SUMMER STUDY : SWEDEN : 2008 COURSES

The course will take up a variety of topics that arise in any constitutional democracy and compare the U.S. apporach with those of other countries. The topics we will cover will include the following, among others: judicial review; federalism; constraining executive power; accountability of law enforcement for violations of individual rights; freedom of speech; freedom of religion; privacy rights; freedom of intimate association; insuring equal rights under law; criminal procedure and rights of due process; economic rights.

The format of the class will be a combination of lecture and discussion. Students will be expected to compare and contrast differetnt national apporaches to constitutioinal problems, and to be able to articulate the values and goals of different constitutioinal systems. Students will be graded based on a paper submitted at the conclusion of the course. The due date for the paper is to be determined.

Syllabus

Required textbook:
Global Issues in Constitutional Law, Brian Landsburg and Leslie Jacobs (Thomson West 2007). In addition, articles will be posted to Campus Cruiser.

This course is an introductory comparative examination of corporate legal systems and of pervasive issues related to the conduct and governance of corporate enterprise. Any free-enterprise corporate system must face similar questions related to enhancing economic performance and ensuring fair treatment to corporations’ economic participants. The course focuses on how some of the most important commercial countries of the world today--primarily those of the European Union, and the United States, with a lesser focus on Japan–deal with these issues. It will compare strategies used in these countries, examining the differences to distinguish those that reflect genuine jurisprudential and policy distinctions from those that are only superficial.

This course does not satisfy the Base Menu Requirement. An in-class open-book exam will be administered.

Syllabus

Required textbook:
The Anatomy of Corporate Law: A Comparative and Functional Approach by Reinier Kraakman, et al. (Oxford University Press 2004)   Supplementary materials will be distributed in class.

This course presents students with an overview of international environmental law as it applies to global issues and challenges. Students review the sources and structure of international law, and its use and practice in the environmental area both for protection and for proactive approaches to protection of natural resources and global human interaction. The roles of national governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations are reviewed. Legal and non-traditional approaches to resolving global environmental challenges are studied.

The class is active. Group problem-solving activities are an essential element of the course. Each student is assigned to a small group to work cooperatively on solving hypothetical ("real") environmental issues. These issues may include effects of waste dumping and its impacts, effects of drought on fresh water resources and their uses, and environmental issues in world trade. As a member of the group, each student researches and analyzes approaches to resolve the international challenges involved in the issue. The student develops a legal argument and, with the group, presents it to the class. Thus, both a written issue outline/memorandum is prepared and an oral argument is presented in class.

A global warming/climate change negotiation is scheduled for the last sessions of class. Each student is assigned a fictional country to represent. Preparation for the negotiation involves research and several readings and final development of an outline of issues for the represented country. Furthermore, each negotiator (student) is given a list of secret instructions that will structure their ability to negotiate for their "country."

The final assignment is a reflective paper in which students will remark on the efficacy of international law as it applies to environmental challenges. This paper will be short, five to ten pages, and include suggestions, if any, for restructuring the current international approach to environmental resource management. There is no final examination.

Student Requirements

• Memorandum on issues, challenges and remedies on Antarctica Problem
  
  
• Group presentation-written memorandum and oral presentation; Preparation of ONE comprehensive, logically sequenced, and argumentative brief in the form of an outline (Issue Outline) of the primary and subsidiary legal issues which are required for resolution of one assigned international environmental problem set.
  
  
• Individual presentation and defense of Issue position to the class.
  
  
• Group Memorandum/Decision from Review Panel
  
  
• Preparation and competent delivery of arguments and positions on behalf of one nation’s interests in the "Global Warming/Climate Change Negotiation."
  
  
• Preparation of a written outline containing recommendations for enhancement or changes to international environmental law. (5-10 pages)

Syllabus

THERE IS NO FINAL EXAMINATION

This course covers both public and private sources of international intellectual property law and policy, including copyright, patents, trademarks, geographical indications, unfair competition and trade secrets.  The public component will include multilateral agreements such as the Berne Convention, the Paris Convention and TRIPS.  We will trace how these agreements are administered through the major international institutions such as the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization, in turn impacting the shape of national laws and international harmonization.  Special emphasis will be placed on the issue of access to medicines as a paradigmatic example of the global social welfare calculus involving intellectual property protected knowledge goods.  On the private side, we will cover briefly choice of forum, choice of law and other problems related to private enforcement.  While a survey intellectual property course is a recommended prerequisite, we will review major U.S. intellectual property law concepts before discussing comparable rules in the assigned cases, whether those rules are derived from international treaties or from other countries’ national laws.  Relying on a combination of cases and problems, students will develop a familiarity with the foundational principles and challenges of international intellectual property law and practice, and be sensitive to the development component of intellectual property in the context of globalized commerce and trade.  

Syllabus

Final Examination:
Students will be given a take-home examination (limited open book) on Friday, July 4th, and the examination must be returned on Monday, July 7th.

Required textbook:
Daniel C.K. Chow and Edward Lee, International Intellectual Property: Problems, Cases and Materials (Thomson/West 2006)

Optional textbook:
Daniel C.K. Chow and Edward Lee, Documents Supplement to Accompany International Intellectual Property: Problems, Cases and Materials (Thomson/West 2006)

Many of the relevant treaty provisions are reproduced in the casebook; others are on Professor Graeme Dinwoodie’s International Intellectual Property Law website: at: www.kentlaw.edu/faculty/gdinwoodie/classes/iipl/sup_mat/index.html