University of Sydney Handbooks - 2019 Archive

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Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence

Exemption from core units of study should not be assumed to be automatic. Formal approval must be obtained from the Sydney Law School prior to enrolment.
Master of Jurisprudence
For the award of the Master of Jurisprudence, students must complete 48 credit points of units of study, comprising:
(i) 12 credit points of core units of study; and
(ii) 36 credit points of elective units of study.
Graduate Diploma in Jurisprudence
For the award of the Graduate Diploma in Jurisprudence, students must complete 24 credit points of units of study.

Core

The following units are only available to students undertaking the Master of Jurisprudence
JURS6034 Jurisprudence Research Project A

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Supervised by an appointed Sydney Law School academic staff member Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Corequisites: JURS6035 Assessment: 15,000 to 20,000wd research project (100%) due on 15 June (Semester 1) or 15 November (Semester 2) of the final semester in which a student is enrolled in the research project Mode of delivery: Supervision
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: This unit is compulsory for MJur students. Applications close on 30 November (Semester 1) and 30 May (Semester 2). Applications should only be lodged after the completion of at least 24 credit points. Late applications may be accepted from those with incomplete results. Students must complete both JURS6034 and JURS6035 within one or over two semesters. For further information, please visit https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-homepage or contact E: law.postgraduate@sydney.edu.au
The goal of this compulsory (capstone) unit of study is to provide Master of Jurisprudence students with an opportunity to pursue advanced research in an area of their choosing, under the limited supervision of a School member. Please refer to the Sydney Law School website for details on eligibility criteria and application material.
JURS6035 Jurisprudence Research Project B

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Supervised by an appointed Sydney Law School academic staff member Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Corequisites: JURS6034 Assessment: 15,000 to 20,000wd research project (100%) due on 15 June (Semester 1) or 15 November (Semester 2) of the final semester in which a student is enrolled in the research project Mode of delivery: Supervision
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: This unit is compulsory for MJur students. Applications close on 30 November (Semester 1) and 30 May (Semester 2). Applications should only be lodged after the completion of at least 24 credit points. Late applications may be accepted from those with incomplete results. Students must complete both JURS6034 and JURS6035 within one or over two semesters. For further information, please visit https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-homepage or contact E: law.postgraduate@sydney.edu.au
Please refer to JURS6034 Jurisprudence Research Project A.

Electives

JURS6018 Constitutional Theory

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Wojciech Sadurski Session: Intensive September Classes: Aug 9, 10 and 23, 24 (9-5) Assessment: Options: (i) class participation (20%), oral presentation (20%) and 4500wd essay (60%) or (ii) 2 x oral presentations (20% each) and 3000wd essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-people.html. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/cpd/
This unit will address the role that constitutionalism is expected to play in a democratic state, and will explore various constitutional theories. The main focus will be on theoretical attempts at reconciling commitments to constitutionalism with emphasis on democratic participation: Is it paradoxical that a state governed by majority rules withdraws certain areas from collective decision-making? Various theories of constitutionalism, of constitutional interpretation, and of constitutional judicial review will be explored. The unit will also discuss the question of constitutional charters of rights, different models of judicial review, separation of powers, direct democracy and the functions of constitutions in transitions to democratic systems. The unit will follow a seminar format with the emphasis on class discussion of unit materials. First two days will be focused on the instructor's lectures while two remaining days on students' presentations.
LAWS6119 The State and Global Governance

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Assoc Prof Jacqueline Mowbray Session: Intensive September Classes: Sep 6, 7 and 13, 14 (9-5) Assessment: 1000-2000wd critique of a selected reading (25%), 250wd essay abstract and one page reading list (10%) and 5000-6000wd essay (65%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Master of Law and International Development students may undertake this unit as an elective or capstone unit. Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-people.html. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/cpd/
How will Donald Trump's presidency affect international law and international relations? How do non-state actors like Islamic State challenge the existing international order? How do we respond to international health emergencies, such as the outbreaks of the Zika and Ebola viruses? These questions all raise issues of global governance, that is, how international affairs are governed on a global scale. They also raise questions about the roles and capacities of individual states within the global order. This unit explores how current systems of global governance operate, the place of states within those systems, and the significance of law to those systems. In doing so, the unit introduces students to a range of historical and contemporary approaches to understanding the role of law in international affairs, and gives students an opportunity to consider these in relation to current events of global import. The sorts of questions with which the unit is concerned may include the following: Are systems of global governance lawful? Are they democratic? What is the role of violence in the contemporary global order? How does/should international law seek to address pressing transnational issues, such as poverty, environmental degradation, global health threats and human rights abuses?
LAWS6187 Functional Analysis of Law and Soc Control

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Assoc Prof Alex Ziegert Session: Intensive April Classes: Mar 22, 23 and 29, 30 (9-5) Assessment: 1000wd research note (30%) and 7000wd essay (70%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-people.html. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/cpd/
This unit examines the largely diffuse concepts of social control and the functions of law and proposes a more specific approach to legal theory which incorporates the latest findings of socio-legal research on the social effects of law. As a result of this discussion, a more specific concept of social control and an explanatory assessment of the social effects of law, including its political use, are presented with their theoretical implications for legal and political systems and applied, as examples, to historically and societally varied situations.
LAWS6308 Philosophy of Law

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Wojciech Sadurski Session: Intensive August Classes: Jul 18-24 Assessment: Pre-class reaction note (20%), class participation (20%) and take-home exam (60%). Attendance at all classes is compulsory. Students will not be eligible to submit their exam unless they have attended all classes (except in the case of serious illness or misadventure). Practical field work: Sydney Law School in Europe Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: Students cannot enrol directly into this unit in Sydney Student. Enrolment instructions will be provided upon successful registration. See https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-homepage. Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-people.html.
The main objective of this unit is to provide a critical understanding of the fundamental principles of legal theory and philosophy of law. The unit will discuss, in particular, the concept of law, the notions of obligation, authority, and legitimacy of law; the main theories of legal interpretation; the special role of the concept of "rights" in legal theory, and the principles determining the moral limits of legal coercion.
LAWS6350 Criminal Law: History and Theory

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Arlie Loughnan Session: Intensive October Classes: Sep 27, 28 and Oct 4, 5 (9-5) Assumed knowledge: LAWS6034 Gender, Violence and the Criminal Law, undergraduate criminal law or permission given by Unit Coordinator. Assessment: class participation (10%), class presentation (20%) and 6000wd essay (70%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
This unit critically examines the development of the modern criminal law and process (broadly, since end eighteenth century). In terms of process, topics to be considered may include the development of the adversarial trial system, the decline of capital punishment, the formalization of rules of evidence and proof, the growth of the summary jurisdiction, and the appearance of 'hybrid' civil/criminal procedural forms. In terms of criminal law, topics may include non-fatal offences against the person, sexual offences, possession and 'endangerment' offences. The discussion of these topics is set in the context of legal scholarly discourse (criminal law theory) and the unit provides opportunity for reflection on the contemporary challenges of coordination and legitimation facing the criminal law. This unit adopts an explicitly critical socio-historical approach to the study of law. Discussion of relevant legal theoretical scholarship forms a core part of the subject matter of the unit.
LAWS6837 Morals and the Analysis of Legal Doctrine

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Adj Prof Christopher Birch Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2-hr lecture/week Prohibitions: JURS6023 or JURS6022 Assessment: structured class presentation (20%) and 7000wd essay (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
Note: Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-people.html. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/cpd/
The unit will seek to analyse the central concepts of some of the main areas of civil law, including tort, contract and property from the perspective of a number of contemporary moral theories. The unit will examine the work of moral philosophers in the fields of distributive and corrective justice such as John Rawls, Jules Coleman and Ernest Weinrib. The unit will also consider theories associated with the economic analysis movement in legal philosophy, especially the theories of Richard Posner. The unit will apply moral theories on the one hand, and rational action theories such as the economic analysis view of law on the other, to better understand legal doctrine. In addition to property, contract and civil wrongs, the unit will look at constitutional structures and international law. While considering a wide variety of legal doctrines, the focus of the unit will always be on the way these doctrines are better understood from the perspective of theories of justice or versions of rational action theory.
Electives from other faculties
The following elective is available from the Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
HRTD6906 The Philosophy of Human Rights

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week Prohibitions: PHIL7607 Assessment: 1x1500wd Take-home exam (35%) and 1x3500wd Essay (65%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit addresses central themes from the history and philosophy of human rights. Topics may include the relationship between human rights and religion, natural law, moral and aesthetic justifications of human rights, claims and challenges to universality of the part of human rights, and tensions between human rights and state sovereignty. Thinkers may include Saint Paul, Kant, Burke, Tocqueville, Arendt, Schmitt, and Rawls.