Dear all,

I am currently in my final year LLB in Bristol, I am interested in taking public international law LLM, I am thinking of taking inter trade, inter environmental law and inter arbitration. The only thing is that I did not take inter law in my LLB and some say it would be quite difficult to do LLM without no inter law background.. I just want to hear some others opinion, is it necessary to have at least some background knowledge in doing the above subjects?

At the end Int'l is not so diffent from other fields of law (eg.: private law), but it is important to have a general perspective of international law sources, subjects, rationale and institutions..... You can do this by yourself, i'd sugest reading a book on int'l law, Bownlies Principles in International Law is a must, although very thoretical.... maybe Martin Dixons textbook on int'l law is a good second choice.... also i would sugest for you to do some case study on basic ICJ, WTO and ICSID judments, opinions and decisions.... Finally remember that trade law requires for some (medium/ advanced) knowledge on economic institutions and theory!!!

hope u do well

best regards

Jarimy,

I agree with Villy J.D. as regards to his first point that the study of international law is not that different from private law. But, (and this is a big but I must add) it is very important to realise that when you are dealing with international law (I'm thinking of public international law specifically), the actors which constitute the international "society" are states and a lot of the principles that one takes from granted in the study of domestic law, don't apply.

Therefore, it is my strong opinion, that to undertake the study of international law, one must also be quite ready to engage in the study of the underlying political system and the implications of such a system on the laws that govern it.

With regards to materials: firstly Brownlie's book is NOT that often deemed theoretical, but rather technical, i.e. Brownlie takes a very pragmatist-positivist point of view to the study of public international law, which is communicated only by inference. However, it is a great book to start any kind of research as it is widely accepted as stating "the black-letter of the law" as it is.

I would recommend that you get your hands on a copy of Malcolm Evans's "International Law" 2nd ed., (2006) (OUP), which in my view is a brilliant introductory text to the field as it not only covers the traditional areas of the law, but provides a good introduction to areas such as int'l theory, sources, sovereingty, etc.

If you want to concentrate on international trade you need to think what kind aspect of trade are you interested in. If its the financing of the transactions, then you should be concentrating on domestic laws, and perhaps conflict of laws courses. But if you are interested in the working of trade organisations such as the WTO or the NAFTA regime then basic knowledge of public international law, and the law of international organisations, and treaties is essential.

Let me know if you have any further questions with regards to the study of PIL, I'd be more than happy to try to help.

Have a nice weekend,

Paavo

Dear all,

I am currently in my final year LLB in Bristol, I am interested in taking public international law LLM, I am thinking of taking inter trade, inter environmental law and inter arbitration. The only thing is that I did not take inter law in my LLB and some say it would be quite difficult to do LLM without no inter law background.. I just want to hear some others opinion, is it necessary to have at least some background knowledge in doing the above subjects?