The International & Comparative Law Certificate program will provide a foundation for careers and further study applying legal regimes to transnational and international relationships.
To receive the International & Comparative Law Certificate upon graduation, students must complete the following courses:
- International Law (3 credits) ;
- International Business Transactions (3 credits);
- Satisfaction of the Upper-Level Writing Requirement (ULW) with a paper focused on international or comparative law content;
- 12 credits of elective courses (below); and
- Attendance at two designated CILE programs in each of the candidate’s 2L and 3L years at the School of Law.
Registration
To register for the International & Comparative Law certificate program, complete the Registrar's online form anytime during the school year.
Elective Courses
The courses that qualify as international and comparative law electives for purposes of the Certificate requirements are determined annually. In general, a course will satisfy the elective requirement if at least 25 percent of its content is in the areas of international or comparative law. You should consult the schedule of courses for any given term to determine what courses are being offered and the credits awarded.
For new course offerings, you should contact CILE to determine if a given course will satisfy the elective requirement. Courses in the School of Law that do not have a predominantly international or comparative law subject matter may be approved for elective purposes on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the CILE Director if, in practice, the student’s work in the class included that element in a particularly substantial manner; for example, the student satisfies the written requirement of a “W” course with a paper using a comparative law approach. (Note: this would not be permitted if the given paper was also used to satisfy the ULW requirement.)
Coursework outside the School of Law may also be eligible to satisfy up to 3 elective credits if the CILE Director determines that at least 25 percent of its content is in international topics; otherwise, it is an appropriate course for these purposes. The Vice Dean of the Law School approved the use of these credits as qualifying under School policy for the six credits of non-School of Law coursework permitted to be credited towards the JD degree. Proposed elective courses outside the School of Law must be approved by the CILE Director and per general School of Law policies.
