Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Iain Stewart
Contact via iain.stewart@mq.edu.au
W3A 619
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
6cp in LAW or LAWS units including LAW115 and (admission to LLB or BAppFinLLB or BALLB or BA-MediaLLB or BA-PsychLLB or BBALLB or BComLLB or BCom-ProfAccgLLB or BEnvLLB or BITLLB or BIntStudLLB or BPsych(Hons)LLB or BScLLB or BSocScLLB)
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit is a philosophically-based introduction to law and legal thought. It has four main objectives. It aims to introduce students to the nature of the Australian legal system; to equip them to think in a theoretical and critical way about the nature of law and legal reasoning; to convey an understanding of some key legal concepts; and to assist them to draw on and apply these reflections in the context of some contemporary legal issues.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Due |
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Class participation | 10% | Ongoing |
Class presentations | 10% | Twice during session |
Assignment 1: Essay | 30% | Mon 31 August, 23:59 |
Assignment 2: Take home exam | 50% | Thu 12 November, 23:59 |
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 10%
A Tutorial Schedule with detailed information about each tutorial will be issued on iLearn.
Due: Twice during session
Weighting: 10%
In Week 2 if possible - at the latest in Week 3 - you must select among the listed general topics for two future weeks, out of Weeks 3 to 13. In each of those weeks, you will give a class presentation of 3 minutes. There will be no set questions: an important part of this exercise is to formulate questions and answers relating to one of the general topics for that week. Following the presentation, the topic will be opened for discussion by the whole class. The discussion must reflect upon the topic, not just offer a set of "interesting things" about it.
A presentation must be accompanied by one or more slides - in any form, including PowerPoint - or at least by a 1-page handout distributed to the class before the presentation begins. The presentation may be divided among 2 or 3 students, in which case its length will be 6 or 9 minutes respectively. Each student will then receive an individual mark.
Each presentation, for each student, will count for 5% of the total and will be marked out of 5. You will be told the mark by the end the class.
In each class, each week, no more than 5 students will be permitted to give presentations - unless a presentation has been delayed and a disruption application has been approved.
Due: Mon 31 August, 23:59
Weighting: 30%
Assignment 1: Comprehension and critical analysis
This assignment will require comprehension and critical analysis of some key readings on the nature of law. The maximum length will be 6 A4 pages, double-spaced. There will be a choice of questions. Detailed instructions will be included with the questions.
Due: Thu 12 November, 23:59
Weighting: 50%
Assignment 2: Take-home examination
This assignment will cover three key areas of the unit and will require students to think independently, critically and analytically about jurisprudential issues and to provide a clearly written and well-reasoned defence of their views about these issues. There will be three equally weighted questions. The maximum length will be 8 A4 pages, double-spaced. There will be a choice of questions. Detailed instructions will be included with the questions.
Technology used
This unit will use iLearn and ECHO lectures. All written communication with the convenor must be through iLearn.
Classes
For current updates, lecture times and classrooms please consult the MQ Timetables website: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au
There is one two-hour lecture per week, which will be recorded through ECHO. Overhead slides will be made available on iLearn.
Internal students must attend at least 10 tutorials and submit all assignments. Students are not permitted to attend tutorials other than the tutorial group for which they are enrolled. If they do so, their attendance will not be recorded and will not count towards fulfilling the attendance requirement for the unit.
External students must attend both days of the on-campus-session and submit all assignments.
Students who miss more than two tutorials or part/all of the on-campus session will not be eligible to pass the unit, unless they have an acceptable reason for being absent (such as documented illness on the day). If that is the case, they will be required to submit written work in lieu of the work covered in the missed classes.
Required and recommended resources
Prescribed Text
Denise Meyerson, Jurisprudence (Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2011). Available in hard copy and as an ebook.
Course Materials
Additional prescribed readings will be provided in e-Reserve.
Supplementary Readings
There is no single text which covers all of the material dealt with in this unit, but the following books will be useful to you if you would like to read more about the topics. They will also help in the writing of your assignments for this unit. All of these books are on reserve in the Macquarie University Library.
S Berns, Concise Jurisprudence (Federation Press, Sydney, 1993).
B Bix, Jurisprudence: Theory and Context (3rd edn, Sweet and Maxwell, London, 2003).
S Bottomley and S Bronitt, Law in Context (3rd edn, Federation Press, Sydney, 2006).
R Cotterrell, The Politics of Jurisprudence (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1989).
H Davies and D Holdcroft, Jurisprudence: Texts and Commentary (Butterworths, London, 1991).
M Davies, Asking the Law Question (3rd edn, Law Book Company, Sydney, 2008).
L Fuller, The Morality of Law (Revised edn, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1969).
J W Harris, Legal Philosophies (2nd edn, Butterworths, London, 1997).
J M Kelly, A Short History of Western Legal Theory (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992).
D Lloyd, Lloyd's Introduction to Jurisprudence (8th edn, Sweet and Maxwell, London, 2008).
H McCoubrey and N D White, Textbook on Jurisprudence (2nd edn, Blackstone Press Ltd, London, 1996).
J G Murphy and J L Coleman, The Philosophy of Law (Revised edn, Westview Press, Boulder, San Francisco, and London, 1990).
D Patterson, A Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory (Blackwell, Oxford, 1996).
J G Riddall, Jurisprudence (2nd edn, Butterworths, London, 1999).
F Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer (Cambridge, Mass, Harvard University Press, 2009).
R Wacks, Understanding Jurisprudence (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005).
Week |
Lecture |
Tutorial |
Assessment |
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1 |
Legal Traditions of the West and the World |
None |
None |
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2 |
Law and State |
Legal Traditions of the West and the World |
Class participation |
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3 |
Premodern Accounts of Law |
Law and State |
Class participation; Essay 1 issued |
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4 |
Modernist Accounts of Law I |
Premodern Accounts of Law |
Class participation |
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5 |
Modernist Accounts of Law II |
Modernist Accounts of Law I |
Class participation |
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6 |
Postmodernist and Feminist Accounts of Law |
Modernist Accounts of Law II |
Class participation; Essay 1 due | |
7 |
Jurisprudence and Sausages: an Overview |
Postmodernist and Feminist Accounts of Law |
Class participation |
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Semester Break |
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8 |
Rights: Concepts of |
Jurisprudence and Sausages: an Overview |
Class participation |
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9 |
Freedom |
Rights: Concepts of |
Class participation |
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10 |
Equality and Inequality |
Freedom |
Class participation | |
11 |
Difference |
Equality and Inequality |
Class participation |
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12 |
Rights: Bills of |
Difference |
Class participation; Take-home exam issued |
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13 |
No lecture |
Rights: Bills of |
Class participation; Take-home exam due |
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html
Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html
Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.
Law School Assessment Policy
In the absence of a successful application for Disruption to Studies, late assessments will not be marked and will receive a grade of 0%. Applications for Disruption to Studies are made at ask.mq.edu.au
Length limits are strictly applied and anything beyond the length limit will not be marked.
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://informatics.mq.edu.au/help/.
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