The following is a case problem around which the examination paper will be based. In preparation for the examination, you should study the problem scenario and identify the possible public international law issues which might arise, and how the law might be applied to resolve these issues. You should also be aware of the legal debates and academic discourse on these issues. The examination paper will contain five questions involving both problem type and essay type questions. You will have to answer two questions.
The assessment criteria for the examination are your:
- ability to use library and other information retrieval sources to research issues in public international law in some depth;
- problem solving skills;
- accurate knowledge of the rules and principles in the relevant topics;
- appropriate evaluation and communication skills;
- ability to apply the law critically to the issues raised;
- ability to write a coherent and well argued analysis of the relevant issues in good clear English.
The questions will be set around the following topics (as covered during this semester):
- The Nature of Public International Law;
- The United Nations;
- Sources of International Law;
- International Legal Personality;
- The Right to Self-Determination;
- Territorial Claims;
- The Law of the Sea;
- The Use of Force.
Case Study :
In 2011, Yellowlandia finally officially acknowledged the existence of a nuclear programme. Its stated aim is to ensure that the growing energy needs in the capital are met through the development of uranium enriched to less than 4% to be used in a new civilian nuclear power plant. The secrecy that surrounds the programme, and Yellowlandia's unwillingness to allow international observers to visit the nuclear power plants have raised concern in neighbouring Redlandia. The relations between the two countries, never really friendly before, deteriorated further following the election of Lieutenant Sunflower as President in 2010. He ran on an ultra-nationalist platform, with zero tolerance towards foreign intervention into the internal affairs of Yellowlandia. He has never hidden his hatred for anything related to Redlandia or Redlandians, nor his desire of making Yellowlandia a self-reliant nuclear power.
Redlandia suspects Yellowlandia of making plans to gain control of the town of Orange city, situated ten miles into Redlandian territory, by force. It first noticed suspicious helicopter flights and vehicle movements at night on the other side of the border. Redlandia decided therefore to protect its territory by constructing a fence patrolled by drones along its entire border with Yellowlandia. While doing, so, it discovered a network of bunkers and trenches constructed by Yellowlandia. This has reinforced the belief that an armed attack by Yellowlandia is being planned. It is an open secret that Yellowlandia has been trying to get hold of potent biochemical weapons. After discovering the mass graves of 132 of its citizens near the border, and fearing the firing of rockets by Yellowlandia against its oilfields, Redlandia's military chief is proposing the following actions against Yellowlandia:
- To impose a trade embargo on Yellowlandia. The latter being economically extremely dependent on its larger neighbour, thousands of Yellowlandians face starvation.
- To organise the public executions of some captured Yellowlandian soldiers.
- To launch a quick and decisive attack on Yellowlandia's main military base in order to destroy all its fighter jets and on the site where the nuclear research is taking place.
- To get the backing of NOTA, a regional organisation, and all of its members.
- To order the carpet bombing of Yellowlandia's capital so as to create fear and panic among the civilian population.
- Use dolphins trained as weapons and build a military underwater base in the middle of the Indian Ocean to test its latest weapon, the micro-waver.