Tags
IJ
Admissions requirements
Required: Sovereignty & Statehood
Recommended: Legal Methods Lab
Description
Constitutions, such as the U.S. Constitution or the Dutch Grondwet, are the highest laws within their respective countries. They establish the form of government, core institutions, and enshrine fundamental rights—in short, they constitute the polity in its essential characteristics. The idea of constitutionalism comes into play where constitutions successfully create a separation of powers, ensure democratic legitimacy, and foster a rule of law culture. A thorough knowledge of constitutions and constitutionalism is key for working within any legal system. Increasing internationalization, globalization, and in some parts of the world, regionalization, have also left their mark on constitutions and the idea of constitutionalism, and on the way we understand and use constitutional texts. This includes, fundamentally, the question whether states are the only entities capable of having constitutions.
This course takes students from the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights, via modern national constitutions to the UN Charter, today’s complex “European Constitutional Space”, and multistakeholder outcome documents. It is about sets of rules and norms, often but not always codified, which claim supremacy within a particular political community. The course provides an introduction into constitutional law from a comparative and multilevel perspective, including national, regional, and international dimensions. It traces the history of the idea of constitutional government, discusses essential elements and theories of constitutionalism, and analyses them in the context of contemporary forms of multilevel and multistakeholder governance.
Course objectives
After successful completion of the course, students are able to:
describe the origins of constitutional government, its essential elements and different forms;
explain central concepts, themes and theories within the field of constitutional law, including theories of “constitutionalism” and the role and functions of constitutional courts;
compare and classify different constitutions according to their content, legal tradition, and other core characteristics;
interpret constitutional texts and use them to make “constitutional arguments”;
demonstrate analyse various ways in which constitutions have been affected by processes of regional integration, internationalization, and globalization.
Timetable
Once available, timetables will be published here.
Mode of instruction
The course uses a variety of teaching methods, including lecturing, student presentations, class discussion, debate, and legal case problems. Teaching materials include both primary sources (such as constitutional texts and court judgments) and secondary readings.
Assessment
General participation (including pop-quizzes), ongoing (15 %)
Constitutional debate leadership, weeks 1-7 (15 % for the debate; 15 % for the write-up)
Oral presentation on the topic of the case study, weeks 1-7 (15 %)
Written case study essay, due in week 8 (40 %)
Blackboard
There will be a Blackboard site available for this course. Students will be enrolled at least one week before the start of classes.
Reading list
Course textbooks (to be purchased by students):
- Mark Tushnet, Advanced Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Law (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2014)
Course textbooks (available via Leiden Library and Blackboard):
Michel Rosenfeld and András Sajó (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013)
Jeffrey Dunoff and Joel Trachtman (eds), Ruling the World? Constitutionalism, International Law, and Global Governance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)
Generally recommended readings and research resources:
Larry Alexander (ed), Constitutionalism: Philosophical Foundations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998)
Roland Bieber and Pierre Widmer (eds), L’espace constitutionnel europeen / Der Europäische Verfassungsraum / The European constitutional area (Zurich: Schulthess, 1995)
S.E. Finer, Vernon Bogdanor, and Bernard Rudden, Comparing Constitutions (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995)
Mauro Bussani and Ugo Mattei (eds), The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Tom Ginsburg and Rosalind Dixon (eds), Comparative Constitutional Law (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2011)
Aalt Willem Heringa and Philipp Kiiver, Constitutions Compared: An Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Law (Antwerp: Intersentia, 2009)
Mark Tushnet, Thomas Fleiner, and Cheryl Saunders (eds), Routledge Handbook of Constitutional Law (London: Routledge, 2013)
Armin von Bogdandy and Jürgen Bast (eds), Principles of European Constitutional Law, 2nd edition (Oxford: Hart Publishing/Munich: C.H. Beck, 2011)
Registration
This course is open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Registration is coordinated by the Curriculum Coordinator. Interested non-LUC students should contact course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Joris Larik
Assistant Professor for Comparative, EU and International Law
LUC Den Haag (AVB 301)
Anna van Buerenplein 301
2595 DG Den Haag
Room number 4.22
j.e.larik@luc.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
It is strongly recommended that students take “Legal Methods Lab” before enrolling in this course.