GUIDE FOR CASE BRIEFS AND REACTION PAPER

A. CASE BRIEFS

1. Introduction – Why Case Briefing?

Jurisprudence is one of the most relevant sources of law, and International Law is
not exempted from that reality. To understand Jurisprudence, a lawyer must read
and interpret the written decisions of judges. The lawyer looks for cues from the
language of the decision, evaluating the meaning and significance of each cue and
synthesizing the results. Thus, the lawyer creates an interpretation that synthesizes
the facts, the result and the judge’s explanation of the result.

Following that, a Case Brief is a method for reading, analyzing and making notes
about a case. Formats and preferred methods for case briefing vary widely, partly
because case brief are personal study tools. Nonetheless, in the International Law
class we propose a unify format that will allow you to begin case analyzing by
addressing the key elements of a decision.

The objective of the Case Briefs that you will be making this semester in
International Law, will be to identify legal problems with which Judges were
confronted, what considerations they took to answered it, and how the decision they
took changed the law. At the same time, Case Briefs will be useful tools for your
partial and final exams preparation.

2. How to Case Brief?

Read the case through once before you start to write, underlying or highlighting the
paragraphs that you consider should be feet into one of the following tags, which at
the same time conform the different sections of your Case Brief:

1. Identification Information

a. Nature of the case: in this section you will have to present the kind of
proceeding followed before the particular institution (e.g. appeal process
before the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) and the form of
action or relief sought (e.g. Diplomatic protection action presented by the
state of Mexico on behalf Mr. Avena and others).
b. Reference: the name of the case
c. Institution: the tribunal before which the proceedings took place.
d. Date: This refers to the date of the decision analyze.
e. Key Words: These are the most important terms treated in the case, which
usually relate to the legal issues developed. A helpful hint to identify the
correct key words is: those words that if you include them in a search on an
internet browser or a Data Base, the immediate result will be the Case you
are briefing.
2. FACTS:

Describe in your own words the facts of the case. You need to include only the facts
that pertain to the legal issues that are subject of your analysis. For example, if your
case concerns a dispute between to States on weather the principle of equidistance
is a customary rule applicable to maritime boundaries, the date in which both states
were recognized as members of the UN is not relevant. Those facts should pertain
to the question of whether the entity should be recognized as a State or not.

III. LEGAL ISSUES:

The Issue is the legal question the decision of the judge’s resolves. Usually, the case
tells you how the Court thought the governing rule of law applied to the facts of the
case, so you can state the issue on those terms. The Issue should always be presented
as a question. Here is an example:

Can the International Court of Justice consider the Equidistance principle as an

international customary rule applicable to delimit the maritime boundary between
the states “X” and “Y”?

IV. RULE(S) OF LAW

Is a statement of the legal test the Court will apply to resolve a legal issue. In this
section you should summarize the general principle of law the case illustrates. It is
useful for classroom discussion and individual review.

V. HOLDING AND REASONING

The holding is the court’s decision on the particular legal issue plus the important
facts – the facts that seem to make the most difference for the result.

Notice the difference between a holding and the rule of law. The rule sets out the
legal test the court will use to decide the case. The holding states the court’s
conclusion on whether the facts of the case meet the legal test.

Usually, a court uses its written opinion (case) to explain the reasons for its decision.
These reasons will be important for you, as they will give you important clues on
how the rule of law should be applied and how the Court might decide similar future
cases.

V. DECISION

Refers to the concrete conclusion the court came through after the analysis of the
case. It is important that you explain in this section whether the decision was
unanimous or by short majority, in order to determine the strength of the Rule of
Law applied by the judge’s.
FORMAT PARAMETERS

The entire Case Brief should have a maximum extension of 1650 words.

B. REACTION PAPER

A reaction paper may raise questions, comment, and agree or disagree with the
readings; however, they should not summarize the readings. Reaction papers need
to develop a central thesis that relates to the broad themes addressed in the
readings.

Please note that the reaction papers are not research papers and do not require that
students consult any outside sources. Students may, however, consult the additional
reading materials outlined in the syllabus.

1. Extension: 750 words max.

2. Parameters: Single spaced, Arial 11, Margins: 3 cm for every side

SUGGESTED STRCUTURE:

I. Introduction= statement of the argument: The student must present the

central argument and the important points of its argumentative line,
which are going to be exposed.

II. Main part: The student must develop in a clear and structured manner
the legal critical analysis of the argument.

III. Conclusion: the student must conclude its analysis with coherent and
suggestive ideas about the selected issue(s).