TEACHING INTERNATIONAL LAW IN PURSUIT OF JUSTICE

Van Schaack explains that there are many ways the academy can contribute to, and catalyze, the identification, development, and enforcement of international law. Indeed, the Statute of the International Court of Justice acknowledges the central role that academics (a.k.a. "the most highly qualified publicists") can play in elucidating the major sources of international law, particularly when it comes to ascertaining customary international law (which requires a rigorous empirical analysis of State practice coupled with opinio juris). Teaching international law has never been more stimulating. To truly master international law, students must grasp the continuing impact of geo-political power inequalities; the vagaries of State consent; the uneven incorporation of international law into national legal frameworks; and the architecture of the international law system - marked as it is by both decentralization and redundancy.