Comparative constitutional law has become an exciting - and growing - area of law. Across the globe, constitutional courts are making ground-breaking decisions on controversial legal issues like hate speech, "obscene" pornography, abortion, physician-assisted suicide and social welfare rights. This module will cover these (as well as other) topics which arise in the comparative study of constitutional systems. In the process, we will consider different jurisdictions, extending beyond Europe and North America to often-overlooked constitutional systems in Latin America, Africa and Asia. And we will do so by situating those constitutional systems in their broader social, economic and historic contexts.
The module’s principal aims are:
To introduce students to methods and theories of comparative constitutional law, including questions of why and what we compare, and when constitutional courts opt to rely upon comparative material in their decision-making;
To introduce students to different models of constitutionalism, the variety of constitutional systems which adopt each model, and how constitutional ideas “migrate” between systems;
To provide knowledge of the diversity, across systems, in:
Institutional arrangements;
Models of constitutional review;
Mechanisms for constitutional change;
Approaches to protecting minority groups;
Approaches to rights protection (via a number of constitutional rights case studies);
To build research and writing (including analytical) skills;
To encourage critical reflection on all of the foregoing, as well as on constitutional law’s capabilities and limits in regulating the exercise of public power in contemporary society.
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Methodology
Models of Constitutionalism, Constitutional Systems and “Migration” of Ideas
Institutional Arrangements
Models of Constitutional Review
Mechanisms for Constitutional Change
Approaches to Protecting Minority Groups
Freedom of Expression and Hate Speech, Pornography
Right to Life and Abortion, Physician-Assisted Suicide
Positive Social Welfare Rights
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
Reading lists can be found in Talis
No subject specific skills defined for this module.
No transferable skills defined for this module.
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 18 sessions of 1 hour (12%) |
| Seminars | 7 sessions of 1 hour (5%) |
| Private study | 125 hours (83%) |
| Total | 150 hours |
No private study requirements defined for this module.
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Students can register for this module without taking any assessment.
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
|||
| Essay | 100% | No | |
|
After term, students will submit final essays on their chosen topics (from a list of available topics). Students will be assessed both on their overall knowledge and understanding of the module material, as well as their ability to conduct independent research and craft a scholarly argument. |
|||
Reassessment component is the same |
|||
Feedback via Tabula.
This module is Optional for:
This module is Unusual option for:
This module is Option list A for:
This module is Option list B for:
This module is Option list E for: