International Economic Law

The course will provide an overview of the legal foundations of international economic law and we will discuss current issues. You will learn about the legal tools and basic principles of international trade law, international investment law and international monetary law. The course will also provide you with the tools to better understand the impacts of globalisation and the role of international economic law in shaping a more sustainable international economic order. For this purpose, other areas of law, such as human rights law and international environmental law will be discussed.

The course will be held in seminar style. To foster our discussion, all participants are required to prepare for the classes, read the mandatory chapters and papers, participate in classroom discussions. Attendance is mandatory.
Students are awarded 6 ECTS upon successful completion of the course. For a successful completion, students are required to give a group presentation on an assigned topic and engage in a discussion with the whole class. Together with the exam at the end of the semester, the presentation will form the final grade. More information will be provided in the first lecture. 

Syllabus (subject to change) (PDF, 288 KB)

Course materials will be uploaded on the platform Moodle via the following link:Moodle
The password will be provided in the first class. Please make yourself acquainted with the specific programme and the documents uploaded on the website before the first class. 

Materials for the first class

Mandatory Reading
Text 1 Smith (PDF, 179 KB)
Text 2 Ricardo (PDF, 177 KB)
Text 3 Sykes (PDF, 231 KB)


Additional Reading
Text A Stiglitz/Rodrik (PDF, 852 KB)
Text B Interview with Dani Rodrik at WEF 2025

In case you have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to Anika Fontana, the assistant in charge at the chair of Prof. Kaufmann (lst.kaufmann@ius.uzh.ch).