International Law and Global Governance

Gr 10 Up—"How does international law shape the world we live in? Is it true that where law ends, tyranny begins?" This program begins by posing some very interesting questions and discusses complex issues through interviews with international law professors from Melbourne University and the University of Sydney in Australia. Information about state's rights and responsibilities to help create a safer, more humane world are discussed in an interview format with selected footage of the various international law courts. Six short segments cover state sovereignty, defining international law, the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights, and the future of international law. There is a brief discussion about the Montevideo Convention; the Nuremberg Trials; genocide in Rwanda, Kosovo, and Sierre Leone; and the role of the United Nations in preventing tyranny and creating a safer world. Overall, the program simplifies a very complex topic and gives brief examples of the futility of international law with graphic demonstrations of torture, civil unrest, and reminders of the dangers of terrorism around the world. Prior to viewing, students should read the support notes and complete the "prior learning" sheets that are included with the program in order to understand the information presented. This complex and somewhat dry production could be used by upper class students with a strong background in international law.—Ellen Frank, Jamaica High School, NY