1825) before the United States Supreme Court)
- Colonisation and conquest
- False promise of the League of Nations (1919)
- Concepts of self-determination and independence as depicted in the Battle of Algiers (1965)
- The gender of international law, as foretold through its fundamental values (jus cogens) (1969).
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| Objectives: |
A student who has successfully completed this subject should:
- Possess a comprehensive understanding of the history (or histories) of international law, together with the significance of imperialism in the design and working of that law
- Have a firm understanding of why it is that the (sovereign) state has come to occupy such a monopolistic role in law and its discourse
- Be able to demonstrate critical thinking on the subject of international law
- Utilise the past and its precedents for informing present modalities of thinking and problem-solving
- Be able to account for evolutions in the concept of the universality of international law
- Be able to account for how considerations of race and gender have shaped international law thinking in the past and now
- Appreciate the true significance and limitations of international institutions
- Be able to reflect on the virtues of interdisciplinary discourse ranging from history and literature to anthropology and psychology.
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| Assessment: | Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject. |
| Prescribed Texts: | Core subject materials will be provided free of charge to all students. Some subjects require further texts to be purchased. Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject. |
| Breadth Options: | This subject is not available as a breadth subject. |
| Fees Information: | Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date |