Professor Susan Tiefenbrun

This course is an introduction to the laws of international trade and finance. Students consider the problems of conducting business in the global community. The approach is primarily transactional and combines the legal theory and practice of doing international business. Topics include the formation of agreements required for the international trading of goods, such as the documentary sale, the letter of credit, the contract of sale and the consequences of wars and other frustrations of contract, the bill of lading and a sale without a letter of credit. Students will study the regulation of international business by import and export controls, tariffs and non-tariff barriers, and customs classification and valuation. The transfer of technology by means of franchising and licensing agreements leads to a discussion of the pirating of intellectual property. Students will study the legal framework for establishing a foreign direct investment abroad or a joint venture. Other topics include the resolution of international disputes by trial or international arbitration, the role of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the WTO, TRIPS, NAFTA and the European Union in regulating international business. Doing business in France and Europe will be discussed. This course focuses on the cultural differences that influence the establishment of international business ventures.

Comparative Family Law: Love, Marriage and the Regulation of Intimate Relationships (2 credits)

Professor Julie Greenberg

The modern family structure is in the process of undergoing dramatic change. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged that 'demographic changes . . . make it difficult to speak of an average American family.' This statement applies with even greater force to family structures in Europe. This course examines state and federal regulation of intimate relationships in the United States and compares these approaches to recent developments in Europe. Specific topics may include: marriage regulations including same-sex, polygamy, and incest restrictions; alternative family structures including cohabitation arrangements and domestic partnerships; creation of family relationships via assisted reproductive technology and international adoptions; constitutional protection of the family under the right to privacy; and regulation of the parent/child relationship under U.S. and international law.

International Criminal Law (2 credits)

Professor Linda Keller

This course will encompass current events such as the war in Iraq, enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, torture and extraordinary rendition, and the pending cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC) such as the situation in Darfur, Sudan. Emphasizing a public international law perspective, this course explores the growing efforts to enforce international criminal justice and humanitarian norms through an international criminal law regime. It traces the development of international criminal justice from Nuremberg to the first permanent international criminal law tribunal, the ICC. It examines the ICC's immediate precursors, the two ad hoc war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, as well as recent hybrid tribunals in Sierra Leone. It will cover international crimes such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression.

Global Workplace Law (2 credits)

Professor Susan Bisom-Rapp

Globalization has transformed the way we think about the workplace, creating opportunities that have helped millions while presenting worldwide challenges that require coordinated and creative solutions. With the forces of globalization as a backdrop, and international human rights and trade law as possible correctives, this course examines international and comparative workplace law and practice. The course highlights international labor standards promulgated by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and considers the effects on labor market regulation of supranational structures like the European Union (EU) and regional trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Within an international law framework, a number of workplace trends are considered including increasing income inequality, the decline of labor unions, the problems of migrant workers, the dramatic rise in the number of women in the paid labor force, and efforts to eliminate forced and child labor. Using international standards as an analytical lens, the course then compares workplace law in two countries important to the global economy: the United States and France. The course concludes by assessing the potential for achieving global labor standards through corporate self-regulation, such as the Codes of Conduct adopted by many American transnational corporations (TNCs), and cutting edge legal efforts to enforce international labor rights in American courts.