THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2020/2021

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Undergraduate Course: Law, Legitimacy and Globalisation (LAWS10197)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe core components of the course involve analysing changes in law and politics at national, transnational and international levels. In particular it looks at whether the current conceptual tools and models for law and legitimacy based on state sovereignty are adequate in understanding legal practice and legitimacy in globalised world. It will also analyse new models and proposals for reconceptualising law and mechanisms of legitimacy in a globalised world. Subject matter-wise, the course involves a blend of constitutional law, legal theory, international law with some elements of private law, private international law, human rights law and EU law.
Course description The proposed teaching outline is as follows:

1. Contemporary challenges to law and legitimacy
2. Case studies of the globalisation of law and legitimacy
3. Old Approaches to law in the international context.
4. New Approaches to legal theory 1: transnational legal theory
5. New Approaches to legal theory 2: Legal Pluralism.
6. New Approaches to legal theory 3: Constitutional Pluralism
7. Old Approaches to legitimacy: human rights, democracy and the rule of law
8. New Approaches to to legitimacy 1: Global Constitutionalism
9. New Approaches to to Legitimacy 2: Global Administrative law
10. New Approaches to Legitimacy 3: Global Democracy
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Spaces on this course are allocated as part of the Law Honours Course Allocation process. Places are generally only available to students who must take Law courses. To request a space on this course, please email Law.UGO@ed.ac.uk
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesThis course is only open to visiting students coming through a direct exchange with the School of Law (including Erasmus students on a Law-specific Exchange). Exchange students outside of Law and independent study abroad students are not eligible to enrol in this course, with no exceptions.

**Please note that 3rd year Law courses are high-demand, meaning that they have a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces.**
Priority will be given to students studying on exchange within the Law department, and it is highly unlikely that there will be additional spaces for general exchange students & independent study abroad students to enrol; we will look into this on a case-by-case basis in September/January. Visiting students are advised to bear in mind that enrolment in specific courses can never be guaranteed, and you may need to be flexible in finding alternatives in case your preferred courses have no available space.

These enrolments are managed strictly by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2020/21, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  32
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 176 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 100% Coursework, consisting of a essay outline draft counting for 10% of the final mark and one coursework essay of 5000 words worth 90% of the final mark. The emphasis in this assessment will be independent research and writing.
Feedback Students will have the opportunity to either write a critical summary of one of the prescribed readings for the course or provide a draft table of contents on the coursework essay for which they will receive critical feedback. Students will also receive feedback on the book review, and on the final essay.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Knowledge and Sources of Law: The course¿s primary aim is to develop student¿s ability to engage critically with: - catalysts for change in legal and political practice in the contemporary world - a better understanding of the conceptual assumptions underpinning contemporary law and politics - how changes in governance and society challenge our assumptions about law and legitimacy - critical insights into current developments on reconceptualising law and legitimacy - an appreciation of various areas of law including public law, private law, transnational law, international as well as how they contribute to legal and political change.
  2. Subject-specific skills: In this course students will learn how to master complex areas of law and how to critically analyse complex arguments on the topic of the course.
  3. General Transferable Intellectual Skills: Critical Analytical skills; Comprehension - Prioritization of points in argumentation; Writing skills, in particular summarizing information; Clear articulation of opinion as well as justification of that opinion
  4. Key Personal Skills: An ability to engage in contemporary debates involving the subject-matter of the course. An ability to clearly formulate opinions on complex materials as well as clearly and convincingly articulate their point of view.
  5. Subject-Specific Legal and Ethical Values: The course will foster reflection on the moral and political implications of globalisation.
Reading List
Intimations of global law, Neil Walker 1960, Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press ;2015

Legality's borders: an essay in general jurisprudence, Keith Charles Culver 1969- Michael Giudice
New York ; Oxford : Oxford University Press ;2010

Authorities conflicts, cooperation, and transnational legal theory, Nicole Roughan, Oxford : Oxford University Press ;2014

Ruling the world? : constitutionalism, international law, and global governance, Jeffrey L. Dunoff 1960-; Joel P Trachtman, Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press ;2009
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsLaw,Legitimacy,Globalisation,Global Constitutionalism,Global Democracy
Contacts
Course organiserDr Cormac Mac Amhlaigh
Tel:
Email: cormac.mac.amhlaigh@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Ryan McGuire
Tel: (0131 6)50 2339
Email: Ryan.Mcguire@ed.ac.uk
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