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International and Comparative Law Certificate Program
The International and Comparative Law Certificate Program exposes students to international business legalities, as well as the legal principles governing the relationships of countries. The program is offered in conjunction with the law school's Center for Law and Global Justice, which
was established to expand the law school's commitment to international justice.
To receive the International and Comparative Law Certificate (ICL Certificate), students must complete all of the certificate requirements and all of the requirements for the JD degree. Students intending to complete the requirements for the International and Comparative Law Certificate are subject to the law school's academic policies, including rules governing enrollment priorities.
Course Requirements
To earn the International and Comparative Law Certificate, a student beginning his or her second year in or after fall 2007 must complete at least 15 units of approved course work in the subject area, including at least two of the following core courses. A student who began his or her second year prior to May 2007 must complete 12 units of approved course work in the subject area, including at least two of the following core courses. Any remaining units (to reach the required total of 15 units) must be completed by taking additional core courses and/or courses from the list of approved ICL elective courses. Note: the curriculum below is subject to change and not all courses are offered every year.
| Core Courses | Units |
|---|---|
| Comparative Law | 2-3 |
| An overview of the legal systems of Western Europe, Latin America and Asia. The traditional legal systems of selected African and Asian nations and their melding with the civil and common law are examined in depth. Legal transplants and political transitions are considered, especially in the area of constitutional law. | |
| International Business Dispute Resolution | 3 |
| This course exposes students to the doctrines and skills of the international practitioner negotiating contracts, dealing with contract related disputes, and securing enforcement of transnational business arrangements for sales and investment. The substantive principles covered will include procedural mechanisms such as transnational service of process and taking evidence abroad. Principal subjects will also include jurisdiction, forum selection, enforcement of foreign judgments and a major emphasis concerning international arbitration. Students will apply the substantive coverage in skills exercises involving the drafting and negotiation of contracts. | |
| International Business Transactions | 3 |
| This course examines the legal issues that arise when business dealings span different nations. The course begins with a discussion of the environment of international business, including an introduction to international trade law, the world economic environment, and international tax issues. Next, a series of representative transactions are explored, including export sales, agency and distributorship, licensing, joint ventures, and other strategic agreements. | |
| International Human Rights Law | 3 |
| An introduction to international human rights documents and the procedures and mechanisms available for protecting and promoting human rights. It covers regional systems as well as the United Nations human rights bodies. It also includes the use of international human rights law in United States courts, addressing direct treaty application, customary international law, and its use as an interpretive guide. Readings on how to conduct fact investigation are also discussed. | |
| Public International Law | 3 |
| The course is designed to provide understanding of the distinctive character of the international legal environment, particularly to develop the perspective of the international lawyer dealing with foreign governments and their agencies. It provides a comprehensive view of the lawyer's role in using the primary international institutions and principal doctrines of public international law, through analysis of contemporary problems. Coverage includes: jurisdiction, sovereign immunity, acts of state, international criminal responsibility, law of the sea, trade law, and international peacekeeping. | |
| Elective Courses | |
| Asian Legal Systems | 2 |
| This course examines the constitutions and legal systems of the leading countries in East Asia, including China, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The focus will be on business laws, competition laws, human rights, intellectual property laws, and dispute resolution mechanisms. The court system of each country is examined along with some of the cultural, historical, and religious antecedents of each legal system which influence the role and rule of law in that country in the present day. | |
| Cambodian Genocide | 2 |
| This three-week class held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, examines the history of the Khmer Rouge political movement, the atrocities committed between 1975 and 1978, and the 2003 agreement by the Royal Government of Cambodia to prosecute Khmer Rouge leaders. The course looks at theories of criminal liability, the evidence in support of criminal charges, and the Extraordinary Chambers law that established trial and appellate courts for the cases. The course combines class meetings, lectures, and field site visits, including Tribunal sessions. | |
| Children's Rights | 3 |
| A survey of cases and law on the rights children possess within different settings and/or stages of their lives. Coverage will include the rights of children within the hospital setting, while at home and within the family, while at school, at work, or when they have been arrested or have been made wards of the court. It also touches on the varied problems of children and their rights when injured, neglected, or abused. | |
| Chinese Business Law | 2 |
| This course surveys the laws and institutions in P.R.China that regulate business organizations and transactions. Topics to be addressed include business organizations and China foreign-investment law. The course includes a focus on related practical implications to be taken into account from the viewpoint of foreign investors. The course is important for students intending to advise clients regarding investing or doing business in China. | |
| Chinese Legal Systems | 2 |
| This course will provide an overview of the key areas of Chinese law, including civil and criminal law, constitutional and administrative law, and economic and financial law. It will focus especially on the framework of Chinese law in different fields: law-making, law-enforcing, legal profession and legal education. It also examines the legal system of China, form its cultural basis to the implication for modernization and China's participation in the international community. | |
| Climate Change | |
| Comparative Constitutional Law | |
| Comparative European Constitutional Law (Summer '09) | 1 |
| This course will explain the divergence between judicial review as practiced in the United States and Europe. It will explore constitutional transnational law in Europe and discuss substantive issues of constitutional law. Students will read European-court decisions relating to abortion, role of religion, criminal process, etc. | |
| Constitutionalism in the Czech Republic | |
| Constitutionalism in the Czech Republic | |
| Constitutional Rights in "New Europe": Central European Perspectives | 2 |
| An examination of constitutional developments in New Member States of the European Union, especially the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, since the collapse of communism in 1989. The course focuses on democratic constitution-making and the development of constitutional rights culture in those countries in the last two decades. All major issues of constitutional rights are discussed within the context of European integration and recent attempts at the EU constitution-making. | |
| Copyright and Trademark Law: A Global Perspective | |
| European Convention on Human Rights | 1 |
| This course considers the development of human rights in the post-communist societies of Central Europe. This process is studied in the reconstruction of human rights principles in national laws and constitutions, and in the integration of Central and in Eastern Europe into larger European institutions. The role of the European Convention on Human Rights is stressed, especially as it pertains to issues like "hate speech," racial discrimination, and religious freedoms. | |
| European Economic and Political Integration | 1 |
| A comparison of regional organizations created to integrate Europe with a focus on the constitutional arrangements of the European Union. A comprehensive understanding of the functioning of the European Union will be illustrated through an analysis of the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital among European countries as well as foreign and security policy of the Eurpean Union. A special emphasis is given to current and future relations between the European Union and the United States as well as to the role that the European Union can play in the international legal order and in foreign and security policy matters. | |
| European Environmental Law | 3 |
| This course is designed to provide students with a working knowledge of international institutions, an understanding of the major environmental problems facing the global environment, and insight into the difficult political, moral, and scientific issues facing the on-going development of international environmental law. Specific environmental issues to be considered include: air pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, water resources and pollution, hazardous materials, and endangered species and biodiversity. The course also briefly consider the connections between international environmental law, trade, and financial institutions. There are no prerequisites and no prior knowledge of international or environmental law is necessary or expected. | |
| European Union Law | 3 |
| An introductory course designed to give an overview of the law of the European Union from a comparative perspective. Coverage includes an historical overview of the European Union and an examination of the sources and nature of European Union law. There is an emphasis on judicial interpretation and control of European Union law. | |
| European Intellectual Property | 2 |
| A survey of rights under U.S. state and federal law for the protection of new technology and inventions (trade secrets and patents), business symbols and literary titles (trademarks), and industrial design (design patents), and rights in works of authorship (copyrights) While the course focuses on American law, it will also introduce students to various aspects of international intellectual property law. It is highly recommended that this course be taken as a foundation to for the advanced study of intellectual property. | |
| Expert Evidence in IP Litigation | 3 |
| This course examines evidentiary issues of importance to intellectual property litigators. Emphasis is on considerations of what evidence to present and how best to present it to judges and jurors. Prerequisite: Evidence. | |
| Foreign, Comparative and International Legal Research | |
| Foreign, Comparative and International Legal Research | 3 |
| Former title: Social Justice and Corporate Accountability, students may not earn credit for both courses. A seminar exploring corporate social responsibility and accountability. Consideration is given to the current state of international law to regulate impact of corporate activities on human rights and the environment. The emerging legal norms of accountability under international human rights doctrine, regional jurisprudence and U.S. case law are also examined. Topics covered will include corporate pollution, use of paramilitary security forces, control of natural resources, and labor rights issues. Prerequisties (recommended): Human Rights Law or Public International Law. | |
| Human Rights in Central Europe | 1 |
| This course considers the development of human rights in the post-communist societies of Central Europe. This process is studied in the reconstruction of human rights principles in national laws and constitutions, and in the integration of Central and in Eastern Europe into larger European institutions. The role of the European Convention on Human Rights is stressed, especially as it pertains to issues like "hate speech," racial discrimination, and religious freedoms. | |
| International Development and the Rule of Law | |
| International Economic Relations | 3 |
| This course examines the legal structure of the international trade system. It considers the United States Customs and trade laws and policies impact on International trade. The impacts of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the movement of good within the European community. It reviews the impact of Tariffs and trade policies on the free movement of goods. | |
| International Human Rights Clinic | |
| USF's innovative Frank C. Newman International Human Rights Clinic focuses on critical human rights issues, including migrants' rights, application of the death penalty to juveniles, and trafficking of women. Participating students research and prepare presentations for the United Nations Human Rights Council and the Commission of the Status of Women.. Many of the students personally present their case to the Council at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, or to the Commission on the Status of Women in New York City. Students also work on briefs detailing international law standards to U.S. courts and represent individual clients before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. | |
| International Intellectual Property | 2 |
| This course is designed to prepare students for procurement, transactional work, and litigation in an international IP practice with an understanding of some of the economic and cultural issues underlying IP law in other parts of the world. The course will cover patents, trademarks, copyrights, unfair competition and trade secrets in the context of foreign laws and international agreements and treaties such as the 1883 Paris Convention (trademarks and patents), the 1886 Berne convention (copyrights), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PTC), the TRIPS Agreement(trade-related aspects of IP law) and EEC law. | |
| International Law | |
| International Legal Responsibility | |
| International Sales Contracts | |
| International Trade, the WTO, and the Environment | 3 |
| A seminar exploring the relationship between international trade law under the WTO and the impact trade law has on the environment. The course focuses on environmental trade cases decided by the WTO that relate to public health and the environment, air pollution, food safety, and endangered species. Topics covered include: (1) the causes of environmental degradation and the interaction with trade law; (2) the structure, role, and function of the WTO as it relates to international environmental trade law; (3) the WTO dispute settlement process of environmental trade cases; and (4) the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in WTO disputes. The seminar will also address emerging issues under the WTO related to energy security and accessions of new members such as China. | |
| International Taxation | 3 |
| An introductory study of the application of the federal income tax laws to nonresident aliens and foreign corporations and United States citizens, residents and corporations investing funds or conducting business in the international setting. Consideration is also given to the impact of bilateral tax treaties and tax planning for multinational business enterprises. | |
| Law of Doing Business in Europe | 2 |
| An examination of the main aspects of the structure of the European Union (EU) and the basic legal tools for American lawyers to represent American and other companies doing business in Europe. Fostering international trade is a core objective in the development and expansion of the EU. Open borders and the free movement of goods and services between member states could not have been achieved without special attention to eliminating protectionist "legal barriers". This course will cover Europe's substantive and procedural legal approach to international trade. | |
| Legal Issues in Terrorism Post 9/11 | 3 |
| President and the Congress to declare and wage war -- including the Bush administration's assertion of unlimited executive power and the role of the Commander in Chief; application of the Geneva Conventions and other international laws and treaties to the War on Terror; roles of military commissions and administrative Dept of Defense hearings, the detentions of ?enemy combatants;? the process of extraordinary rendition; Military Commissions Act of 2006; court decisions on Guantanamo and on enemy combatants; Bush administration memos regarding executive authority and torture; changes wrought by a new Obama administration; and the onset of ?truth commissions,? prosecutions of former officials, reparations and other means of accountability. | |
| Mediation & ADR Techniques | |
| Public International Law | 3 |
| The course is designed to provide understanding of the distinctive character of the international legal environment, particularly to develop the perspective of the international lawyer dealing with foreign governments and their agencies. It provides a comprehensive view of the lawyers role in using the primary international institutions and principal doctrines of public international law, through analysis of contemporary problems. Coverage includes: jurisdiction, sovereign immunity, acts of state, international criminal responsibility, law of the sea, trade law, and international peacekeeping. | |
| Transnational Labor Relations | |
Scholastic Requirements
International and Comparative Law Certificate recipients must achieve a grade of C+ or higher in each course applied to meet the certificate requirements and achieve a cumulative grade point average of 2.700 or higher for all courses applied to the certificate.
A student achieving a cumulative grade point average of 3.500 or higher for all courses applied to meet the requirements of the certificate is awarded the certificate with honors.
All course work for the certificate must be taken for a letter grade except for any approved elective course in which credit/no credit or pass/fail grading is mandatory. For any course in which a letter grade is not provided, a "credit" or "pass" must be achieved in order for the course to be applied to certificate requirements.
Writing Requirement
To earn the certificate, a student who must complete a substantial research paper analyzing an issue relevant to intellectual property, cyberspace, or technology law. The paper must demonstrate the ability to identify, describe, and analyze the subject matter, and, if possible, should, where possible, propose a resolution. The paper must meet the standards for an Upper Level Research and Writing Requirement project and may be used to satisfy that requirement and/or the requirements of a course taken for credit.
Study Abroad
The University of San Francisco School of Law offers numerous summer study abroad opportunities. Participation is not required, but it is strongly recommended that certificate applicants participate in at least one of these programs.
Transfer Units
All course work must be taken at USF with the exception of one elective course (for a maximum of three units of credit). If a student wishes to apply a course taken at another law school to meet the requirements of the International and Comparative Law Certificate, prior approval must be obtained by the assistant dean for academic services. The student must take the course for a letter grade and earn a grade of C+ or higher for credit to be applied to the ICL Certificate.
A course taken at another law school will be transferred as "credit" only for purposes of determining the International and Comparative Law Certificate grade point average as well as for calculating the USF semester and cumulative grade point averages.
Applying for the Certificate
To be eligible to receive an International and Comparative Law Certificate, a student must submit an application to the USF School of Law Office of the Registrar. Applications will not be accepted until the student's last semester. Applications must be submitted on or before the last day to drop classes in that semester.
Students may obtain only one certificate. No student will be awarded more than one certificate upon completion of the JD degree, even if such student completed the requirements to more than one certificate program.
It is each student's responsibility to ensure that all requirements for the International and Comparative LawCertificate are satisfied in a timely manner.