The Complexities of teaching International Law: The Bihar Chapter

Abstract

International law has by far remained the most underestimated and challenging subject of the legal curriculum in India. This is for two reasons. First, as compared to other law subjects, it does not fetches much enthusiasm among students as it does not help the legal aspirants in any competitive exams which is primarily confined to either as practitioners or in judicial services. Second, the subject still struggles with the question of effectiveness and legality amongst most of the learners of the law except few who are expert in international law which is rare across India. There are few institutions that have designated courses for different branches of International law. It is in light of these pressing issues that the author has been motivated to write this paper and address the concerns as far as possible. My own engagement with the subject during my under graduate law course was not very pro International law. Neither the faculty nor the students in general were interested in the subject. However, the scenario changed when I went to pursue my higher studies at Centre for International Legal Studies (CILS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. International Law was all that was taught during my M.Phil course work. After completing my studies, I landed up in Bihar again and the atmosphere for International law has remained the same. It was still grappling with the issue of legality (the perception was common not only amongst the students but amongst the faculties as well). For every debate or research on International law both at undergraduate and masters level, the internal legal experts would question the students by stating the favourite quote of Sir Thomas Erskine Holland “International law is vanishing point of jurisprudence” or that of Austin which quotes “International law is not law, it is positive morality”. The perception in Bihar in context of the subject has not moved beyond that. I have argued in my paper that while the geographical disadvantage of the place cannot be ignored, the intellectual disadvantage is beyond any understanding. The paper also counters the ‘legality’ narrative while highlighting its importance. Before I dwell on all theses issues, I will share a brief personal and professional background of my introduction, interaction and exposure to the subject.