Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professors Warren Dean and Allan Mendelsohn

LL.M Seminar 982 (cross-listed) | 2 credit hours

This seminar examines U.S. and international law applicable to aviation and maritime services worldwide. It includes the transportation of both passengers and cargo by air as well as sea. It reviews the evolution and progress made in international law liability conventions (Warsaw, Montreal 1999, Athens 2002) that are applicable to passengers and cargo involved in air as well as sea transport and mishaps/disasters. It examines the emerging applicability of both environmental and security laws and treaties in this area. In the context of public international law, the seminar focuses on the 1944 Chicago Convention and the evolution of restrictive bilateral air transport agreements into the current system of bilateral and multilateral open skies agreements that govern the movement of most passenger as well as cargo airlines of all nationalities throughout the world. The sometimes inconsistent application of U.S. and E.U. competition laws and policies is studied, particularly as they currently govern the developing practices of code sharing among international airlines and comparable global alliances among shipping lines. Also examined are the legal as well as economic (and practical) consequences of these alliances. Finally, the seminar examines the area of aircraft hijacking and the steps the international community has taken to meet these threats.

Recommended: Conflict of Laws: Choice of Law; International Law I: Introduction to International Law (for foreign-educated students, knowledge of these topics from home country study or practice is sufficient.)