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Regular version of the site

Law

2019/2020
Academic Year
ENG
Instruction in English
4
ECTS credits
Course type:
Compulsory course
When:
1 year, 1 module

Instructor


Vandysheva, Elena

Course Syllabus

Abstract

Studying Jurisprudence students will learn to reflect in a critical way on the functions and meaning of legal systems and legal institutions. We will discuss relation between law and politics, economy and morality. The course content will cover most common problems in the legal theory and practice to develop a wider comprehension of the nature and working of law.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • The primary aim of the course is to form a complete understanding of approaches toward research on law in comparative perspective and ability to resolve typical legal conflicts and to prepare legal documents.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Able to learn and demonstrate skills in the field, other than the major field;
  • Able to identify scientific subject;
  • Student is able to work in team.
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Introduction: Modern legal families
    The concept of legal family and its development. Definitions of legal family (legal system). The criteria of a taxonomy. Types of modern legal families and their characteristics. Continental or Romance-Germanic law family. Anglo-Saxon (Anglo-American) law family. Religious legal family. Mixed legal system.
  • Main legal concepts
    Approaches to definition of legal understanding. Natural law (Jusnaturalism) and its characteristics. Etatism and its characteristics. Features of sociological type of legal understanding. Characteristics of psychological type of legal understanding.
  • Sources of law
    Definition of sources of law. Kinds of sources of law and their legal force. Domestic and international sources. Federal and regional sources. Constitutions. Statutes. Court Opinions (the role of precedents). Administrative Regulations. The effect of law in time. Immediate effect (enforcement). Retroactive legality. Surviving of the legal act. Rules for legal acts enforcement and official publication. Termination of the action of legal act. The effect of legal act in space. Jurisdiction. The effect of law in personal. Immunities.
  • Wrongdoing and legal accountability
    Definition and features of wrongdoing. Types of wrongdoing. Elements of wrongdoing (corpus delicti). Delictual capacity. Sanity. Defendant's characteristic. Object of wrongdoing. External element. Mental element (mens rea). Legal responsibility (definition and forms).
  • Law making process
    Parliament agenda formation and measuring. Characteristics of main stages of law making process. Legislative initiative. Preparation. Introduction. Committee Study. Floor Action. Action by the Second Chamber. Conference Committees. Promulgation.
  • Effectiveness of law
    Concept of the Effectiveness of the Law. Approaches to measuring of legal effectiveness. Evaluation of law reform.
  • The concept of the Rule of Law
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Seminar activity
  • non-blocking Team project proposal
  • non-blocking Team project defence
  • non-blocking Test
    Test will include 10 open questions that will focus on materials of the course. Your grade will be equal to the number of correct answers you got on the test.
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (1 module)
    0.25 * Seminar activity + 0.25 * Team project defence + 0.25 * Team project proposal + 0.25 * Test
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Brooks, T. (2014). Law and Legal Theory. Leiden: Brill. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=675680

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • BERINZON, M., & BRIGGS, R. C. (2016). Legal Families Without the Laws: The Fading of Colonial Law in French West Africa. American Journal of Comparative Law, 64(2), 329–370. https://doi.org/10.5131/AJCL.2016.0012
  • Brownlee, K. (2004). The Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law (Book). Journal of Moral Philosophy, 1(2), 229–231. https://doi.org/10.1177/174046810400100209
  • CASANOVA, J. (2017). Islam, Gender, and Democracy in Comparative Perspective. OXFORD: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1506315
  • Goh, B. C. (2016). Law Without Lawyers, Justice Without Courts : On Traditional Chinese Mediation. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1431920
  • Goldsworthy, J. D. (2006). Interpreting Constitutions : A Comparative Study. Oxford: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2092575
  • Guerrier, C. (2016). Security and Privacy in the Digital Era. London: Wiley-ISTE. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1339817
  • Lautenbach, G. (2013). The Concept of the Rule of Law and the European Court of Human Rights (Vol. First edition). Oxford, United Kingdom: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=672428
  • Li, L. (2017). Building the Rule of Law in China. Cambridge, MA, United States: Elsevier. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1433172
  • Raz, J. (2011). From Normativity to Responsibility. Oxford: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=458490
  • The Oxford handbook of empirical legal research / ed. by Peter Cane; Herbert M. Kritzer. (2010). Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.330885197