General provisions

Determined on January 28, 2016 by Faculty of Law’s Teaching Committee, Uppsala University, by virtue of Chapter 6 Section 14 and 15 (1993:100) of the Higher Education Ordinance. The course plan enters into force on August 1, 2016. Revised on May 29, 2018, the revisions enter into force on August 15, 2018.

General

The course “Global Legal Traditions” (15 ECTS credits) is an optional course at advanced level in the studies for the degree of Master of Laws, according to the degree requirements adopted 16 April 2007 by the Board of the Faculty of Law of Uppsala University. The course is held in English.

Entry requirements

In general, Swedish students must have attained five passes out of the six courses given at undergraduate level of the LL.M. programme. All the obligatory phases of the course in which the student has not attained a pass must have been fulfilled. Foreign students shall have studied law for at least two years. If special reasons exist the board of exemption may grant exemption from the acceptance requirements.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

To pass examination the students ought to demonstrate

• deep knowledge concerning the foundations of the main legal traditions of the world and the relations between these traditions, including theories and methods related to contextual comparative law, legal cultures and traditions, applied to historical trials as exponents of their specific legal culture.

Skills and abilities

To pass examination the student ought to demonstrate ability

• on an advanced level, to critically and systematically assess and integrate the acquired knowledge related to the legal traditions of the world on one historical trial as exponent of its specific legal culture,
• to independently, critically and creatively identify legal and contextual problems related to a historical trial as exponent of its legal tradition,
• to relate the legal tradition to cultural and public life discourses, as presented in a historical trial,
• to work individually as well as in interaction with the other students.

Judgment and approach

To pass examination the student ought to demonstrate

• ability to make an assessment regarding one of the legal traditions that are discussed, by analysing a historical trial as exponent of its legal culture,
• insights regarding the current discourses related to comparative law, legal cultures and legal traditions,
• insights regarding the relation between the legal culture in which the student is educated and the legal traditions discussed during the course,
• ability to individually show a critical and analytical consciousness to the relevance of the scientific issues discussed during the seminars.

Criteria for grades

The grades given are Fail (U), and the passing grades Pass (B), Pass with credit (Ba) and Pass with distinction (AB).

To obtain the grade B/Pass, the students have to prove that they have reached the expected learning outcomes as described above, by showing their ability and understanding to describe, to summarize, to refer, to reflect and to analyse.

To obtain the higher grade BA/Pass with Credit, students not only have to show their ability and understanding as described above for the grade B, but they also have to have a good analytical approach, on a well structured, independent and critical way.

To obtain the highest grade AB/Pass with Distinction, students not only have to show their ability and understanding as described above for the grades B and Ba, but they have to show good analytical skills, on a well structured, well thought through, critical and comparative way, with statements that are build on a convincing argumentation and on a highly independent way.

Content

• The scientific framework to main legal traditions such as comparative legal history, the concept of legal systems, legal cultures and traditions, the law in action and the law in the minds.
• Deeper studies of a number of legal traditions; civil law, the common law, the Talmudic, the Islamic, the Hindu, the Asian and the “chthonic” legal tradition.
• Analytical comparison related to the concept of legal tradition and to the descriptions of the legal traditions that are ventilated during the course, including to the legal culture in which the student is educated.
• A number of historical trials, such as the Dreyfus case in France, “Twelve Angry Men” and the Monkey Trial in the USA, the Stalin trials in the USSR, etc. The goal of studying these historical trials is to get a better understanding of the law in action and the law in the minds in different legal traditions, in the past and today.

Instruction

The students acquire knowledge and abilities by individual studies and by taking active part in the course’s seminars. Presence is obligatory - in case of absence, the students will have to write a 3-4 p. replacement paper. The students will have to prepare at least one presentation, to be presented at the seminar(s). They also have to participate actively in the discussion of each of the seminars. During the seminars instructions are given aiming at an in-depth understanding of the dominating legal cultures of the world, through the profound analysis of historical cases.

Assessment

After the seminars, the students will get a take home assignment to write a paper, discussing a historical trial, its historical context, central phenomena, issues and questions, as exponent of its legal tradition. In special circumstances, the course director can decide to have another way of examination.

It is prohibited to attempt to use deceptive means to influence the outcome of an exam or other ways of evaluating student performance such as essays. This entails inter alia the following points. A student may not use non-permitted aids or materials during a written examination. In a take home examination the work submitted must be the individual work of the student. Cooperation with other students in the writing of take-home examinations is prohibited. It is also prohibited to pass off another person’s work as one’s own work, in other words, to engage in plagiarism. See the specific instructions given in each course in this respect. In addition to the result of the exam or other way of evaluating student performance being reduced or declared null, a student who, in the above or other ways engages in cheating will be reported to the University Disciplinary Board. The Board can issue formal warnings or disbar the student from studying at the university for a period of up to six months.

Other regulations

Delegations

It is delegated to the Course Director to issue the study plan and the list of literature. These shall be annually submitted to the Educational Committee as part of the course report.