Teaching International Criminal Law in Germany

Today marks the start of the second week of the Summer Session in International and Comparative Law in Giessen Germany.  Pictured at the top of this post is the “castle,” the building where my class in International Criminal Law meets.  Inside this charming old exterior are some of the modern and fully equipped classrooms of Justus Liebig University, although the Justus Liebig Law School itself is physically located elsewhere.

My International Criminal Law class has 34 students.  There are 15 students from Marquette University Law School, 4 students from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and 4 students from other U.S. law schools.  The remaining 11 students come from law schools around the world, including Germany, Ethiopia, Turkey, Luxembourg, South Africa, Norway, Greece and Brazil.

Giessen is a college town.  It is dominated by University buildings spread throughout the town, much like Madison, Wisconsin.  There are numerous outdoor beer gardens and cafes, and the local population seems to spend much of their time sitting outside and drinking either coffee or beer.  It seems appropriate that the word “Giessen” translates into english as “pouring.”

The course offerings for the Summer Session are quite substantive, and the assigned readings reflect that fact.  For example, my class this morning dealt with head of state immunity and problems of allocating responsibility to government leaders for war crimes and genocidal acts committed by soldiers.  Two of the major developments in International Law over the last decade have been the erosion of immunity for heads of state (even sitting heads of state) and the expansion of conspiracy-based theories of criminal responsibility for international crimes.   

The fact that the students in my class come from around the world can lead to some interesting debates.  Last week we discussed the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, and it was interesting to hear the different perspectives on whether the United States should join the ICC or not.  Even though the American students are in the majority, I fear that we were on the defensive on that topic.

Despite the hard work and the serious subject matter, it seems to me that our class is off to a good start.  Students in the other classes seem to be having a positive experience as well.  The faculty and staff at Justus Liebig University are incredibly welcoming, and a joy to work with.  And, to top it off, we managed to avoid the great Milwaukee flood of 2010.  This will definitely be a summer to remember.

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