General provisions

Determined on June 18, 2007 by Faculty of Law's Teaching Committee, Uppsala University, by virtue of Chapter 2 Section 5 a of the Higher Education Act and Chapter 6 Section 14 and 15 of the Higher Education Ordinance. The course plan enters into force on July 1, 2007.

In general

The course represents 15 university points (15 ECTS credits) and is an obligatory 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 level 1 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.

If special reasons exist the board of exemption may grant exemption from the acceptance requirements.

Foreign students should be qualified to study at university level.

Learning outcomes

After the course the students should be able

- to make use of and place their earlier acquired knowledge of the law in a historical comparative and jurisprudential context.

- to compare various international legal traditions in an independent and competent way.

- to place these traditions in an historical, social, political and ideological context.

- to view the Swedish legal tradition in a comparative perspective.

- to discuss current legal political issues with a view to the historical background.

- to analyse historical texts.

- to understand the theoretical problems of law and their importance to legal thinking and practical legal work.

- to analyse legal arguments as it appears in various legal sources, for example judgments and laws.

- to discuss the issue regarding the rule of law and human rights in an historical and jurisprudential context.

Content

The course comprises two areas of legal studies: comparative legal history and jurisprudence.

In comparative legal history, the course deals with the western legal tradition, in particular the various traditions that now form part of the E.U., as well as other legal traditions, for example, the Islamic tradition.

In jurisprudence, the course deals with various legal theories as well as theories of interpretation and other methodological issues.

Issues that relate to the idea of rule of law and human rights are dealt with in both parts of the course.

Instruction

The course consists mainly of seminars where the students participate by presenting the material and common discussions of the issues raised during the seminar.

There will also be lectures and study visits. The lectures are intended to provide context and interpretation of the main issues that the course deals with.

The seminars are obligatory and to pass the course the students are required to actively participate.

The teacher can give dispensation regarding the obligatory part in case there are special reasons. In the study plan are directives regarding written compositions for those who have been absent from the seminars.

A more detailed presentation of the course is given in a study plan attached to the material. The literature and other material for the seminars are listed in the study plan.

Assessment

To pass the course the students must have participated in all the obligatory parts. Also at the end of the comparative legal history course and the course in jurisprudence respectively there will be a take home exam.

The grades for the course will be based on the take home exam. In case there are extraordinary circumstances, the exam can be arranged in another way, for example, as an oral exam.

For those who fail there will be a chance to take the exam again according to what is written in the study plan.

The student is expected to write the exam independently. In case cheating is proved, disciplinary measures will be taken in accordance with university rules.

Grades will be given according to the study plan. The grades given are Fail (U), and the passing grades Pass (B), Pass with credit (Ba) and Pass with distinction (AB).

The common grade for the two parts of the course is as follows: AB + AB = AB, AB + Ba = AB, Ba + Ba = Ba, Ba + B = Ba, B + B = B. A student must pass both comparative legal history and jurisprudence to get a final pass for the entire course.