LAWS1023: Public International Law

Early Feedback task (0%): This unit includes an Early Feedback Task that is designed to provide students with timely insights into their understanding and engagement with the unit content and support students to stay on track for successful completion of the unit. The Early Feedback Task in this unit is a multiple-choice question quiz. It will be tailored to reflect key concepts addressed in Weeks 1-3. The task will be available on Canvas from 6 March 2026 and must be completed by 11.59pm on 13 March 2026 (Sydney, Australia time). Students will be provided with immediate automated feedback upon completion of the task. 

Structured Participation (10%): Compulsory participation requiring students to lead discussion in one tutorial of a nominated tutorial question and to submit a one-page summary. This is an individual and not a group task. Students will be allocated to a nominated tutorial in Week 1. You must disclose whether generative AI was used in preparing for this task or in completing the one-page summary.
 
In-semester test (30%): Compulsory 1.5 hours (plus 30 minutes reading time) open book on-campus test in Week 6 on Monday, 30 March 2026 commencing at 4.15pm and concluding at 6.15pm (Sydney, Australia time). The test will take the place of the scheduled lecture and will be held at an alternative venue. The test will comprise a problem question that may address Topic 2 (Sources of International Law), Topic 3 (Treaties) and Topic 4 (International Law and Australian Law). 
 
Final examination (60%): Compulsory 2.5 hours (plus 30 minutes reading time) open book on-campus examination during the formal examination period. The examination will comprise a mixture of problem and essay questions. The examination may cover any material addressed in the lectures and tutorials throughout the entire unit. The exam timetable will be released by the Exams Office in due course. Exam information is available at https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/exams/timetables.html. 

Word limit penalty: A piece of assessment which exceeds the prescribed word limit will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment for every 100 words, or part thereof. The total word count for essay and other written assessments will include/exclude all footnotes and any bibliography (if required), and exclude acknowledgements of assistance from editors, automated writing tools or generative AI (where use is permitted). 

Referencing: The Sydney Law School expects you to use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th edition, 2018) for your footnoting style, although you should confirm this with your lecturer. A link to the library website where this is set out comprehensively is available at Referencing and Citation Styles: AGLC4. 

Special consideration: Successful grants of Special Consideration may involve alternative tasks, as appropriate. Students who are unable to attend their allocated tutorial to lead discussion will need to apply for Special Consideration. If granted, the consideration for that assessment task may take the form of the student leading discussion in another tutorial during semester, or participating in a group viva voce with other students on a topic selected by the Unit Coordinator. The form of the alternative assessment will be selected at the discretion of the Unit Coordinator.

Disability Academic Plans: The Law School has inherent requirements for its Bachelor of Laws, Juris Doctor and Master of Laws courses. Inherent requirements relevant to Participation assessment include: 

• Attending classes and contribute to collaborative learning and debate; 
• Engaging in respectful communication with others; 
• Participating collaboratively and openly in diverse groups across different cultural boundaries; and
• Communicating orally using clear standard Australian English, to convey knowledge and critical analysis of legal and interdisciplinary materials. 

For students with Disability Academic Plans, adjustments must be reasonable and cannot compromise the academic integrity of a course or professional obligations. Reasonable adjustments are provided to assist students to achieve the inherent requirements, not as a substitute for them. This means that, for the Participation assessment, reasonable adjustments cannot include an alternative assessment which does not allow the student to demonstrate the inherent requirements relevant to the Participation assessment. 

Assessment requirements to pass a unit of study: A student must make a genuine attempt at all assessment tasks set out in this Unit of Study in order to obtain a Pass mark and grade (or above) otherwise an Absent Fail grade will be recorded as the student’s result for this Unit of Study. As the EFT is an early diagnostic tool, this task is not included in the final grade for the unit.