Constitution and the International Order (The) (1L)
Spring term, Block E
M,T 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Professor Noah Feldman
4 classroom credits LAW-16930A Spring
This course examines the interplay between domestic constitutions (chiefly the U.S. Constitution, but also contemporary and historical constitutions of other countries) and the laws, institutions, and realities of what is sometimes rather hopefully called the international order. Using case law and case studies, it addresses issues including: the sources of constitutional authority; the relation between international and foreign law and the interpretation of domestic constitutions; the constitutional status of binding international treaties; the role of international actors in designing and ratifying constitutions; the cross-cutting effects of war on constitutional and international-legal norms; universal rights and local customs and practices; and the problem of the "legal" nature of both international law and constitutional law. This course is one of the 1L required international or comparative or comparative courses and only available to HLS first-year students.