Department of European Studies & Modern Languages, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
EU50354 Basic international law & practical legal translation |
| Credits: 0 |
| Level: Masters |
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Aims: The aim of this unit is to familiarise students with the basic concepts of international law and introduce them to legal translation, so as to inform and underpin their work in the translation and interpreting units.
Learning Outcomes: Students who complete the unit successfully will be able to demonstrate an appropriate knowledge and understanding of the principles of international law in their translation and interpreting activities. Skills: The emphasis in this unit is on developing: * the intellectual skill required to assimilate a potentially complex and unfamiliar body of information; * the transferable key skills of listening, analysing information and relating this to data and materials that are likely to be encountered in other contexts; * the practical ability to deploy a functional knowledge of international law as part of professional language work. Content: This unit is a combination of lectures and translation seminars. While the lectures are open to all students, the seminars are geared to specific language combinations; the principal languages used will be French, German and Italian. Additional sessions may be arranged for other languages. The lectures will first deal with the bases and development of international law, including concepts such as the nation-state and sovereignty, the structure of treaties, standard clauses and treaty language. They will then look at the UN and its agencies (examining the concepts of intervention, interference and peacekeeping), NATO, the OSCE and the European security architecture. Students are expected to do appropriate background reading. In the translation seminars, students will work on legal texts from organisations such as the United Nations and the Council of Europe, including the Commission and Court of Human Rights. |