Courses for the 2024 Summer Law Program in Madrid
-
The Law of Global Trade and Investment
by Professor Constance Wagner (2 credits)
Businesses are going global and lawyers should understand the opportunities and challenges presented by this development. This course will focus on legal considerations and the role of lawyers in international trade and investment transactions. We will cover both public law and private law aspects, including international treaties and customary practice, foreign laws and regulations, and legal documentation. Topics covered may include: the business context of international trade and investment transactions, the role of international economic institutions (the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund), global intergovernmental institutions (the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes), regional trade blocs (including the European Union), and business organizations (the International Chamber of Commerce), fundamentals of WTO law and policy (WTO treaties, organizational structure, dispute resolution, most favored nation status and national treatment), the role played by free trade areas and customs unions (like the European Union), the legal structure of private international trade transactions involving the sale of goods, multilateral and bilateral investment treaties, types of private international investment transactions, and emerging trends in corporate social responsibility and human rights law relating to cross-border trade and investment. -
European Human Rights Law
by Professor Ignacio Borrajo Iniesta (2 credits)
This course provides an overview of the protection of civil and political rights in Europe, including those protected by both the European Convention on Human Rights and European Union Law. It will focus on recent developments, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the Lisbon Treaty (2009); the situation of new and old democracies since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989; and the expulsion of Russia from the Council of Europe. It will also examine the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Some selected areas shall be emphasized, such as the right to life and physical integrity, international migrations, data protection and linguistic, religious and cultural pluralism. -
Negotiating International Business Transactions (E)
by Professor Carol Needham (1 credit)
This experiential skill-building course will focus on the theory and practice of negotiation, with a particular emphasis on cross-cultural aspects of the negotiation of international business transactions. Most of our class time will be spent engaged in negotiation exercises, simulations, and discussion. The readings and experience of the exercises in this course are designed to enhance law students’ understanding of distributional and interest based bargaining, the context of trans-national negotiations, the impact of using agents, and potential cultural barriers to successful negotiation. Communication, important in any negotiation, becomes even more critical when the negotiating parties have differing cultural backgrounds and assumptions. Students will learn to analyze relative bargaining power and more effectively prepare for cross-cultural negotiations and will have the opportunity to extend their skills through participating in, observing, and analyzing negotiation case scenarios and complex simulations. Grades will be based on class participation and students’ written work. There are no prerequisites for this course; it is open to all law students. -
International Sale of Goods
by Professor Michael Korybut (1 credit)In today’s global marketplace, small and large businesses alike routinely engage in the cross-border purchase or sale of raw materials, supplies, equipment and finished goods. Every commercial lawyer must be prepared to counsel clients on sales transactions across national borders. The course covers a variety of issues that arise when contracting parties have their places of business in different countries or the goods that are the subject of the transaction cross at least one national border. The main focus is the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), an important body of international sales law in effect in the United States, in Spain, and for most significant U.S. trading partners. We will look carefully at important provisions of the CISG, while considering the different roles played by a commercial lawyer in an international sales transaction under the CISG. Any student wanting to become a domestic or international commercial lawyer should have a basic understanding of the CISG. This course will help you get there.
-
Intro to Civil Law
by Professor Javier Martinez Torron (1 credit)U.S. law schools teach common law, the legal tradition of the English-speaking world. This course is an introduction to the other major legal tradition of the modern Western world, the civil law. The civil law tradition is derived from Roman law and comprises the legal systems of almost all European countries, Latin America, and large parts of Africa. It has also influenced many Asian countries, including China and Japan.
The aim is to help American law students understand the language and concepts of the civil law systems that their clients who have business, family or personal interests in civil law countries will experience. This course will focus on the civil law tradition as it has developed in today’s continental European and Latin-American legal systems. Students will also study the areas in which civil law and common law trend toward convergence or divergence, and the questions they raise in the context of the European unification process.
-
Creating Rule of Law in Eastern Europe: Threat of Authoritarianism and Nationalism
by Lorena Bachmaier Winter (1 credit)One of the major challenges in transitional democracies in eastern Europe is building up legal systems based on democratic principles and the rule of law rather than authoritarian control. The continuing armed conflict in the eastern regions of Ukraine and the challenges to the independence of the judiciary in many of these countries –as recently seen in Poland–, show how fragile the rule of law is. It requires a strong legal framework to prevent a dangerous shift towards populism, nationalism, and increased restrictions of fundamental liberties.
In this course, students will examine the major challenges facing the establishment of new democracies in Eastern Europe based on the rule of law, with a special focus on certain crucial areas, including the justice system, separation of powers and the protection of human rights in countries like Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, and Caucasus. Students will better understand not only protection of individual rights in new European democracies, but also the administration of justice and European legal culture in a broader sense.
-
Intro to Spanish
by Julio LaSarte (non-credit)This course will provide students with a general introduction to Spanish and is designed for beginners as well as those who want a refresher. The class focuses on Spanish culture, history, food and music.
Class Schedule
The 2024 Summer Law Program in Madrid will run from May 20 through June 30, 2024. Most classes will be held in the morning and early afternoon, and students will have Fridays off for travel and leisure. The final exams will be administered from June 28 through June 30, 2024.
Student Performance and Grading
The Saint Louis University School of Law Summer Law Program in Madrid is an ABA-approved foreign summer program. Students may earn up to 6 credits upon completing the Summer Law Program in Madrid. Grades are measured primarily by final examinations and the grades used are A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, and F. Students who are not enrolled at Saint Louis University School of Law may be graded on a Pass/Fail basis, if they request and prefer to be graded on a Pass/Fail basis. Otherwise, all students will be graded on a letter grade system.
Students will be given the same credit as if they were at the SLU LAW campus, but the acceptance of any credit or grade for any course taken in the program is subject to determination by your home school. Please discuss your school's grading preference with your dean's office before applying to the program.