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Courses and Grading

Courses for the 2025 Summer Law Program in Madrid

  • The Law of Global Trade and Investment (2 credits) 
    by Professor Constance Wagner  

Businesses are going global and lawyers should understand the opportunities and challenges presented by this development. This course will focus on legal considerations and the role of lawyers in international trade and investment transactions. We will cover both public law and private law aspects, including international treaties and customary practice, foreign laws and regulations, and legal documentation. Topics covered may include: the business context of international trade and investment transactions, the role of international economic institutions (the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund), global intergovernmental institutions (the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes), regional trade blocs (including the European Union), and business organizations (the International Chamber of Commerce), fundamentals of WTO law and policy (WTO treaties, organizational structure, dispute resolution, most favored nation status and national treatment), the role played by free trade areas and customs unions (like the European Union), the legal structure of private international trade transactions involving the sale of goods, multilateral and bilateral investment treaties, types of private international investment transactions, and emerging trends in corporate social responsibility and human rights law relating to cross-border trade and investment. 

  • European Human Rights Law (2 credits)  
    by Professor Ignacio Borrajo Iniesta 

This course provides an overview of the protection of civil and political rights in Europe, both those protected by the European Convention of Human Rights and European Union law. It will focus on some of the most important rights and freedoms (religion, speech, criminal procedure), insisting on some of the differences with US civil rights: death penalty or privacy, particularly in the digital realm (internet), as well as new developments like the attack on democracies by illiberal forces and the problems posed by climate action. The case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union will provide essential materials.

  • Global Climate Change and the Law (1 credit)
    by Professor Doug Williams 

This course addresses global climate change and the law. It begins with an introduction to climate science and the most recent reports on the causes and effects of global climate change. It then discusses the multidimensional nature of the climate crisis including environmental justice and climate denialism. The class will consider and evaluate various policy options to mitigate and/or adapt to the effects of climate change, including policy instruments such as emissions cap-and-trade programs, carbon taxes, command-and-control regulation, non-regulatory programs (such as subsidies), and securities disclosure requirements. The class will then examine international efforts to address climate change focusing on the negotiation and implementation of the Montreal Protocol, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, the Copenhagen Accord, the Paris Agreement, and subsequent agreements. The class will then compare the differing approaches used by the United States and the European Union to address climate change. Finally, the class considers efforts to enlist the courts to force action on climate change in the U.S. and in other nations.

  • Intro to Civil Law (1 credit) 
    by Professor Javier Martinez Torron 

U.S. law schools teach common law, the legal tradition of the English-speaking world. This course is an introduction to the other major legal tradition of the modern Western world, the civil law. The civil law tradition is derived from Roman law and comprises the legal systems of almost all European countries, Latin America, and large parts of Africa. It has also influenced many Asian countries, including China and Japan. 

The aim is to help American law students understand the language and concepts of the civil law systems that their clients who have business, family or personal interests in civil law countries will experience. This course will focus on the civil law tradition as it has developed in today’s continental European and Latin-American legal systems. Students will also study the areas in which civil law and common law trend toward convergence or divergence, and the questions they raise in the context of the European unification process. 

  • Intro to Spanish
    by Julio LaSarte (non-credit) 

This course will provide students with a general introduction to Spanish and is designed for beginners as well as those who want a refresher. The class focuses on Spanish culture, history, food and music. 

Class Schedule

The 2025 Summer Law Program in Madrid will run from May 19 through June 29, 2025. Most classes will be held in the morning and early afternoon, and students will have Fridays off for travel and leisure. The final exams will be administered from June 27 through June 29, 2025.

Student Performance and Grading

The Saint Louis University School of Law Summer Law Program in Madrid is an ABA-approved foreign summer program. Students may earn up to 6 credits upon completing the Summer Law Program in Madrid. Grades are measured primarily by final examinations and the grades used are A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, and F. Students who are not enrolled at Saint Louis University School of Law may be graded on a Pass/Fail basis, if they request and prefer to be graded on a Pass/Fail basis. Otherwise, all students will be graded on a letter grade system.

Students will be given the same credit as if they were at the SLU LAW campus, but the acceptance of any credit or grade for any course taken in the program is subject to determination by your home school. Please discuss your school's grading preference with your dean's office before applying to the program.