The Essay Questions for Both the Midterm and Final Exams will be Posted Approximately
One Week Prior to the Examination

PLS 317 International Law
Spring 2009
Final Exam Essay Questions

Two of the following questions will be randomly selected at the beginning of the final exam.  You will then write on one of them 

1. Your best friend has committed a series of crimes in Peoria and is about to flee to the newest state, the Republic of Texas to avoid prosecution.  Your friend asks you, the expert in international law, "Can I be extradited back to the US?" Lacking knowledge of this specific situation, you cannot give your friend a simple yes or no answer.  Instead, you must give your friend an overview of extradition in international law and what would be the probable elements of a US-Texas extradition treaty--if one exists.

2. Your boss, President Obama, has decided to make Iraq and its oil part of the United States.   Your task is to systematically analyze the modes of a state acquiring territory, noting any changes that have occurred in the last 100 years, to see if there is any legal way under international law Iraq can be a legitimate part of the United States before ground forces are withdrawn in 2010.

3. Create a brief primer, (Sea Zones for Dummies) on the various sea and undersea zones recognized under international law.  Note differences between the zones on fundamental rights and obligations, and discuss how old and how settled the law is in each zone.

4. Briefly review the laws of diplomatic immunity being sure to note purposes, key concepts and conventions, and important differences such as those between missions and consular facilities, and differing immunities of members of a mission.

5. Your boss, President Obama, has asked you to research the various ways the US could avoid its legal obligations under the new Global Warming Treaty.  Your job is to brief President Obama on the international law about the validity of treaties and the termination of treaties and/or termination of legal responsibilities under treaties.

6  Your friends are perplexed over the facts that the US is in a war on terrorism and the US has ratified the Convention Against Torture, yet captured alleged terrorists detained in Cuba have not been given POW status and have been tortured by agents of the US.  Explain to your friends the pro and con arguments about why these actions are or are not violations of international law. 

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