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Japanese Law and Politics - LAWS4128
 Landscape with Library

 
Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Faculty of Law
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Postgraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 8
 
 
EFTSL: 0.16667 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 2
 
 
Fee Band: 3 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
  

Description

Japanese Law and Politics explores the relationship between law and governance in Japan. Although the course ostensibly deals with public law topics such as constitutionalism, administrative law and judicial activism, the course adopts a thematic approach to how these topics are played out in the Japanese legal setting. Thus, the theme of policymaking in Japan examines how the public policy agenda is set in Japan, focusing on the policy-making powers of the Diet, the bureaucracy, the judiciary and other legal agents. The theme of parochialism investigates Japan's political and legal engagement with the global community, tracing the tension between Japan's eagerness to assume a more prominent political role within the global community and its reluctance to internalise unwelcome international norms on the other. The theme of privatization charts the rise of corporate governments in Japan, exposing three trends of privatization in Japan - deregulation of rules, delegation of adjudication to private parties and relegation of public functions to the corporate domain. The final theme of pluralism explodes the myth of homogeneity in Japan and examines how the Japanese are prepared to use State legal institution to transform social protest into legal action.


LLM Specialisation

Asian Law

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

To understand the relationship between law and governance in Japan.

Main Topics

  • Policymaking in Japan
  • Parochialism
  • Privatisation
  • Pluralism

Assessment

You have great flexibility in determining the assessment scheme in this course. The only assessment that all students must undertake is online participation (20%). Your chosen assessment scheme must suit the learning outcomes you have articulated. There is some variation in the available assessment options and their weighting, but the following is indicative of the range of assessment options you may select:

Online participation
Reflective notes portfolio
File of client advices
Literature Review
Research essay
Conference paper
Viva voce
Annotated bibliography

Course Texts

Prescribed
Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer.

Recommended
Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer.

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© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.