Section Information
Section Description Provided by Instructor
The understanding of one's own constitutional system can be enriched by the study of the different ways other systems have treated shared problems. The relevance of comparative law for lawyers is enhanced by trends of globalization of the social and political spheres and by the growth of borrowing and transplanting regime structures and legal doctrines across systems.
The course comprises twelve units, organized in six modules. An introduction to comparative law is followed by a comparative analysis of constitutionalism and constitutions. We then consider different structures of allocation of government powers (separation of powers, with a special emphasis on the role of the executive); models of judicial review available across constitutions, followed by an analysis of constitutional protection of human rights; we then assess comparatively several key emerging concepts in comparative public law, namely "legal transplants" and "constitutional dialogue". We will use several case studies in the analyses, inter alia the issue of reproductive freedom as treated in several systems and the diffusion of proportionality across constitutional documents and jurisprudence.
Method of Evaluation: Two assignments (oral and written), participation - 30%, proctored exam - 70%
Semester
Spring 2013
Section
001
Schedule
MW 9:10a - 10:30a
Location
JGH 103
Points
3.0
Method of Evaluation
Paper and Exam
(Class)
J.D. Writing Credit
No
Course Limitations
Pre-requisite Courses
Constitutional Law (of any system)
Co-requisite Courses
None
Recommended Courses
None
Other Limitations
None
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