Undergraduate Course: Global Jurisprudence (LAWS08145)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Global Jurisprudence deepens student knowledge of the conceptual, theoretical, methodological, political and ethical approaches to and implications of global law. In three units it examines: theories and concepts important of global law, methods of global law, and power and politics of global law. |
| Course description |
This course will address the tension between having a 'global perspective' on law / law in a global context and whether there is such a thing as ¿global law¿ and what this entails. It examines the challenges that global law presents for traditional legal theoretical accounts of legal systems, norms and methods. As such it will present both the positivist accounts of ¿what is law¿ and show how this is challenged. It will examine the different ontologies presumed by comparative law and legal pluralism. The latter part of the course looks at the concepts, such as power and empire, to understand the political, ethical, and ideological social systems that law is part of. Students will have a deeper understanding of all these topics which can be applied to the rest of the global law curriculum and further afield. The readings are complex and so close reading and challenging concepts will be taught slowly and deliberately. It will better prepare students in reading complex materials in Years 2-4 and in using relevant frameworks and discourses for themselves.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
78 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
35% response to a reading (1,500 words)«br /»
65% essay (3,000 words) |
| Feedback |
1. Feedback on summative Response Writing
2. One page outline of essay submitted in semester 2 (end of week 8 of semester 2) formative
3. Individual and class instructor feedback on summative essay (end semester 2) |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of the major legal and political theories relevant to understanding Global Law.
- demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of global legal concepts and methods.
- demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of the historical, political, cultural, and socio-economic frameworks, as well as the complex and dynamic nature of these, in which legal rules in a global context operate.
- demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of the challenges of global law to existing theories of law, including state derived normative positivism.
- apply critical theories to understanding contemporary global problems.
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Reading List
There is no Global Legal Theory or Jurisprudence reader or textbook for undergraduate students, therefore the readings will consist of excerpts from the likes of:
William Twining Understanding Law from a Global Perspective (CUP 2009)
Neil Walker Intimations of Global Law (CUP 2015)
Neil Walker Legalising inter-legality (2022) European Law Open 1(1):216-227. doi:10.1017/elo.2022.4
Jorge Luis Fabra-Zamora Introduction in Luis Fabra-Zamora (ed) Jurisprudence in a Globalized World (Edward Elgar 2020)
Each week will have specific readings. These will be outlined in the course document. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Skills and abilities in Research and Enquiry
1. Apply knowledge and analysis to complex legal, socio-legal and ethical issues in a global legal context.
2. Explain and justify research methods and theoretical frameworks used in that research where appropriate.
Skills and abilities in Personal and Intellectual Autonomy
1. Think critically about law and its place in global society.
2. Develop a curiosity for learning and a passion to engage globally and locally.
Skills and abilities in Communication
1. Present knowledge or an argument in a way which is comprehensible to its intended audience, directed to the concerns of that audience (both orally and in writing)
2. Read and discuss legal materials which are written in complex language.
3. Communicate information (including discussing technical and complex legal materials), ideas, advice and choices in an effective manner.
Skills and abilities in Personal Effectiveness
1. Display an informed knowledge and understanding of the social, historical, economic, moral and ethical contexts in which law operates at a global level, including its colonial legacies, and how law responds to these social, historical, economic, moral and ethical contexts by displaying legal knowledge in association with related policy, underlying social conditions, professional ethical issues and moral issues.
2. Demonstrate an ability to organise and prioritise time and effort effectively in the performance of the student's work.
3. Have the confidence to make informed decisions based on their knowledge and understanding and their personal and intellectual autonomy, reflecting on their roles as knowledge seekers and producers, and how this is relevant throughout their professional lives.
4. Understand the transmission of knowledge across different boundaries, including languages and cultures. |
| Keywords | legal theory,global law,global jurisprudence,legal methods |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Gail Lythgoe
Tel:
Email: Gail.Lythgoe@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Ryan McGuire
Tel: (0131 6)50 2386
Email: Ryan.Mcguire@ed.ac.uk |
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