Part I – Fundamental Concepts of International Law
Part II – International law Subjects
Chapter I – States as primary subjects of International law
Chapter II – International Organizations as subjects of International Law. The United Nations and the World Trade Organization.
Chapter III – Individuals, subjects of International Law?
Part III – Formal sources of International Law
Chapter I – International Treaties
Chapter II – Costumary International Law
Chapter III – Other sources of International Law
Part IV – International Trade Law
Chapter I – Fundamental principles on trade in goods (GATT)
Chapter II – Commercial Defence Measures
Chapter III – Fundamental principles of trade in services (GATS).
Chapter IV – Dispute resolution and the question of direct effect of WTO Law.

"1. Introduction and Historic legal background
2. The “EOM” and the Portuguese Constituion of 1976
3. The Joint Declarion of 1987
4. The continuity principle
5. The formula “one country two systems” and the MBL
6. The MBL nature
7. The MBL autonomy and the MSAR
8. RPC and SAR
9. SAR and Comparative Law
10. Macau Constitutional Order
11. Fundamental rights in MBL
12. MSAR political system
13. MSAR and the judicial system
14. MSAR and the International Law: The Macau International legal personality
15. MSAR and lusophony
16. MSAR and the portuguese language"

The goal of this module is to introduce students to the main administrative systems and the general principles ruling the administrative proceedings, namely the English, the American, the Austrian, the French, the German and the Italian legal models. Naturally, there is also a special reference to the main rules in Portugal and Macao. It is important to know the different models of administrative organization, namely the bureaucratic model based on hierarchy, the model of territorial decentralization and the regulatory agencies model. On which concerns the principles that rule administrative procedures, it is important to know the growing trend all over the world to participatory, open, transparent procedures, according to the due process of law. But also to understand the differences and similarities between the administrative and the judicial procedures that one can find in different administrative systems. And the incresaing trend to the convergence of different organisational models due to the phenomenom of globalization.

This module aims to provide a general introduction to concepts, methods, and substance of State comparative political organization. The focus will be the usage of theories to help explain individual cases, and likewise using cases to refine theories of political organization. The first part of the course discusses basic concepts of State organization theory. After that, the course reviews the main aspects of political regimes, namely the systems of government, systems of parliament, and systems of representation. Finally, each student will have the opportunity to study and compare political systems from the CPLP member States and China. Furthermore, this course introduces students to the basic methodological concepts and theories used in the evaluation and comparison of political systems. Therefore, students will be able to examine the similarities and differences in the political organization of different States.

The aim of this module is to provide a general understanding of the legal and institutional framework of the European Union as well as certain areas of its substantive law, combined with an explanation of their impact on the national legal orders of the Member States. The module focus on the legal nature of the EU, the EU institutions, their functions and their interaction, the sources of EU law and the decision-making process, the judicial remedies available to institutions, Member States and private parties, as well as a range of substantive areas of EU law, in particular, the internal market fundamental freedoms. The contents of the module must be complemented by preliminary readings of the refence textbooks, which are hereby provided, as well as specific readings by refence to each of the topics in the following outline, including scholar articles and case-law of the EU courts, which will be indicated to the students.

"This subject will address to distinctive matters and therefore will be divided in two parts: the law of the sea and water law. The goal of this subject is to introduce students to the law of the sea and water law and identify the shortcomings in international law to address the many existing complexities and challenges facing the law of the sea and water law.
The Law of the Sea:
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) codifies several principles and rules of international customary international law applicable to the rights and obligations of States at sea. Yet, in addition to its codification purpose, UNCLOS is also a developing framework, dealing with new challenges facing the law of the sea, such as the conservation of the marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction and the effects of climate change.
The Convention also introduced innovative principles, such as the important principle of common heritage of mankind applicable to the seabed beyond national jurisdiction (the Area).
The law of the sea system contained in UNCLOS deals with both zonal and functional jurisdiction, the exercise of which is not exempt of challenges. In addition to rules on the delimitation of maritime boundaries and on the compulsory dispute settlement mechanism, it also includes an important environmental pillar.
UNCLOS also introduces an institutional system, namely the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and the International Seabed Authority. The Convention also interacts with other organizations, namely the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and refers to other international legal frameworks, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and several IMO conventions dealing with shipping and the protection and preservation of the marine environment.
Water Law:
Access to and management of fresh water is one of the key and more complex challenges currently facing mankind, and one that can trigger disputes between States competing to control sources of fresh water.
Threats caused by pollution and other negative impacts on fresh water have implications for States directly affected but also for the whole international community, given the interconnectivity of water ecosystems and the overall implications of these impacts beyond the region where they take place.
Yet, despite the relevance of these matters, there is an insufficient international legal framework dealing with water law, particularly transboundary watercourses, despite previous codification efforts, such as the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. There are few regional and bilateral instruments and State practice is still wanting in these matters to potentially translate into more than the existing vague customary international law dealing with water law.
Matters such as international cooperation regarding environmental impact assessment or the restoration of water ecosystems also represent a significant gap. To add complexity, there is also no compulsory settlement mechanism specifically dealing with disputes regarding water law. There is also a lack of legal development regarding the human rights dimension of water law, such as the recognition of a “human right to water”.
"

"Commercial Law
1. General commercial law concepts
2. Commercial acts
3. Commercial organizations
4. Corporate law
5. Insolvency law
6. Check, letter and promissory note
7. Commercial contracts"

"Intellectual Property has become central in modern economies. This is a field of law that aims to stimulate innovation, guarantee fairness and transparency in commerce and protect creativity. International trade has made it even more necessary to reason in a comparative perspective.

The goal of this module is to introduce students to the fundamentals of Intellectual Property in a comparative perspective, focusing the lusophone branch. Due to its dynamic, it is also important to equip students with abilities to investigate in the field.
"

It’s intended to introduce students to comparative Environmental Law and Policy. It involves the study of environmental international framework and from there to the Portuguese-speaking countries (Portugal, Mozambique, Angola and Brasil) and Asian countries nearby. It will be used the law of administrative procedure of environmental impact assessment, the legal regime on the prevention and control of pollution and the system of environmental liability wherever they may be applied.

"In the current landscape for commercial legal practice no matter as in-house advisor to commercial or governmental organisations or in private practice (or even simply as a businessman), it is inevitable that one has to deal with cross-jurisdictional legal issues.
The goal of this module is to introduce students to perspectives on commercial law of Lusophone trading/investing partners in common law jurisdictions using Hong Kong as example on areas like contractual documentation, fraud, evidence, litigation and ADR.
Students will be using the background facts (with modifications by the students from time to time) in the following hypothetical case as to how cross-jurisdictional legal disputes may arise and be resolved: http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu/cisg/moot/moot19.pdf
It is hoped that through such exposure, students will be more aware of the differences which may challenge them when dealing with jurisdictions from different legal families (not just civil law and common law families) when dealing with their trading/investing partners in the one belt one road endeavours.
"

"The primary goal of this module is to give students a general overview of the Macau SAR laws concerning family, immigration and landed property, with a special emphasis on the latter given its singularity. Some references will be made to the law in mainland China, namely to explain how it influenced the legislative process of the Macau SAR as well as to the Portuguese laws, with the purpose of understanding how a Portuguese-based legal system gained its own identity.
On immigration, a brief context of the history Macau will be given (designately in regards to the transfer of administration) in order for a better understanding of the current legal situation of Macau citizens and immigration policies of the Macau SAR. Also, the different types of stay, work and residence authorizations / permits will be briefly explained.
On family law, given the extent of the subject, this module will focus on the patrimonial relationship that derives from matrimony, with a clear explanation of the different types of matrimonial asset regimes that the betrothed may choose, namely the regime of participation in acquired assets, which is not akin to any other in the Portuguese legal system.
On landed property law, aside from a short reference to the legal principles that shape the legal regime, focus will be given to the various forms of ownership of immovable assets, namely the particularities of the concession (lease) of state-owned land. Eventual comparisons to the other Portuguese-based legal systems will be made to point out the respective differences.
"

"This module is a graduate-level seminar class addressing the contemporary issues in international law. The seminar cover three general areas. The first part of the seminar is devoted to general understanding of the international law (the sources, the emergence of new subjects and actors of international law, the fragmentation of the substantives law and the issue of implementation). The second part of the seminar will explore the growing issues raised by the phenomena of globalisation such as the cross-border movement (volunteer or forced movement) of people; the climate changes and the global response; the transnational organised crime (including the terrorism; human traffiquing and money laundering); the conflicts and international peace keeping; the role of TNC is human rights violation and finally the recent development of rules to frame international development activities.
The last part will analyse the recent changes in international adjudication system and the emergences of new forms of adjudications and actors.
"

"The ultimate goal of the subject is to get participants ready to undertake the writing tasks demanded of lawyers. Specifically, the subject should help honing the following skills:
-Analyzing and conceptualizing legal issues.
-Organizing strategies (outlining, decision trees, cluster diagrams).
-Structuring legal arguments and documents.
-Using core writing techniques, including clarity, cohesion, concision, and legal concerns.
-Writing strong introductions and conclusions.
-Mastering objective v. persuasive techniques.
-Sharpening efficient writing and editing skills using timed assignments.
"

"While many people claim to be professional or to act in professional ways, there is a growing demand for moral behavior amongst professionals. Ethics in the exercise of legal profession (deontology) refers to the minimum standards of appropriate conduct within the legal profession. This model aims to identify, discuss and put forward a set of professional rules in relation to relationship between clients, judges, notaries, legal practitioners and lawyers. It mainly involves duties that the members owe one another, their clients, and the courts. This course will provide a values-based approach to ethical professionalism and provide a method of thinking about and dealing with ethical issues in the work place. The course will provide a discussion of what a profession is and what it means to act professionally. It will include a discussion of the features of moral reasoning and provide a case resolution method for dealing with ethical issues of the work place. The course will cover in-depth those values central to legal petitioners such as integrity, respect for persons, principle of legality, and responsibility towards the society and towards the clients.

1. Moral and Ethics
a. Historical and philosophical comments
b. Moral, Ethics and Religion
c. Moral, Ethics and Citizenship
d. Moral, Ethics, social valuation and political valuation
e. Moral, Ethics and State
f. Moral, Ethics and Professional Deontology
2. Professional Deontology
a. Sources and normative typology
b. Conventional and Collegiate
c. Legal
d. International and Supranational
e. Disciplinary power
3. Deontology of the legalProfessions
a. Justice, Law and Laws
b. Major deontological principles
c. Legal Professions and Deontology: Magistrates, Lawyers
d. Arbitrators, Notaries and Registrars and Jurists
4. Ethics in state justice and arbitral justice
5. COMPARATIVE LAW: legal and conventional systems of Macau, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Timor and Brazil."

This module has been organized to provide a comprehensive legal/economical understanding on International Organizations. It is a threefold module: Firstly, the key aspects of the International organizations legal theory will be studied and analysed: Introduction to International Organizations Law, IO legal Personality, IO ability to practice legal acts; Implicit Powers; Relations with Member States; Relation with non-Member States; Relation with other IO; IO normative Powers; and IO legal control and oversight. After that, the world will be divided in 7 key areas: Arctic, North America, Central and South America, Western Europe, Africa, Central Asia, South Asia and Oceania. In which area will be studied the economic flows and dynamics and the key regional International organizations. Finally, a set of IO will be studied as a practical and legal application of the two previous chapters. Among them the United Nations, the World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, The ASEAN, The European Union, and other regional IO will be studied.

"This subject has two components. The first one is that all the students have to engage in professional practices of legal relevance. All the students are to observe and participate in legal practices for at least 12 contact hours in official legal acts. The second component will be organized in order to provide opportunities to all the students to engage in public activities that are academically relevant. Each student will be invited to perform the following activities, engaging in preparation for at least 44 hours:
Compulsory:
a) Attending two legal seminars or conferences
b) Attending two study visits to MSAR legal institutions (organized by USJ)
Optional:
c) Organizing a legal Seminar or Conference
d) Presenting a paper in legal Conference or Seminar
e) Presenting a paper in legal International Conference or Seminar

This module will be guided by an internal regulation."

Dissertation is the culmination of the work developed through the first year of studies, where students acquired expertise in multiple advanced areas within the comparative legal field. In this module, students are asked to conduct a legal research work on a relevant topic within the main scientific field, focusing on surveying and identifying a specific issue or novelty. The outcome is comprised of a written dissertation following the best practices in legal research methodology and scientific writing.