International Law

In the present moment International Law is at the forefront of discussion and debate. People across the globe are ever more conscious of its promises and shortcomings.

Knowledge of the subject of International Law is vital, not just to those who hope to become lawyers, but to anyone who intends to be a well-informed citizen. The course begins with an introduction to international law as a discipline. We will consider the sources and subjects of international law, and we will explore the settlement of international disputes and enforcement of international law, including in relation to human rights. We will discuss international legal institutions such as the United Nations Security Council, the International Court of Justice, the International Law Commission, and the International Criminal Court.

International law has been researched and taught in Oxford for more than four centuries. It has long been important at Lady Margaret Hall in particular: our first law tutor was Elizabeth Thorneycroft, a distinguished specialist and practitioner in the subject.

Sebastian read law at the University of Oxford. He represented the University in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and interned at Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and the Trial Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. After graduating from Oxford as the best student in his year in public international law, he clerked for Justice Froneman at the South African Constitutional Court. He was then a research assistant on the Quill Project at Pembroke College, Oxford, and subsequently completed an LLM at Yale Law School. At Yale, he was a Salzburg Cutler Fellow in International Law and an executive editor of the Yale Journal of International Law. He volunteered for the Temporary Restraining Order Project and was a summer fellow in the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization. From 2019 to 2020, Sebastian was a Robina Fellow in the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights. He also teaches Law at LMH.