Boston College Law School

Curriculum

international law program

The basic course in International Law uses problem exercises and simulations to demystify public international law. A companion course in Foreign Relations Law of the U.S. treats the Constitutional dimensions of treaty power, war power, and operation of international law as the law of the U.S. International Legal Research responds to the increasingly wide array of research opportunities in this area. Courses in International Environmental Law and National Security Law, taken as advanced courses in international law or as a free-standing treatment of these specialized subject matter areas, round out the basic public international law curriculum.

Students may study private transnational business activity in the International Business Transactions course. International Trade Law focuses on the public international law of inter-state economic relations, emphasizing the role of the World Trade Organization in shaping global policy. Specialized courses in Globalization and International Aspects of U.S. Income Taxation are taught by full-time faculty. BC Law also offers specialized courses on international transactions taught by highly respected practitioners, many of whom are alumni. Recently these areas have included International Arbitration, Transnational Mergers, International Project Finance, and International Banking and Finance.

BC Law has focused particular efforts and resources in the area of human rights. The Human Rights course explores various conceptions of the human rights ideal and closely examines the institutions that monitor and enforce human rights law, while offering students compelling opportunities to work on real cases. Basic and advanced courses in U.S. Immigration Law and a year-long Immigration and Asylum Clinic are vehicles for translating international principles of human rights into domestic action. The course on the Law of War, War Crimes and Genocide, taught by a former U.S. Department of Justice official, explores the model of international criminal prosecution for war crimes against humanity.

Whether for business planning, law reform, or the international harmonization of commercial law, the comparative approach to legal analysis has much to teach U.S. lawyers as we interact with foreign law and policy in the globalized world. The cornerstone of the field, the basic course in Comparative Law, introduces students to the civil law system, its institutions and doctrines, and the unique problems which arise from transplanting legal systems into developing countries. Insights into both foreign law and our own legal system are provided by comparative study of European Union law, a supranational organization that sometimes acts like an international organization and at others like an emerging federal state. The course in English Legal History draws on faculty interest and expertise in this area. Courses in comparative Constitutional Law, African Law and Development, and advanced topics in European Union Law round out the curriculum in this important field.

International Law Program Home
Dean's Message
Mission Statement
Clinical Programs & Study Abroad
Co-Curricular Programs & Student Orgs
Summer Opportunities
International Scholars Program
Law and Justice in the Americas Program
Faculty Active in International Law