Teaching

Current Courses

Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz

Spatial Regulation in International Law

Who owns the Moon? Can Denmark cede territorial sovereignty over Greenland to the United States of America? The law of which State applies on board of a civilian airplane? Are the high seas a lawless space? Who can exploit the resources of the North Pole? What does it mean to ‘decolonize’ territory formerly controlled by a colonial power? Can an upstream State stop the flow of a river and monopolize its waters? Is it possible to create new States on artificial islands in the world’s oceans? What happens to island States threatened with extinction by sea-level rise? What rules govern territory under military occupation? How can States protect nature through area-based management tools such as protected areas? Whose law applies in Antarctica? What international protection can be afforded to natural and cultural world heritage sites?

These are just some of the questions that this seminar seeks to address. It begins by providing a general introduction to the functioning of public international law (German: Völkerrecht), meaning the law that applies between States and other subjects of international law. Thereafter, this seminar analyzes how the international legal regime regulates various physical spaces and their relationships with human societies through general and specific rules, instruments (in particular treaties) and institutions (in particular international organizations): territory, oceans, rivers and lakes, airspace, outer space, and ecosystems. While these spaces (and environment, ecosystems and resources found therein) are a physical reality, the way the law perceives and regulates them is largely a construct of human civilization (power, interests, economics, culture, religion, etc.). Legal notions such as ‘sovereignty’, ‘borders’, ‘jurisdiction’ (i.e. the lawful power of States to prescribe, enforce and adjudicate law in a certain space or over a person or thing) and ‘military occupation’ are excellent examples of such ‘normative spatialities’. The objective of this seminar is to examine spatial perspectives on international law – asking not only ‘how’ but also ‘why’ the international legal regime has developed this way (and what the future might bring in the contemporary world order). It does so through a primarily ‘traditional’ (i.e. positivist) doctrinal approach. However, the seminar will also occasionally make reference to critical perspectives and approaches informed by the social sciences, such as Legal Geography and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL).

Ziel: This course will provide a basic understanding of and ability to critically examine the relationship of public international law and spatial concepts such as territory, oceans, rivers and lakes, airspace, outer space, and ecosystems. The course will enable participants to develop a basic understanding of, and critical perspective on, how public international law governs and shapes the relationship of human societies and physical spaces.

Human Rights at Sea

The sea is often described as a “lawless” frontier of human society as most of it lies beyond the sovereignty of individual States. While this description is incorrect from a legal perspective, it is true that the realities of human activities at sea render people particularly vulnerable to harm. The nature of these activities, the circumstances under which they are undertaken, and the legal framework governing conduct in ocean space pose significant challenges to the prescription, enforcement and adjudication of laws that aim to protect humans. Against this background, this seminar will explore the role of law – particularly international law – in the protection of humans at sea, which may be classified as an aspect of social sustainability.

The content of the course will at least partially draw on the programme of work of the newly established International Law Association (ILA) Committee on “Protection of People at Sea” (https://www.ila-hq.org/en_GB/committees/protection-of-people-at-sea), of which Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz is a member.

To quote from the mandate of the Committee:

“The protection of people at sea has long escaped the attention of international lawyers, notwithstanding the intrinsic international character of the sea and the different nationalities of the people to be found on board vessels and platforms. While death, abuse, and excessive use of force have always been common at sea, it is only in the last 15 years that the often systematic violations of fundamental human rights at sea have attracted the attention of stakeholders and the general public. Intergovernmental organisations, civil society, and the media have started documenting abuses, ranging from slavery and forced labour in the field of fisheries, to overly long detention in police operations, to breaches of the right to seek asylum of maritime migrants, up to the lack of rescue for people in distress at sea. […] Confronted with this picture, it has become evident that international law, as it is currently interpreted and applied by States and international organizations, does not effectively protect people at sea. Apart from lack of political will and limited resources, a major obstacle in ensuring protection has been due to the fact that people at sea fall at the intersection of two branches of international law, which have, so far, rarely been combined: the law of the sea and international human rights law. […] In the emerging field of international law for the protection of people at sea, there are still many unresolved questions. Given the fact that most of the sea does not fall under the sovereignty of any State, which is the State or States that bear the obligation to ensure protection of people at sea? Do these duties vary depending on the maritime zones, the activity, the flag, or other circumstances? What is the exact content of these duties? What protection should be afforded to people at sea? What action (positive/negative, preventive/follow up, individual or collaborative) is required? What avenues are there for enforcing these duties? What duties, if any, do non-State actors bear? Who should enforce them?”

Unlike the Committee, however, this seminar will explore these issues not from the perspective of highly specialized legal experts, but in a manner that is suitable for students without a legal background. This means that we will also be interested in political and factual contexts as well as empirical studies or examples. Some examples and stories are drawn from the book “The Outlaw Ocean” written by Ian Urbina in 2019 (https://www.theoutlawocean.com/the-outlaw-ocean-by-ian-urbina/).

Ziel: Provide a basic understanding of and ability to critically examine current challenges concerning the protection of humans at sea (as an aspect of social sustainability) from the perspective of law (in particular international law).

Research Forum Joachim Herz Doctoral School of Law

Law and Sustainability Transformation

Ph. D. Colloquium (Law)

Im Kolloquium stellen Promovierende ihre Forschungsvorhaben vor.

Ziel: Jede*r Promovierende ist aufgefordert, zwei Präsentationen zu halten. Im Idealfall findet die erste Präsentation in einem frühen Stadium der Arbeit an der Dissertation statt und enthält eine Vorstellung der Forschungsfrage und der ins Auge gefassten Herangehensweise.

Gegen Ende der Arbeit an der Dissertation sollte die zweite Präsentation stattfinden; dann entsprechend mit einer kurzen Vorstellung der Ergebnisse.

Further information about courses you will find the academic portal myStudy.

Current Courses

Emma Charlotte Bartmann

Spatial Regulation in International Law

Who owns the Moon? Can Denmark cede territorial sovereignty over Greenland to the United States of America? The law of which State applies on board of a civilian airplane? Are the high seas a lawless space? Who can exploit the resources of the North Pole? What does it mean to ‘decolonize’ territory formerly controlled by a colonial power? Can an upstream State stop the flow of a river and monopolize its waters? Is it possible to create new States on artificial islands in the world’s oceans? What happens to island States threatened with extinction by sea-level rise? What rules govern territory under military occupation? How can States protect nature through area-based management tools such as protected areas? Whose law applies in Antarctica? What international protection can be afforded to natural and cultural world heritage sites?

These are just some of the questions that this seminar seeks to address. It begins by providing a general introduction to the functioning of public international law (German: Völkerrecht), meaning the law that applies between States and other subjects of international law. Thereafter, this seminar analyzes how the international legal regime regulates various physical spaces and their relationships with human societies through general and specific rules, instruments (in particular treaties) and institutions (in particular international organizations): territory, oceans, rivers and lakes, airspace, outer space, and ecosystems. While these spaces (and environment, ecosystems and resources found therein) are a physical reality, the way the law perceives and regulates them is largely a construct of human civilization (power, interests, economics, culture, religion, etc.). Legal notions such as ‘sovereignty’, ‘borders’, ‘jurisdiction’ (i.e. the lawful power of States to prescribe, enforce and adjudicate law in a certain space or over a person or thing) and ‘military occupation’ are excellent examples of such ‘normative spatialities’. The objective of this seminar is to examine spatial perspectives on international law – asking not only ‘how’ but also ‘why’ the international legal regime has developed this way (and what the future might bring in the contemporary world order). It does so through a primarily ‘traditional’ (i.e. positivist) doctrinal approach. However, the seminar will also occasionally make reference to critical perspectives and approaches informed by the social sciences, such as Legal Geography and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL).

Ziel: This course will provide a basic understanding of and ability to critically examine the relationship of public international law and spatial concepts such as territory, oceans, rivers and lakes, airspace, outer space, and ecosystems. The course will enable participants to develop a basic understanding of, and critical perspective on, how public international law governs and shapes the relationship of human societies and physical spaces.

Further information about courses you will find the academic portal myStudy.