Inter-American Curriculum
Commercial Law for Foreign Investors in Guatemala — Derecho Comercial para Inversionistas Extranjeros en Guatemala
- Taught in Spanish
This course will use the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to examine the legal framework regulating foreign investment in Central America and Mexico. With Guatemala's ratification of CAFTA-DR, Guatemala opened its doors not only to trade but also to foreign investment, including from U.S. companies looking to do business in Guatemala. While the CAFTA-DR includes norms that govern the relationship between foreign investors and Member States, the domestic laws of each Member State continue to provide the central regulatory structure that governs relations among the parties, including in the areas of commerce, intellectual property, labor and the environment. This is an introductory course that examines the principal commercial norms that would apply to foreign investors in Guatemala, with a special emphasis on the law of contracts. The course will examine the comparable norms applicable under NAFTA, and will also introduce the topic of how CAFTA's ratification has promoted rule of law reforms in Guatemala in the areas of commerce, intellectual property, labor and the environment.
Comparative Free Speech and Access to Information in the Americas
- Taught in English
Both the United States Constitution and the constitutions of Latin American countries, including Guatemala, guarantee the right to free speech. This course will look at the history and text of the guarantees, judicial decisions interpreting them, and the actual scope of those guarantees in practice, with emphasis on the function of free speech in facilitating democracy. We will look particularly at the impact of globalization on the scope of free speech guarantees, including the impact of international treaties, the activities of NGOs, and speech on the Internet. In addition to free speech, the right to information held by government is crucial to democratic participation and decision-making, combating corruption in government, effectuating personal decision-making (with health information, for example), facilitating efficient business practices and commercial exchanges, and enforcing other interests, such as environmental protection and guarantees of human rights. We will examine and compare the systems for providing citizens access to government information in the U.S. and Latin America, particularly Guatemala, and look closely at a number of specific areas where interests in disclosure and secrecy conflict.
Comparative Litigation in the Americas
- Taught in English
This course compares how culture and context has yielded differing expressions of the adversarial model in U.S. and Guatemalan court systems. The course examines rule of law reform and development in Latin America, and considers the unforeseen results of cross-border exportation of law. In the criminal law context, the course compares such topics as prosecutorial discretion, plea bargaining, victims' rights, and the implications of burdens of proof on evidence and will explore how the availability of resources, precepts of impunity vs. overly-punitive societies, and normative perceptions of the strength of governing institutions have affected the administration of justice. In the civil law context, the course investigates "e-discovery" and other pre-trial litigation issues in the U.S. and compares them with Guatemalan counterparts.
Comparative Latin American Law: The Guatemala Case Study — Derecho Comparado Latino Americano: El Caso de Guatemala
- Taught in Spanish
This course offers students a unique bilingual, inter-cultural, and inter-disciplinary approach to the study of comparative law, with a special emphasis on U.S./Latin American relations, and specifically U.S.-Guatemala relations. The course introduces students to Guatemala's key historical moments that explain Guatemala's current social and economic context, with emphasis on U.S. Guatemala relations.
The course also relies on sociological, anthropological, and political science studies to explain Guatemala's most pressing current challenges, with special emphasis on ethnic conflict, social inequality, and the process of post-conflict democratization. This context will enrich students understanding of Guatemala's laws and legal institutions. As well, the course will introduce students to Guatemalan peoples, culture, and customs.
Immigration Law
This course covers legal issues and policies pertaining to non-U.S. citizens of the United States, including the regulation of their admission into and removal from the United States, and, as to some, their naturalization as U.S. citizens within the border, particularly of undocumented immigrants.
This course also critically examines how and why the rights of non-citizens who are in U.S. territory differ from the rights of citizens. These topics are covered from various perspectives, including constitutional law, human rights, ethics, morality and history.
Immigration Law Clinic
Students provide legal assistance to low-income clients on immigration matters and direct representation in adjustment of status & naturalization matters, such as family petitions. Concurrent or prior enrollment in Immigration and Nationality Law course is required.
Latin American Comparative Law
This course introduces students to the richness and diversity of the Latin American legal tradition through cases, legal documents, and commentaries. It also compares the law of Latin America to that of Europe and the United States. As well, the course introduces students to the transformation of Latin American laws and legal institutions through rule of law reforms promoted principally by the United States.
International Environmental Law in Latin America — Derecho Ambiental Internacional en Latino America
- Taught in Spanish
This course examines the role of international law in promoting cooperative solutions to some of the most pressing environmental problems confronting the planet. The course begins with an introduction to the international law framework within which international environmental law has developed, and emphasizes the relationship between international environmental law and international human rights law. The course then uses several case studies to analyze the legal regimes that have developed to address environmental problems of particular relevance to Latin America, including protection of biodiversity, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and protection of water resources.
Latin American Trade Law and Development
- Taught in English
This course examines the intersection of international trade law with the development of regional economic integration in the Americas. The World Trade Organization, which promotes free trade, has grappled with how to incorporate the development objectives of regional trade associations into its trade mandate (GATT Art. XXIV).
In examining this “free trade” vs. “free and fair trade” debate, the course discusses the array of new trade agreements to which Latin American countries are parties, with a particular focus on U.S.-Latin American bilateral agreements. The course examines the provisions of these agreements and explores their contribution to trade and development in Latin America.
Legal Spanish
- Taught in Spanish
This course prepares bilingual students and students who are proficient in Spanish, to represent Spanish speaking clients in the U.S. legal system, or to work in Spanish on matters involving U.S.-Latin American relations. The course introduces students to important vocabulary and emphasizes skills in areas of law most likely to require lawyering in Spanish. The course also includes discussion of topics important to cross-cultural lawyering, including the use of interpreters by U.S. lawyers and the courts.
Legal Spanish for Lawyers
- Taught in Guatemala
This course prepares students with basic Spanish proficiency to represent Spanish-speaking clients in the U.S. legal system or to work in Spanish on transnational matters involving Latin America. It combines one-on-one Spanish immersion instruction with a structured classroom component. The Spanish immersion component introduces and builds on each student's legal Spanish vocabulary in areas of law likely to require lawyering in Spanish or in areas identified as priorities by the student. The structured classroom component allows students to practice skills in Spanish, such as client interviewing, intake, and client counseling, through simulations and group exercises.
This course will prepare students with basic Spanish proficiency to represent Spanish-speaking clients in the U.S. legal system or to work in Spanish on transnational matters involving Latin America. It will combine on-on-one Spanish immersion instruction with a structured classroom component. The Spanish immersion component will introduce and build on each student's legal Spanish vocabulary in areas of law likely to require lawyering in Spanish or in areas identified as priorities by the student. The structures classroom component will allow students to practice skills in Spanish, such as client interviewing, intake, and client counseling, through simulations and group exercises.
