Postgraduate Course: The Law of Integration in the 21st Century: the Case of the EU (LAWS11522)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The purpose of the course is to analyse the process of constructing a legal system designed to encourage and facilitate deep economic and social transnational interactions, namely the European Union. The course will cover the institutional framework, judicial system and some concrete case studies of areas of legal integration. It will also critically analyse the trade-offs and pre-requisites for states when engaging in such a process. |
| Course description |
This course analyses EU law as a legal system designed to encourage and facilitate deep economic and social transnational interactions. The course is focused on the European Union but draws broader lessons on systems of regional integration. The course is divided into three parts and a conclusion. The first part addresses the constitutional framework for integration described by the Court of Justice as 'a structured network of principles, rules and mutually interdependent legal relations binding the European Union and its Member States reciprocally as well as binding its Member States to each other'. Part II will address courts as actors in the process of legal integration, presenting the EU judicial system as a network of national and supranational courts and also addressing the specific interpretative techniques (such as teleological interpretation, effectiveness and autonomous concepts) developed to promote legal integration. Finally, part III (the larger part of the course) will address specific legislative techniques of integration (harmonization, mutual recognition, agencies) generally and specifically with regard two case studies: the internal market and the area of freedom, security and justice. This will focus on the interaction of different techniques or forms of law (mutual recognition and harmonization). In conclusion, the course will consider the dynamic nature of legal integration ie that it is an ongoing process which generates its own pressures and momentum. It will also address the balance between unity and diversity within a system of legal integration and the extent to which the legal autonomy of states is balanced with the need for common legal structures.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Previous study of EU Law would be desirable. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 25 |
| 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 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The summative assessment consists of a long essay of 4000 words (100%). Students will select a topic from a choice of 4. |
| Feedback |
Students will be given the opportunity to complete a short 1000-word essay on a topic from the beginning of the course. Feedback on the first, shorter essay (formative) will be given with a view to the second, longer essay (summative). Feedback will have a particular focus on the structure and coherence of the argument(s) the nature of the supporting evidence etc. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically understand EU law as a system for facilitating transnational interactions, including the prerequisites and trade-offs in terms of state autonomy and the balance between unity and autonomy. Critically understand techniques of integration, including harmonisation, mutual recognition and the role of agencies.
- Synthesise knowledge from other areas of EU law within a framework of legal integration.
- Develop research skills through identifying primary and secondary sources through use of library resources and legal databases. Engage critically with primary and secondary sources and synthesize substantial legal materials.
- Identify and conceptualise new issues and develop and complete an individual research project
- Develop essay writing skills, including identifying a thesis, developing arguments, presenting evidence and writing persuasively.
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Reading List
The reading will consist of a combination of primary and secondary materials.
Primary materials
- Judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU
- EU legislation (regulations and directives)
Main Secondary Materials
- Pierre Pescatore, The Law of Integration (Sijhoff, 1974) (trans C Dwyer)
- Julio Banquero Cruz, What's Left of the Law of Integration? (OUP 2018)
- Joxerramon Bengoetxea, The Legal Reasoning of the European Court of Justice¿ (Clarendon 1993) (excerpts)
- Karen Alter, Establishing the Supremacy of European Law (OUP 2001)
- Fritz Scharpf, 'Perpetual momentum: directed and unconstrained' (2012) 19(1) JEPP 127
- Christine Janssens, The Principle of Mutual Recognition in EU Law (OUP 2013)
- Eadaoin Ni Chaoimh, The Legislative Priority Rule and the EU Internal Market for Goods (OUP 2022)
Weekly outlines will provide some background as well as more detailed weekly reading lists. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Given the content of the course (encouraging engagement with processes of transnational legal integration), the course aligns well with the Mindset Attribute of outlook and engagement and also the Skills Attribute of personal and intellectual autonomy. The assessment method (and completing a term paper) also encourages research and enquiry from the skills group of Attributes and enquiry and life-long learning from the Mindset Attributes. |
| Keywords | Legal integration,supranational courts,internal market,area of freedom security and justice |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Stephen Coutts
Tel:
Email: scoutts@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Susanna Wickes
Tel:
Email: Susanna.Wickes@ed.ac.uk |
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