The Center for International and Comparative Law (CICL) creates a dynamic space for scholars and students to explore the interactions among international and domestic legal systems of the world and to engage both theory and practice for effective study and promotion of the rule of law.
International law, both public and private, cannot be understood without a working knowledge of comparative politics, history, and culture. By tapping into Emory University’s rich and vast resources, Emory Law encourages an interdisciplinary and experiential study of international law that prepares you to make an immediate impact in the legal world.
The Constitution of Everyday Life: A Comparative Law and Policy Project
In this multi-year project, CICL will explore how fundamental societal institutions, such as the family, workplace, and healthcare systems, have been shaped in various legal cultures in the shadow of distinct foundational political principles. We are particularly interested in how conceptions of individual autonomy, liberty, and agency function to either restrain or legitimate governmental interventions and exercises of power, as well as how and when such interventions can be justified in the interest of societal or collective wellbeing in each legal culture.
The project will use an interdisciplinary approach, comparing the distinct political and legal cultures of other societies with that of the United States and their role in shaping notions of individual and state responsibility. We hope to partner with several groups or centers at universities in various parts of the world in undertaking this project.
We anticipate a series of workshops, in-person and accessible on Zoom, beginning in January 2023. The first four sessions will be on contrasting theories/philosophies of state power and responsibility. We are aiming to have some visiting scholars interested in this topic come to Emory Law and hope to host a small in-person workshop in 2023.
We will hold an additional series of four sessions on specific social institutions and relations established and regulated by law and policy. These sessions will also be comparative, contrasting the institutional arrangements imagined in different legal/political cultures. The three areas currently planned are: institutions and relationships of: (a) social reproduction, such as the family and education; (b) commercial/economic, such as employment and corporate structures; and (c) public/social welfare, such as health care and social security systems.
Extracurricular Opportunities
The study of international and comparative law is not confined to the classroom at Emory Law. Students can expand their studies by participating in
- Emory International Law Review
- International law moot court team, sponsored by the Moot Court Society
- International Law Society
- National Security & Law Society
- Externships through The Carter Center
- Networking with leading international lawyers through the international law sections of the Georgia and Atlanta Bar Associations and through the offices of general counsel of major international firms
Scholar in the Spotlight: Professor Margo Bagley
Professor Margo Bagley is a Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law at Emory Law and her courses include US and International & Comparative Patent Law, Trademark Law, and Intellectual Property. She talks about her teaching that takes her all over the globe and how “it all makes for very rich dialogue during class.”
