LAW1222 : Introduction to Global Law
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Ruth Houghton
- Lecturer: Dr Sean Molloy, Dr Sakshi Sakshi, Professor Ben Farrand, Dr Tim Dodsworth
- Owning School: Newcastle Law School
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
This module will provide an introduction to Global Law and Comparative Law. The module will expand the students’ understanding and conceptualisation of legal systems beyond the domestic legal system of England and Wales. It will explore the motivations for a global legal system, both from a scholarly and professionalised perspective. One of the distinguishing features of global law and global legal studies is the acknowledgement of different actors in global governance and law-making. Global legal studies not only recognises the changing nature of the state,. As part of this module, there will be exploration of specific case studies, which could include topics on climate change, human rights or environmental law.
The course will allow students to transcend the limits of singular (national) jurisdictions and to thereby identify alternative solutions from other legal systems. This new, global perspective will encourage consideration of the distinct form of global challenges and how these impact law, society and systems.
Outline Of Syllabus
The lectures will provide an introduction to the following themes:
- Introduction to key themes in Global Law
- Introducing to themes and challenges arises from Globalisation
- Introduction to Comparative Law
- Global Legal Institutions
- Making Global Law
- Case Study: Beyond Sovereignty
- Case Study: Fragmentation
- Case Study: Scale
Two workshops will focus on skills development, in particular:
- Research Skills
- Presentation Skills
There will be four seminars and these will focus on the following thematic issues:
- Context of Global Law
- Making Global Law
- Rethinking Sovereignty
- Scales and Fragmentation in Global Legal Systems
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 60 | 1:00 | 60:00 | Times to complete the summative presentation is 5mins. Time to prepare for the summative presentation and time to prepare for the summative coursework assessment. |
| Structured Guided Learning | Lecture materials | 8 | 1:00 | 8:00 | A combination of short recordings of lecture material and text published on Canvas. Students shall be given relevant pre-reading reading and relevant video lecture materials provided by the lecturer and/or reference to other external source material. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 20 | 1:00 | 20:00 | Face to face weekly lectures on substantive class content. (could be moved to synchronous or non-synchronous on-line material where necessary) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 4 | 1:00 | 4:00 | 1 hour face to face seminar groups (where necessary could be delivered as on-line ZOOM seminars) |
| Structured Guided Learning | Structured research and reading activities | 4 | 6:00 | 24:00 | 24 hours of guided reading activities in preparation of the small group teaching (6 hours of structured reading for each seminar) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 2 | 2:00 | 4:00 | 2 hour face to face workshops to focus on skills development (could be delivered as on-line where necessary) |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 80 | 1:00 | 80:00 | 80 hours of independent study, reading the materials for the lectures, and writing up lecture notes. |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Lectures: there will be 20 hours of lectures and these are used to provide an overview of the main topic areas in global law, this includes context lectures on globalisation [IKO4] and includes the key institutions, actors and overarching concepts in global law [IKO1]. Some of the lectures will be dedicated to introducing the main principles of comparative law [IKO3]. Some of the lectures will be themed according to contemporary case studies, focusing on contemporary challenges [IKO5].
Workshops: there will be two two-hour workshops that are dedicated to the develop of specific skills. The first workshop will focus on the development of specific research skills in global law [ISO2]. As part of this workshop, students will identify, retrieve and use a range of library-based and electronic resources [ISO2]. The second workshop will focus on presentation skills, this will provide students with an opportunity to develop their presentation skills, and in particular their oral presentation skills ahead of the summative assessment [ISO3].
Small group teaching: there will be four one-hour seminars.. The seminars will include student activity such as group work to discuss seminar questions [ISO8]. These components will provide space for discussion on key topics in global law, including reflecting on the role of global legal systems in responding to contemporary challenges [IKO5], and applying relevant legal knowledge to case studies [ISO7]. The seminars will provide formative practice opportunities of constructing coherent arguments ahead of the summative written assessment [ISO6]. All seminars will be synchronous events (whether online or present-in-person).
Online lecture materials: alongside the lecture materials, students will be directed towards relevant online materials and prompted to answer questions and reflect so as to complement and elaborate on textbook-based learning[IKO1, IKO2, IKO3, IKO4 and IKO5]. This will include materials such as blogs, podcasts or videos.
Academic Skills Activities/Structured reading activities: as part of the preparation for seminars, students will be directed towards cases or academic articles and will be asked a series of reflective questions; this will further develop their understanding of the areas and provide an opportunity to practice critical analysis of the sources being read. The choice to prepare structured reading also allows students the opportunity to develop their ability to manage their own time [ISO1] and their own learning resources [ISO5]
Independent study: independent study time includes the time to write up lecture notes, read the materials on the lecture reading lists and the seminar reading lists.
Assessment preparation and completion: as the summative assessment is an essay and a presentation, students will need sufficient time to undertake independent research and to prepare for their assessments.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 2 | M | 75 | 1500 words |
| Oral Presentation | 2 | M | 25 | Assessment of a 5-minute presentation |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
Summative assessment is provided by means of an assessed essay and a presentation.
Presentation: this is a 5-minute presentation as a summative assessment which is worth 25% of the overall course. This 5-minute presentation gives the students the opportunity to demonstrate: (1) knowledge and understanding of the emerging legal systems of global law, including key institutions, actors, and concepts; (2) demonstrate ability to communicate orally in an effective and accurate manner information and arguments in global law
Summative Essay: this summative assessment will be a 1500-word essay. There will be a set question, and the focus of this coursework and the primary consideration when marking will be evidence of research skills and legal writing. This assessment will provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate: (1) knowledge and understanding of the emerging legal systems of global law, and their ability to explain the relationship between different legal system within global law, (2) Knowledge and understanding of the main principles of global and comparative law, (3) knowledge and understanding of the context of global law and globalisation, (4) knowledge and understanding of the role of global law in responding to contemporary challenges, (5) ability to write coherent arguments in global law, (6) ability to integrate information from primary and secondary legal sources
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- LAW1222's Timetable