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Legal Theory - LAWS2320

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 4

Enrolment Requirements:

Pre-requisite: 24 UOC completed in LLB courses or 24 UOC completed in Juris Doctor courses. Juris Doctor students who commenced prior to 2013 need no pre-requisites.

Equivalent: JURD7223, JURD7431, LAWS3331

Excluded: JURD7223, JURD7431, LAWS3331

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

LAWS2320 is a Core Course. Students wishing to complete Legal Theory as an Elective should enrol in course code LAWS3331. Enrolment is by school consent and you should email law@unsw.edu.au to request enrolment.

The course sees law as a phenomenon which may usefully be investigated from viewpoints other than those of the practitioner. It critically discusses a number of basic notions associated with contemporary legal philosophy, including the nature of legal analysis, the separation of law from other areas of social life, the character of legal positivism, the role of the legal decision-maker, legal practice as an interpretive activity, the character of moral judgment, the difference in moral theory between the right and the good, liberalism as a political theory and its opponents, and liberalism's attitude to rights and to cultural difference. The course then applies some of these ideas to a number of 'problems' in contemporary legal practice, which vary from semester to semester. They may include human rights in East Asia, the legal response to cultural diversity, feminism and difference, legal responsibility, punishment, rights and judicial power, citizenship, and the character of legal decision-making.

Course Learning Outcomes

The student will be able to:

Demonstrate awareness of principles of legal theory and their relationship to the broader context;
Engage in critical analysis of social and legal institutions;
Engage in critical analysis of the law on one hand and personal and public morality on the other;
Produce scholarly writing that demonstrates: (1) acquaintance with the vocabulary of philosophical reflection on law; (2) analysis, synthesis, critical judgment, reflection and evaluation; and (3) cites a range of practical and scholarly interdisciplinary research sources;
Demonstrate effective oral communication skills by discussing and debating course concepts in a scholarly, reflective and respectful manner; and
Demonstrate self-management through self-assessment of capabilities and performance and use of previous feedback received in the course.

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