Project: The purpose of this project is to have each team of five students delve deeper into an international law decision and educate themselves and the rest of the class as to the background and arguments on both sides of that decision.  Each team is required to find an international law dispute that has been resolved and published (could have been heard in a US Appellate Court, US Federal Agency, Court of International Trade, a WTO Panel, etc.) that reflects a topic we have covered in class and is of interest to that group. A case in the text that was not covered in the course is an option, or students can find another case of interest.  The case selected, and a copy of the case, is due Thursday, March 28.

Task: Each team must thoroughly research the case and become familiar with its background and the precedents and the law that the court or panel may have relied on to support its ultimate decision.  As you research possible cases, the more support in the law that is found in the decision the better the case will be for this presentation.  The team will then prepare an outline of each advocate’s position and supporting legal authority for that position.  The team will also prepare a list of questions for the panel of judges for each advocate.  Each advocate will have 10 minutes to present their side (judges may ask from 3-6 questions) and an additional 5 minutes will be remaining to witness the judge’s discussion of the arguments.  At the end of the team’s 25 minute session, the team will solicit the assistance of the class in making its decision.  Each student will submit their written vote and a short reason why they chose that side.  The project will conclude with a tally of the votes and the team disclosing the outcome of the actual case.