Comparative Law Courses

This seminar offers an overview of the legal system of the People’s Republic of China. Topics include China’s basic political and economic structure, the courts and dispute resolution system, and selected topics in property law, corporate law, technology regulation, foreign investment, trade, national security, and international law. The seminar also examines the political and economic factors that shape China's legal institutions, as well as broader questions of legal comparison. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.

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SPRG 2027: LAW JD 915 A1, Jan 11th to Apr 21st 2027

This introductory course is designed to enable students to learn EU Law fundamentals, research current EU Law developments, and present their findings professionally. Reading assignments and in-class work will cover: Historical and economic foundations of the Treaty of Rome (EEC 1957); institutional and constitutional structure of the EU; legal infrastructure of the EU internal market; EU external relations; human rights protection in the EU legal system; legal management of the EU 'crises' of the 21st century; and EU law perspectives on geopolitical turmoil. An in-class examination shortly after spring break will assess students' knowledge of assigned readings (50% of the final grade). Students will present their own research to the class during the last part of the semester (50% of the final grade). ENROLLMENT RESTRICTION: Students who previously enrolled in the 3-credit seminar (JD880) may not take this course.

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SPRG 2027: LAW JD 890 A1, Jan 11th to Apr 21st 2027

This course explores the following question: To what extent do the international rules governing trade and investment constrain or facilitate countries in making and implementing climate commitments? Students will examine the history of how today’s trade and investment agreements and climate agreements have been formed and the underlying principles that shape them. They will become familiar with the texts of those treaties and how they have been interpreted in modern jurisprudence, including the most recent decisions by the International Court of Justice, the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body, and investment dispute tribunals. They will also become familiar with how this system of treaties is intended to shape national-level policymaking, which, in turn, shapes the actions and behavior of private firms and individuals. The course includes topics such as (1) environmental disputes at the World Trade Organization, (2) investor-state dispute settlement targeting environmental and climate policies, (3) efforts at the bilateral, regional and mega-regional level to incorporate environmental commitments into free trade agreements, (4) unilateral efforts by the EU and the US to promote climate-friendly policy-making worldwide and (5) developing country perspectives in the "just transition" movement. By the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive understanding of the points of harmony and tension between these two regimes and will have thought critically and creatively about the ways forward. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement with approval of the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.

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SPRG 2027: LAW JD 748 A1, Jan 11th to Apr 21st 2027

An important component of understanding international law is mastering all the diverse sources of this area of law. Students will learn to navigate the international system as well as the relevant primary sources of law. Students will learn research strategies and skills for locating treaties, decisions of international tribunals, documents of international organizations and other sources of state practice. Among the organizations the course will discuss the United Nations, the OAS, the EU and the WTO. In addition, students will be introduced to strategies for researching the law of foreign jurisdictions. Students will gain hands-on experience in answering legal research questions in the area of international and comparative law. Classes will combine instruction and hands-on exercises using major print, electronic, and web based resources for international law research. NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: A student who fails to attend the first class or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the class. Students who are on the wait list are required to attend the first meeting to be considered for enrollment.

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FALL 2026: LAW JD 707 A1, Aug 31st to Dec 3rd 2026
FALL 2026: LAW JD 707 B1, Aug 31st to Oct 16th 2026

This course examines Latin America's political integration since independence and critically evaluates arguments that this region developed its own distinct norms and approach to international relations and international law. NOTE: This writing intensive course meets with graduate & undergraduate students on the Charles River Campus (1/21/2027-4/29/2027). UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to partially satisfy the requirement.

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This seminar will critically examine the chief legal norms and ethical precepts that regulate war. We will focus on both the just war tradition and contemporary international law, which include the law governing recourse to force (jus ad bellum) and the conduct of hostilities (jus in bello). Ad bellum topics generally include (1) the U.N. Charter framework for collective force under Security Council auspices; (2) the inherent or natural right of self-defense codified in Article 51 of the Charter; (3) ad bellum necessity and proportionality constraints on resort to force; (4) the novel and persistent challenge to the traditional jus ad bellum posed by diverse non-state belligerents and private armies (e.g., rebels, gangs, transnational terrorist networks, etc.) operating in the world today, all waging war in a legal and geopolitical environment that differs tremendously from the interstate paradigm that animated the drafters of the Charter in 1945; and (5) the associated topics of a state’s alleged right to use force to rescue nationals taken hostage by or in a foreign state, humanitarian intervention, and the so-called responsibility to protect (R2P). Jus in bello topics deal with the legitimate means and methods of warfare. Specifically, we typically cover (6) non-combatant immunity; (7) military necessity, distinction, and proportionality (MNDP) principles; (8) perfidy, prohibited weapons, and other illegal means or methods of warfare; (9) cyberwar, autonomous weapons, drones, and weaponized artificial intelligence; (10) asymmetric warfare; and (11) supreme emergencies, that is, circumstances in which violating the letter of the law of war might be excused or justified. Current events will be woven into the curriculum from time to time. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT:: With the instructor's permission, a limited number of students may satisfy the upper-class writing requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar.

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SPRG 2027: LAW JD 979 A1, Jan 11th to Apr 21st 2027

This seminar is an introduction to comparative law's themes and methods. Accordingly, the seminar is organized in two parts. The readings selected for the first part present theoretical articulations and practical applications of the main methodological approaches relied upon by comparative lawyers. Participants will become acquainted with the "mechanics", as well as the broader implications, of the various ways of comparing: functionalism, structuralism, culturalism, postmodern neo-culturalism and critical comparative law. The materials discussed in the second part explore how these different methodologies play out in recent and heated comparative law debates. Participants will be asked to reflect over the common law-civil law dichotomy and its implications for the debate over the European Civil Code as well as for projects of harmonization, such as the World Bank's "Legal Origins" study; the circulation of legal rules and institutions and the export of constitutional models in Eastern Europe and Iraq; the ambiguous relation between US and European legal cultures and the debate over different ideas of "privacy"; the "West" and the "Orient" in family law reform. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.

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