part of oxford law faculty – a major centre for the study of international law for over 400 years
There are numerous taught postgraduate courses that examine areas of public international law. In order to help decide, it is useful to read the degree descriptions on the appropriate websites.
For example, while the BCL, MJur and MLF degrees are designed to be highly intensive full-time courses, the Masters in International Human Rights Law is offered as a part-time course. Examine the links below to decide which would be the more appropriate option for you.
There are also PIL courses offered through progammes not directly linked to the Law Faculty such as the Oxford University Foreign Service Programme or the MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Such programmes may well contain PIL elements though that may not be the whole focus of the programme.
Below you can find a list of the graduate courses offered by the Law Faculty in PIL subjects.
Also included are links to the other programmes that also provide PIL-related subjects as part of their offering.
Please also see the Public International Law page on the main Oxford Law Faculty site for other information about these courses.
The right to equality is ubiquitous in human rights instruments in jurisdictions throughout the world. Yet the meaning of equality and non-discrimination are contested. Is equality formal or substantive, and if the latter, what does substantive equality entail? Which groups should be protected from discrimination and how do we decide? How do we capture conceptualisations of equality in legal terms and when should equality give way to other priorities, such as conflicting freedoms or cost? The aim of this course is examine these and other key issues through the prism of comparative law. Given the growing exchange of ideas across different jurisdictions, the comparative technique is a valuable analytic tool to illuminate this field. At the same time, the course pays attention to the importance of social, legal and historical context to the development of legal concepts and their impact.
The first half of the course approaches the subject thematically, while the second half of the course addresses individual grounds, ending with a consideration of remedial structures. Theory is integrated throughout the course, and the relationship between grounds of discrimination and other human rights is explored. The course will be predominantly based on materials from the US, Canada, South Africa, India, the UK, EU, and ECHR, although some materials from other Commonwealth countries or individual European countries will be included. International human rights instruments are also examined. Employment related discrimination is generally dealt with in the International and European Employment Law course. The course does not require previous knowledge of equality or discrimination law.
The course involves a study of human rights drawing on legal materials primarily (though not exclusively) from the United Kingdom, the United States, the Commonwealth and Europe. The course considers the meaning of particular human rights and their significance in theory and in practice, and the approaches taken by the legal institutions designed to protect them at the national and European regional levels, including those of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Union. A number of specific substantive issues (most notably, freedom of speech and protection from discrimination) are studied in depth to illustrate the complex interplay between theory, legal concepts and procedure, and between legal and non-legal sources of protection.
This course will look at the development of human rights principles in relation to the criminal justice system, looking in detail at the interaction between human rights discourse and the theory and practice of criminal justice. The focus will be upon the European Convention of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998, in relation to the criminal justice system of England and Wales, but further comparative material from other jurisdictions will be drawn upon where relevant. After beginning with a critical look at human rights discourse, the course will adopt the method of detail – taking a number of discrete topics and examining each of them in terms of the theoretical underpinnings of the particular right, the human rights reasoning adopted by the courts, and the implications for criminal justice policy. Among the rights thus examined will be the privilege against self-incrimination, the right to privacy in relation to surveillance, and the protection of personal liberty with respect to imprisonment. The course will end by drawing out specific themes relating to human rights and anti-terrorist measures, and more generally the interface between human rights and security concerns.
The process of European integration has entailed a transfer of foreign relations powers from the Member States to the European Union (EU) that does not follow the lines of any other legal development. It is different from the experience of federal States, in so far as the devolution of foreign relations powers is only partial, and it has certainly not entailed the disappearance of the Member States as international legal persons. On the other hand, the quantity and the quality of the functions exercised by the EU on the international plane, and its capacity to develop its own course of foreign relations, makes it an entity with few, if any, traces of resemblance with other existing international organisations.
The course deals with questions at the intersection of European law, public international law, and international relations. It looks both to the inside, giving an overview of the foreign relations law of the EU, and to the outside, examining the legal framework in which the EU acts on the international plane. Looking at some of the core areas of international law, the course examines the problems of and prospects for a supra-national actor in a legal system which is still largely dominated by States. The ultimate question to be explored: Is international law adapting to a new actor or must the EU assume statehood to be a full actor in international law?
The course covers the following topics: the foreign relations law of the EU, the relationship between international law and European law, treaty relations of the EU and its member States (mixed agreements), the EU as a creator of customary international law, the EU as a member of international organizations and a party before international tribunals, international relations and diplomatic powers of the EU, promotion and enforcement of international law by the EU (sanctions, human rights, standards of democratic governance), the transatlantic divide between the EU and the US on matters of international law, violations of international law by the EU and its member States and their international responsibility.
The course is directed at graduates with an interest both in international law and European law. Basic knowledge of these subjects is an advantage. Students without such knowledge will be directed to basic reading in these fields.
The course on International Dispute Settlement is concerned with the peaceful settlement of disputes involving the application of international law, including inter-State disputes, and disputes between States and individuals or corporations.
One part of the course is concerned with the study of a range of institutions concerned with dispute settlement such as arbitral tribunals, the International Court of Justice, and more specialised bodies such as the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, the World Trade Organisation, and other institutions handling economic and political disputes. The institutions selected for study vary from year to year.
The second part of the course provides an outline of the principles of procedural law that operate in international tribunals, including international commercial arbitration tribunals. This part of the course involves the study of issues such as jurisdiction and admissibility, the determination of law governing procedure and the law governing the merits of a case, remedies, the recognition and enforcement of judgments and awards, and the review of judgments and awards.
This course introduces students to the main principles and institutions of international economic law. It focuses primarily on the institutions and substantive law of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In addition to introducing participants to the major legal disciplines under the GATT/WTO and the basic principles and cores concepts of the GATT/WTO (Base on in-depth study of the relevant GATT/WTO case law), the course considers the underlying philosophy of free trade and a number of the controversies concerning the future evolution of the WTO and its relationship to globalisation, regionalism, and the attempt by States to achieve other policy objectives (such as protection of the environment). No prior knowledge of international law or economics is necessary. Students without such knowledge will be directed to basic reading in these fields.
This course will examine the international law issues which arise in relation to armed conflicts. The course covers the law relating to whether States may use force, the law that applies during armed conflicts, as well as other legal problems that arise with regard to armed conflicts. One of the themes running through the course will be how international law regulates cross-border conflicts involving non-State actors. The course will be divided, broadly speaking, into two parts. Part one will consider the international legal issues relating to whether and when States are entitled to use armed force. In this part of the course, we will examine the content of the prohibition of the use of force contained in the UN Charter as well as the exceptions to that prohibition. In particular, we will examine the scope of self-defence in international law, (especially as it applies to attacks by non-State groups). Questions to be considered include the criteria for a lawful response in self-defence and the legality of anticipatory/preemptive self defence. This part of the course will also consider other possible exceptions to the prohibition of the use of force - such as the doctrine of humanitarian intervention or responsibility to protect. The last section of the first part of the course will examine the powers of the United Nations to authorize the use of force for peacekeeping and peace enforcement.
The second part of the course examines the law that applies during an armed conflict. We will address the distinction between the law applicable to international armed conflicts and that applicable to non-international armed conflicts. We also consider the extent to the which the so called “Global War on Terror: should be considered an armed conflict to which international humanitarian law applies. In this part, we will also gain an overview of the “Geneva law” relating to the humanitarian protection of victims of war and the “Hague law” relating to the means and methods of warfare. In particular, we will examine the distinction between combatants and non-combatants and the law that applies to the detention of lawful and unlawful combatants in time of armed conflict. We then turn to the law that applies to the conduct of hostilities, examining in particular the rules relating to targeting and weaponry. Finally, we consider the extent to which international human rights law applies in time of armed conflict.
The Law of the Sea course is concerned with public international law and not with commercial shipping law.
The course provides a comprehensive grounding in the subject, combining the study of maritime zones (such as the territorial sea, Exclusive Economic Zone, Continental Shelf and High Seas), with the study of the main bodies of law regulating users of the seas (such as navigation, fishing, pollution, scientific research and military activities).
The teaching involves relating the problems of the law of the sea to underlying principles and policy factors and to other relevant areas of general international law, including sources, the law of treaties and principles of state responsibility.
The University of Oxford offers a postgraduate course of studies in diplomacy. The Oxford University Foreign Service Programme (FSP) has for many years brought together diplomats in early-to-mid career for a course lasting a full academic year, from early October to late June. Its graduates now occupy a large number of senior posts in the international field. Most FSP members are established diplomats proposed for the course by their governments, who return to their practical career work after the course is over. They must have a good honours degree and specific experience of working in the international field which will enable them to contribute to as well as benefit from the programme. It is sometimes possible to include a few non-diplomats with suitable background, personal qualities and working experience.
The purpose of the Master's programme is to develop your understanding of international human rights law and your ability to make a contribution to this field. The programme of study places emphasis on increasing your understanding of the scope and limits of international human rights law principles and institutions, your capacity to think analytically about further implementation and research. The part-time format of the degree programme is designed to provide you with the flexibility to pursue graduate training without an extended interruption of your work or family commitments. The degree programme also will provide you with an institutional base for on-going collaboration after you graduate. The specific objectives of the course are as follows:
The MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies is an interdisciplinary degree taught by leading experts in the field of forced migration from international law, politics and international relations, anthropology, and other disciplines. The course enables participants to explore forced migration through a thesis, a group research essay, and a range of required courses including "Introduction to Forced Migration", "International Refugee and Human Rights Law", "Asylum and the Modern State", and "Research Methods".
Students also choose two optional courses from a list of offerings that may include "Dispossession and Displacement in the Modern Middle East", "Gender, Generation and Forced Migration", "Movement and Morality", and "UNHCR and World Politics".The degree exposes students to cutting edge scholarship while allowing them to tailor their studies to suit their own particular interests.
