View Specification DocumentInternational Dispute Settlement LAW4217
- Academic Session: 2026-27
- School: School of Law
- Credits: 20
- Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
- Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
- Available to Visiting Students: Yes
- Collaborative Online International Learning: No
- Curriculum For Life: No
Short Description
This course is intended to offer a practical, 'hands-on' introduction to the burgeoning field of international litigation in public international law. Its focus is on topics that cut across dispute settlement regimes, such as the treatment of evidence, strategic aspects of litigation, the enforcement of decisions. It is intended that this course will equip students to critically reflect on the benefits and problems of international litigation. The course builds on the expertise of Glasgow-based members of staff, many of whom have built a reputation in the field. Together with the existing LLM courses such as 'International Courts and Tribunals', this course will reflect Glasgow's status as a hub for the study of international courts and tribunals.
Timetable
10 2-hour seminars throughout the semester
Requirements of Entry
LLB students and visiting law students.
Excluded Courses
None.
Co-requisites
None.
Assessment
Students will be required to write one 2,000 word essay which will account for 25% of the final mark for the course, and one 3,000-word essay, which will account for 75% of the final mark.
Course Aims
1. To provide students with an understanding of the main fora for international litigation, their strengths and benefits.
2. To enable students critically to reflect on the potential and risks of international litigation in public international law.
3. To familiarise students with the challenges to be confronted in processes of litigation before international for a in the broader context of the pacific settlement of disputes.
4. To expose students to practitioner and academic approaches to the study of international litigation.
5. To deepen the knowledge of students interested in international law by exposing them to both theoretical and practical aspects of litigation before international courts and tribunals.
6. To encourage a critical and reflective approach to the operation of different dispute settlement fora, and the role of legal dispute settlement in the international legal order.
To prepare students interested in pursuing a career in international legal practice by introducing them to some of the main features and challenges of international dispute resolution.
Intended Learning Outcomes of Course
By the end of this course students will be:
■ able to assess the role of international courts and tribunals as fora for international litigation.
■ equipped critically to engage in debates about the legitimacy of international litigation before international courts and tribunals.
■ in a position to advise potential litigants about the risks and benefits of engaging in international litigation.
■ conversant in the most recent and most important developments and debates in the settlement of international disputes before international courts and tribunals.
■ able to engage in scholarship and in practice with a range of cross-cutting procedural and substantive legal concepts that arise in the context of international litigation.