LAWS5194: Law and Development in Southeast Asia

Pre-departure test (10%)

A Multiple-Choice Test (Quiz), comprising 10 questions, to be held on Friday 27 June 2025 (Sydney, Australia time). The Quiz will be 30 minutes and will start at 11am. The test will be conducted on campus, and more information will be available on Canvas. It focuses on cultural competencies and overviews of the Malaysian and Cambodian legal systems.

Structured class participation (10%)

Students are obliged to attend and engage with all classes and field trips (5%). Five students will be on call each day and will be expected to have a general knowledge of the topics for that day and to ask informed questions (5%). The same process will be applied in Malaysia and Cambodia.

Research Planning (20%): This assessment comprises of two parts:

• Research Proposal (10%). Students are asked to submit a 1-page summary (500 words maximum) of what they intend to do, their framework and main references. Proposal must be submitted by 5pm 25 July 2025 (Sydney, Australia time).
• Oral Assessment/Viva (10%). Students are asked to explain why they chose their subject matter and proposal, the underlying concepts and their processes for conducting the research. The viva assessments will start at 10am on 31 July 2025 and continue on 1 August 2025 (Sydney, Australia time), with each session allocated 15 minutes per student.

Blog post (20%): This assessment requires you to maintain a participation blog, which will account for 20% of your final grade. The blog should consist of 5 reflections: 2 personal reflections on the first week in Malaysia, 2 personal reflections on the second week in Cambodia, and 1 reflection that engages with a blog posted by a fellow student. Your reflections should demonstrate a deep engagement with the material by incorporating and referencing your further reading, the themes mentioned in class, and your now informed opinions. The blog entries should be well-organised, clearly written, and provide thoughtful and culturally competent insights into the subject matter. No individual blog post should exceed 300 words and a total blog count of 1500 words. The due date for the participation blog is by 5pm 21 July 2025 (Sydney, Australia time).

Research Essay (40%)

Research Essay (40%). The essay should be a comprehensive and well-researched piece of writing that incorporates knowledge and information gained from both the local lectures and site visits, as well as relevant literary sources, and focuses on the role of law in development. Your essay should demonstrate critical thinking, a thorough understanding of the subject matter, and the ability to synthesise information from various sources. The essay has a word limit of 4000 words. The essay must be submitted by 5pm 29 August 2025 (Sydney, Australia time)

Word limit penalty: A piece of assessment which exceeds the prescribed word limit will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment for every 100 words, or part thereof. The total word count for essay and other written assessments will include all footnotes and any bibliography (if required), and exclude acknowledgements of assistance from editors, automated writing tools or generative AI (where use is permitted). 

Use of editors and automated writing tools: The use of assistance in preparing and editing assessment tasks in this unit of study is strictly prohibited. Assistance includes human and automated writing tools (not including spell checking).  

Special consideration: Successful grants of Special Consideration may involve alternative tasks, as appropriate.  

Assessment requirements to pass a unit of study: A student must make a genuine attempt at all assessment tasks set out in this Unit of Study in order to obtain a Pass mark and grade (or above); otherwise an Absent Fail grade will be recorded as the student’s result for this Unit of Study.