Florida State students planning a career in international law can receive additional training in the College of Law's certificate program in International Law. The program, which recognizes its graduates for their concentration in the area, carries additional requirements beyond those for the J.D. degree, and signals to potential employers that a graduate has advanced training.
Program Requirements
Credit hours and courses: The candidate must successfully complete a total of 91 credit hours for graduation with a Certificate in International Law (Certificate); 21 credit hours must be courses and activities designated within the program (Program Course and/or Activities) by the International Programs Committee (Committee). No more than 4 credits obtained at the Oxford Summer Program may be used to fulfill the requirements of the Certificate.
Forms: You will be required to fill out the International Law Certificate Program Application to pursue the International Law Certificate. Applications must be submitted to the Registrar's Office at records@law.fsu.edu prior to the completion of the second course that you plan to use to satisfy the certificate requirements. Application approval is required to pursue the International Law Certificate track. In addition to the application form, you will also be required to submit a Student Progress Tracking Form to document any requirements you have already completed at the time of submitting your application. You will then need to fill in the form each year to record your progress toward completion of the program requirements.
Transfer Credit: For Florida State University College of Law students, 14 of the required 21 credits, including the two required courses, must be Florida State Law courses. All Oxford courses are Florida State Law courses. If a student transfers to Florida State Law, 14 of the required 21 credits, including two of the three required courses, must be Florida State Law courses.
Grade Requirement: All program courses must be taken for graded credit if so offered. Program activities, however, may be taken on a S/U basis, provided that the candidate otherwise fulfills relevant J.D. requirements. The certificate will be awarded only to candidates with an average grade of 74 or above for all program courses. Candidates achieving an average grade of 84 to 88.99 for all program courses will be awarded the Certificate with Honors; 89 to 92.99 will be awarded High Honors; and 93 and above will be awarded Highest Honors.
Paper Requirement: The candidate must successfully complete a two- or three-credit seminar or course or Directed Individual Study (DIS) that includes a substantial research paper on an international or comparative law topic. If the paper is submitted for a course other than a program course, the topic must be approved in advance by the committee. A "substantial research paper" is a paper of a scope that would meet the upper-level writing requirement.
Skills Requirement: Students must fulfill a skills training requirement, which can be obtained in any one of four ways: (i) by completing at least 40 hours of pro bono work in the areas of international and comparative law, (ii) by completing a moot court competition (such as the Jessup competition) in an area relevant to international and comparative law, (iii) by completing an internship or externship in a relevant area, or (iv) by completing a qualifying skills training class (such as International Trade Simulation) or a class in international legal research (such as International Legal Research or Human Rights Legal Research).