General provisions

Determined on Janury 14, 2005 by the Teaching Committee of the Faculty of Law, Uppsala University, by virtue of Chapter 2 Section 6 of the Statute of Higher Education (högskolelagen) and Chapter 6 Section 7 of the Decree for Higher Education (högskoleförordningen).

Course organisation:

"International justice" is a postgraduate course at the doctoral level offered jointly by the Departments of Peace and Conflict Research, Government and Law. Its administrative base is in the Department of Law for practical reasons.

The course is taught by Cecilia Albin, Professor of Peace and Conflict Research; Mats Lundström, Reader ('Docent') in Government; and Inger Österdahl, Professor of International Law.

The course runs over 5 weeks. corresponding to 5 Swedish points.

The course is taught in Swedish if all students master this language. Otherwise it is taught in English throughout.

Entry requirements

The target group for the course are research (PhD) students and students at the D-level, especially from those Departments at Uppsala University which collaborate within the framework of the so called Gamla Torget-cooperation.

Aims

The course has three major aims:

– to place theories of justice in an international context, and examine their relevance in this context. What can justice really entail on the international stage?

– to examine the extent to which conceptions of justice influence the behaviour of important international actors, and the identity of these actors. Who are the relevant legal entities? Is it the state, the people, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the individual, the environment, and/or others? In legal terms, the aim here is to examine the impact of international law in practical politics.

– to enhance students' understanding of the interplay between theory, law and actors – conceptually as well as practically.

The departure point of the course is that conceptions of justice are not only of theoretical interest, but also play a practical role in international politics. Solutions to international problems must usually be considered just in order to be accepted by the concerned parties and, if and when formally accepted, to be implemented. Current international problem areas with an essential justice dimension include among others the global environment, trade, the use of force, the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and legal proceedings against individuals in international courts. Conceptions of justice can also influence critical policy choices; for instance, a decision to go to war or not, and a decision to terminate a war or not. Moreover, the EU is today often described as an area of freedom, security and justice.

Content

This is a cross-disciplinary course comprised of three areas: theories of international justice in moral philosophy, conceptions of justice in international law, and conceptions of justice held by actors in international politics (how these affect the behaviour of actors and with what results).

The course contents can be illustrated using three concentric circles: The widest circle represents theories of justice, the next to widest circle represents international law, and the smallest circle represents the perspective of political actors. Alternatively the contents can be described in terms of three levels where theoretical perspectives are found on the upper level, legal perspectives in the middle and, at the bottom, closest to reality, perspectives of political actors.

Political practice is obviously of significance for international law, and ultimately for theories of justice as well. Thus there is a movement of normative influence between the various levels, from the lowest to the highest. As a consequence a circle including all three perspectives may best illustrate the relationship between the different course components.

Instruction

The course is offered every academic year on a full-time basis. It consists of two parts: lectures and essay-writing.

In the first part lectures and seminars are held and in the second part, each student writes an essay of approximately 20 pages. In preparation for the seminars, the students will be required to prepare short reports of 3-5 pages, on their reading of the course literature. A panel debate on a current international problem will conclude this part of the course.

The essay must combine at least two of the course's three perspectives. The second part of the course concludes with seminar debates (so-called "oppositionsseminarier").

Attendance at all teaching sessions is compulsory.

Assessment

The examination is based on student participation in the seminar discussions, the reports on readings, and the essay. For those who have been given permission to finish the course after the first five weeks (five points), the examination is based on participation in the seminar discussions and the reports on readings.

The grades given are Fail, U, and the passing grades are, G and VG.