Legal Studies

This course examines the basic elements of public international law. Special attention is given to the historical and dynamic characteristics of the juridical order, with a particular focus on the Spanish legal system.

The course provides a foundation to the study of law. Before any in-depth analysis of any type of law subject, one needs to have a fundamental understanding of how the legal system works and of the basic legal vocabulary involved. This first part of this course provides students with this knowledge, paying particular attention to five topics:
the constitution, the legislation, EU law, the Irish courts system, and access to the courts.

The course covers the basic concepts, principles, purpose, and characteristics of marriage and family and inheritance law. It discusses problems in practice using empirical analysis. Topics include the kinship, institution of marriage, adoption, and inheritance.

This course explores theories of justice. It does this by engaging in a discussion with one of the most rewarding authors on how to interpret and understand theories of justice: Michael J. Sandel. In JUSTICE. WHAT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO? he introduces a selective number of theories of justice, from classical to modern and contemporary thinkers that can be used to better understand contested issues such as surrogate motherhood, equal rights, obligations regarding poverty eradication, and all kinds of everyday ethical dilemmas. The book of Sandel is supplemented with texts that highlight, criticize, or complement elements of the ethical theories as presented by Sandel. The course exists of a series of lectures as well as a series of seminars, meant to discuss and reflect upon the themes discussed in the book and the additional texts.

This course introduces non-law students to international law rules, dispute resolution institutions, and procedures. The course is composed of theoretical and practical elements to help students with no previous legal knowledge familiarize themselves with various underlying issues of international law.  Class activities include reading cases; redacting simple legal documents, and participating in mock trials (dependent on class number/size). 

This course focuses on correctly identifying organized crime to establish the scope of international, European, and Spanish legal instruments designed to fight it. 

This course provides an introduction to the basic principles and areas of application of public international law. The course consists of weekly lectures and interactive seminars designed to provide a solid understanding of the most important rules and principles of international law. Additionally, the course covers the place of international law within the international (legal) system. The course covers the most important topics in international law such as sources, subjects, jurisdiction and immunities, peaceful dispute settlement, collective security and the use of force, law of the sea, and environmental law by reviewing the basic rules and general principles and critically analyzing their application to contemporary problems in international relations.