Class Participation

Weekly attendance of tutorial classes is required (assessment includes class activities and discussions).  A roll will be taken each week.  A student who is absent for a tutorial will be considered as not having participated for that tutorial. 

Details on the content of tutorial classes can be found on this Unit’s iLearn site (https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/index.php)

Criteria upon which class participation is to be assessed are: students’ preparation for the classes, understanding of the materials, depth of arguments, participation, presentation skills, and legal research (detailed explanations of the assessment criteria and marking rubric are provided on the iLearn site of the unit).

Feedback in writing will be provided to individual students in tutorial classes in Week 8.

Estimated Student Workload (outside class time)

On average, 2 hours per week from Week 1 to Week 13.

Class Test 1

Criteria for assessment are: students’ understanding of the materials, knowledge, and ability to analyse and evaluate issues concerning the topics covered in the unit for the test (detailed explanations of the assessment criteria and marking rubric are provided on the iLearn site of the unit).

It is an Open Book test.  It is a test with short-answer questions. Information about Class Test 1 (including materials allowed to be brought to Class Test 1 and the syllabus of Class Test 1) will be announced in the Lecture in Week 3 (Monday 11 March 2019).

Class Test 1 is a 30-minute test.  It will be held during the time for the Lecture in Week 5 (on 25 March 2019 Monday).

Students are expected to present for Class Test 1 at 4:00 p.m. on 25 March 2019 at the venue for the BUSL377 lecture or such another venue as announced on the iLearn site of this unit.

The only exception to not sitting Class Test 1 at the designated time is because of documented illness or unavoidable disruption. In these circumstances, students may wish to consider applying for Special Consideration under the University’s Special Consideration Policy, which is available at: https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/special-consideration.  If a Supplementary Test is granted, the Supplementary Test will be scheduled by the Unit Convenor.

The marked Tests will be returned to the students in the week commencing on 8 April 2019.  Feedback to individual students is given in writing on the marked tests.  Feedback will also be given to students verbally in the lecture in Week 7 in the form of an explanation on the correct answers, common mistakes, and the level of difficulty (low, medium and high) of the questions.

Estimated Student Workload (outside class time)

On average, 4 hours per week from Week 1 to the date of Class Test 1 (25 March 2019) in Week 5.

Class Test 2

Criteria for assessment are: students’ understanding of the materials, knowledge, and ability to analyse and evaluate issues concerning the topics covered in the unit for the test (detailed explanations of the assessment criteria and marking rubric are provided on the iLearn site of the unit).

It is an Open Book test.  It is a test with short-answer questions. Information about Class Test 2 (including materials allowed to be brought to Class Test 2 and the syllabus of Class Test 2) will be announced in the Lecture in Week 7 (8 April 2019).

Class Test 2 is a 60-minute test.  It will be held during the time for the Lecture in Week 10 (on 13 May 2019 Monday).

Students are expected to present for Class Test 2 at 4:00 p.m. on 13 May 2019 at the venue for the BUSL377 lecture or such another venue as announced on the iLearn site of this unit.

The only exception to not sitting Class Test 2 at the designated time is because of documented illness or unavoidable disruption. In these circumstances, students may wish to consider applying for Special Consideration under the University’s Special Consideration Policy, which is available at: https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/special-consideration.  If a Supplementary Test is granted, the Supplementary Test will be scheduled by the Unit Convenor.

Because the University's policy stipulates that "all assessments worth 20% or more must be archived", the marked Class Test 2 papers will now be kept by the University.  The teaching staff will however bring the marked Class Test 2 papers to the tutorial class in Week 11 for students to view their own test papers.  Before the end of the tutorial class and students leave the classroom, the teaching staff will collect the marked Class Test 2 papers for the University to keep.  If students want to view the test papers again, please make arrangement with the administrative staff of the Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance.

Feedback will be given to students verbally in the lecture in Week 11 in the form of an explanation on the correct answers, common mistakes, and the level of difficulty (low, medium and high) of the questions.

Estimated Student Workload (outside class time)

On average, 4.5 hours per week from Week 6 to the date of the Class Test 2 (13 May 2019) in Week 10.

Essay

Students will be required to submit an Essay (excluding footnotes and bibliography: 2,300-2,500 words).

The Essay topic and Instructions will be posted on iLearn in Week 4.

The Essay is research based.  Students will not be able to rely simply on the required and/or recommended reading materials for classes.  Students will be expected to conduct their own research.  The Essay is a task for each individual student.   Collective or collaborative work is NOT ACCEPTABLE.  

Footnotes and bibliography (in Australian Guide to Legal Citation (3rd ed) style) are required.

Criteria upon which the Essay is assessed are: the contents, structure, presentation, and referencing (footnoting and bibliography) of the essay which show the students’ understanding of the materials, the depth of arguments and critique, the thoroughness of legal research, and adequacy of referencing (detailed explanations of the assessment criteria and marking rubric are provided on the iLearn site of the Unit).

Students must before 4:00 p.m. on 4 June 2019 hand in BOTH an electronic version of the Essay via TURNITIN on the iLearn site of this unit and a hard copy of the Essay to BESS (Business and Economics Student Services) at E4B106.

For both BESS and TURNITIN: The first submission is final.  Do NOT submit to BESS more than once.  Do NOT submit via TURNITIN more than once.

All text based assessments (such as the Essay) must be submitted through Turnitin as per instructions provided in the Essay Instructions (available on the iLearn site of this unit). It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that work is submitted correctly prior to the due date. No hard copies of assessments will be accepted alone and only Turnitin records will be taken as records of submission. Multiple submissions via Turnitin are NOT POSSIBLE in this unit. Originality reports are NOT made available to students to view and check their work. Please refer to these instructions on how to submit your Essay through Turnitin. Should you have questions about Turnitin or experience issues submitting through the system, you must inform your unit coordinator immediately. If the issue is technical in nature, you may also lodge OneHelp Ticket or refer to the IT help page. It is the responsibility of the student to retain a copy of any work submitted. Students must produce these documents upon request. Copies should be retained until the end of the grade appeal period each term. In the event that a student is asked to produce another copy of work submitted and is unable to do so, they may be awarded zero (0) for that particular assessment task.

Because the University's policy stipulates that "all assessments worth 20% or more must be archived" and the Essay is the last assessment task, all the Essays will be retained by the University.  For viewing of the marked Essays after the University has released the final results, please make arrangement with the administrative staff of the Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance.  Feedback is provided on each of the marked Essays. 

In view of the time given to students to complete the Essay, no extensions will be granted.  There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). For example, if the Essay is worth 40 marks, a student is 23 hours late in submission and (before penalty) this student's mark is 30, the penalty will be a deduction of 4 marks (40 marks x 10% = 4 marks) (i.e. this student will obtain 26 marks for the Essay).This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved.   

Estimated Student Workload (outside class time)

On average, 6 hours per week from Week 4 to 4 June 2019.

Classes

3 hours face-to-face teaching per week consisting of 1 x 1.5-hour lecture and 1 x 1.5-hour tutorial.

The timetable for classes can be found on the University web site at: https://timetables.mq.edu.au/2019/.

There will be Echo recording of the lectures. There may be video-screening and/or class activities in the Lectures, which will not be recorded in the Echo lecture recording.  Echo recording may also be stopped for copyright reason. 

Weekly attendance of tutorial classes is required (assessment includes class activities and discussions).

Details on the content of tutorial classes can be found on this Unit's iLearn site (https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/index.php).

Required and Recommended Texts and/or Materials

Required Text

Colin P. A. Jones and Frank S. Ravitch, The Japanese Legal System (First Edition) (St. Paul: West Academic Publishing, 2018) (ISBN: 978-1-64242-537-6).

It can be purchased from the Macquarie University Co-op Bookshop.

Other Required Materials

See the List of Weekly Topics and Prescribed Readings for Lectures and Tutorials in this Unit Guide.

They can be obtained from the Internet and/or database subscribed by the Macquarie University Library.

Recommended Materials

Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Introduction to Japanese Business Law & Practice (Second Edition) (Japan, LexisNexis, 2014) (ISBN: 978-4-908069-00-0).

Hiroshi Oda, Japanese Law (Third Edition) (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009/2011).

Kay-Wah Chan, "Regulating Judges, Japanese-Style: The Prevalence of Informal Mechanisms" in Richard Devlin and Adam Dodek (eds) Regulating Judges: Beyond Independence and Accountability (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016), pp.262-278. 

Other recommended readings (if any) are as described in the Tutorial Instructions.

Technology Used and Required

Technology used: learning management system (https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/index.php).

Students have to frequently access this Unit's iLearn site (https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/index.php) for the Lecture Notes, Tutorial Instructions, announcements and detailed information regarding the unit.

Unit Web Page

Lecture notes (from the lectures' PowerPoint slides) are available on the learning management system (iLearn): https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/index.php.

Teaching and Learning Strategy

The weekly classes will be a combination of one 1.5-hour lecture and one 1.5-hour tutorial (with case studies, simulations and reflective activities).    

As assessment includes class participation in the tutorials, students will be expected to complete the required reading prior to class and to contribute to class activities (in small groups).

Tutorials will commence in the second week of the semester: Week 2.

Detailed tutorial instructions are available on this Unit's iLearn site (https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/index.php).

LECTURES

TUTORIALS

As compared with the offering in 2018, the main change(s) is/are:

1. The Textbook has been changed.
2. The order/sequence of the topics to be covered has been slightly changed.
3. The required word length of the Essay has been changed from 2800-3000 words to be 2300-2500 words.

Research and Practice

1. This unit uses research by Macquarie University researcher:

• Kay-Wah Chan and Helena Whalen-Bridge, "Who is Worthy? Non-Lawyer Participation in Japanese and Singaporean Lawyer Disciplinary Systems" (2018) 42 (2) Fordham International Law Journal pp.325-372.
• Kay-Wah Chan, “What Have They Done Wrong? An Analysis of Disciplinary Actions against Japanese Lawyers: Past and Present” in Keiichi Ageishi, Hiroshi Otsuka, Katsuhiro Musashi and Mari Hirayama (eds) The Legal Process in Contemporary Japan: A Festchrift in Honor of Professor Setsuo Miyazawa’s 70th Birthday Vol.1 (Shinzansha Publisher Co., Ltd, 2017) pp.625-642.
• Kay-Wah Chan, “Legal Malpractice Lawsuits in Japan: Past, Present and Future,” (2017) 24(2) International Journal of the Legal Profession pp.159-176.
• Kay-Wah Chan, "Regulating Judges, Japanese-Style: The Prevalence of Informal Mechanisms" in Richard Devlin and Adam Dodek (eds) Regulating Judges: Beyond Independence and Accountability (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016), pp.262-278. 
• Kay-Wah Chan, “Setting the Limits: Who Controls the Size of the Legal Profession in Japan?” (2012) 19 (2-3) International Journal of the Legal Profession pp.321-337.
• Kay-Wah Chan, “Justice System Reform and Legal Ethics in Japan” (2011) 14 (1) Legal Ethics pp.73-108.
• Kay-Wah Chan “The Reform of the Profession of Lawyers in Japan and Its Impact on the Role of Law” in Yves Dezalay and Bryant Garth (eds) Lawyers and the Rule of Law in an Era of Globalization (Routledge, 2011; ISBN: 978-0-415-58117-2) pp.185-216.
• Kay-Wah Chan, “The Emergence of Large Law Firms in Japan: Impact on Legal Professional Ethics” (2008) 11 (2) Legal Ethics pp.154-180.
• Kay-Wah Chan, “Foreign Law Firms: Implications for Professional Legal Education in Japan” (2005) 10 (20) Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht (Journal of Japanese Law) pp.55-79.

2. This unit uses research from external sources:

• See the Required Reading List above and Tutorial Instructions.

Global and Sustainability

This unit addresses global and sustainability issues as direct areas of study and/or as necessary implications arising from the materials, assessment and academic discussion and debate in classes. We promote sustainability by developing ability in students to research and locate information within the Japanese law discipline. We aim to provide students with an opportunity to obtain skills which will benefit them throughout their career.  The global contexts of this unit are found in the contents of the unit (as it is a Japanese Trade Law unit), including the contents of the lectures, the tutorials and its assessments tasks.