Registry
Module Specifications
Archived Version 2008 - 2009
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| Module Aims | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The aim of this module are:
- To acquaint students with some of the theories that underpin law and legal principles in the legal systems of the world but with a particular emphasis on the common law legal system;
- To teach students how these theories relate to each other;
- To teach students the relationship between jurisprudential theory, politics, the legislative process and judicial interpretation; and,
- To teach the students the court's approach in Ireland in respect of prevailing theories that currently underpin, or are said to underpin, Irish law.
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| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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At the end of the module, students must:
- Appreciate that law does not operate in a vacuum but is based on principles and theories that owe their origin to political theory and realities;
- Demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of fundamental theories of jurisprudence, the aims of these theories, proponents and influence; and,
- Understand how these theories have influenced the political, legislative and judicial process in Ireland and elsewhere.
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Assume that a 5 credit module load represents approximately 75 hours' work, which includes all teaching, in-course assignments, laboratory work or other specialised training and an estimated private learning time associated with the module. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indicative Syllabus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - Jurisprudence: variety of issues; the questions; methodology; substantive context and reality; its value; - Positivism: classical positivism: Bentham and Austin; modern positivism: H.L.A. Hart; - Natural law: classical natural law; naturalist revival; natural law in Irish constitutional interpretation; present-day relevance; Islamic jurisprudence - Marxism - Realism: Scandinavian realism; American realism; - Other theories: pure theory; Dworkin and the rights thesis; critical legal studies; post-modern legal theory; the economic analysis of law; justice theory; the concept of injustice.Themes: Crime and Punishment, the Legal Profession, professional ethics and legal rules, how the administration of justice is examined, measured and reformed including both qualitative and quantitative analysis. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Indicative Reading List | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - Set texts:- - Patterson, A Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory, Oxford, Blackwell, 1999 - Kelly, A Sort History of Western Legal Theory, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1992 - - Recommended texts:- - Wacks, Jurisprudence, 2nd edition, London: Blackstone, 1990 - Dias, Jurisprudence, 5th edition, London: Butterworths, 1985 - Lloyd, of Hampstead Lloyd's Introduction to Jurisprudence, 5th edition, London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1985 - Dias, A Bibliography of Jurisprudence, 3rd edition, London; Boston Butterworths, 1979 - Hart, The Concept of Law, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994 - Neumann, The Rule of Law : Political Theory and the Legal System in Modern Society, Dover: Berg, 1986 - Simmonds, Central Issues in Jurisprudence, London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1986 - Unger, The Critical Legal Studies Movement, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1986 - Cotterrell, The Sociology of Law, 2nd edition, London: Butterworths, 1992 - Harris, Legal Philosophies, London: Butterworths, 1980 - Quinn, (Ed.) Justice and Legal Theory in Ireland, Dublin: Oak Tree Press, 1995 - McCoubrey and White Textbook on Jurisprudence, 3rd edition, London: Blackstone, 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Programme or List of Programmes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EPL | BA in Economics, Politics and Law | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EPLYA | BA in Economics, Politics and Law | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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