Philosophie du Droit International


  • Good knowledge of public international law.

  • Basic knowledge of (international) legal theory notions.

  • Basic knowledge in philosophy.

  • Interest in critical thinking.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:




  • Master the key notions and concepts of international legal theory and philosophy.

  • Critically appraise international law doctrines and theories.

  • Understand and reflect upon the dynamics at play in the field of international law.

  • Understand and reflect upon the dynamics at play in the international legal discipline.

  • Understand the dialectic between international legal theory and international legal practice.

  • Formulate personal ideas and build her/his own reasoning on complex theoretical issues.

Introduction générale


Chapitre I : L’action en justice


Chapitre II : L’instance


Chapitre III : Le jugement




This course aims at providing in-depth and critical analyses of foundational questions in the philosophy of international law:


Chapter 1: What? The ethos of international law


Section 1: What is international law?


Section 2: What is the international legal order?


Section 3: The members of the international legal order


Chapter 2: What for? The telos of international law


Section 1: The objectives of international law: from cooperation to coexistence


Section 2: The objectives of international criminal law: from ‘retributive justice’ to ‘restorative justice’


Chapter 3: How? The ‘ways’ of international law


Section 1: The making of international law


Section 2: The criteria of legal normativity


Section 3: The essence and features of international legal reasoning