General provisions

Determined on June 18, 2007 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. Revised on December 22, 2011, the revisions enters into force on January 16, 2012. Revised on June 13, 2018, the revisions enter into force on August 15, 2018.

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.

Foreign students must at least have passed two years of studies in law.

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

Learning outcomes

After the course the students should be able

• to use and to put their previous 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 put their own legal tradition in a jurisprudential perspective,
• to illustrate an independent and critical approach towards the legal system,
• to discuss current legal political issues with a view to the historical background,
• to analyse historical and jurisprudential texts by applying the above mentioned requirements.

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

One or more written assignments, papers, are also part of the course.

The introduction and 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 the study plan attached to the material. The literature and other material for the seminars are listed in the study plan.

Assessment

The course is examined by writing papers (PM) and written exams. The grades for the course will be based on the written exams and the papers. Exam requirements please see the study plan. To pass the course the students must have participated in all the obligatory parts.

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.

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. 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.

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). To obtain the grade B an acceptable ability is demanded, for Ba a good ability is demanded and for AB a very good ability to achieve the requirements is demanded.

Other directives

Delegations

The course director is responsible for setting up a study plan and for the literature list. These are annually submitted to the Teaching Committee as part of the course report.