Course finder

<< return to browsing

Semester 2

Reasoning Using Civilian Authority (LAWS10213)

Subject

Law

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed 3 Law courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. This course is only open to visiting students who are nominated to study with us on a Law exchange agreement. Exchange students outside of Law and study abroad students are not eligible to enrol on this course before teaching begins, with no exceptions, and spaces cannot be guaranteed to those students at any time. **Please see Additional Restrictions**

Course Summary

This course will expose students to the debates surrounding the use of historical material in courtroom argumentation. Using a number of court decisions from Scotland and elsewhere, students will investigate the methods and pitfalls associated with the use of historical authority in courtroom argumentation.

Course Description

The aim of this course is to provide students with the intellectual tools necessary to construct arguments based on civilian authority in a court of law. In doing so, the course will take a thoroughly practical approach, focusing across a number of seminars on specific instances in which arguments using civilian authority have been employed in a court of law as well as the opportunities and pitfalls associated with an approach of this kind. Students will be exposed to the sources associated with this type of argument, the intellectual merit of such arguments as well as their place within the larger narratives of the 'sources' of a legal system. Finally, issues of accuracy and 'movable texts' in historical sources will be addressed. **This course will consist of an introduction followed by nine seminars focusing on specific court decisions in which civilian authority have been employed. Students will be asked to do reading in advance, to dissect the argument employed and to investigate the sources used in order to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the overall argument. This will be used as a backdrop for discussion of specific issues such as when an historical argument should be employed, how to do so, what sources to use and what pitfalls to avoid. **Each seminar will be centred around a specific case. In each instance, a reading list will be provided. Students will be asked to analyse the arguments raised in each case, to assess the sources employed and to comment on the accuracy of the use of historical sources. This will be distilled into a position paper of 10 minutes that will be presented in class. At the start of each seminar, a student will be selected at random to present their position paper. Class members will be encourage to comment on the paper delivered, thereby providing a vehicle for seminar discussion.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

**All 3rd year Law courses are ONLY open to visiting students nominated on an exchange agreement within the School of Law (including Erasmus students on a Law-specific exchange). Exchange students outside of Law, and independent study abroad students, are not eligible to enrol in these courses, with no exceptions.** Please note that 3rd year Law courses are high-demand, meaning that they have a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces. These enrolments are managed strictly by the CAHSS Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the Law School directly to request additional spaces. If there is sufficient space for other visiting students to enrol at the start of the semester (which cannot be guaranteed at all), visiting students must meet the pre-requisites listed above.

view the timetable and further details for this course