Tags
IJ, GJ
Admissions requirements
Sovereignty & Statehood.
Description
Constitutions, such as the U.S. Constitution or the Dutch Grondwet, are the highest laws within countries. They establish the form of government, core institutions, and enshrine fundamental rights. A thorough knowledge of constitutionalism is thus key for addressing any legal system or issue. Increasing internationalization, globalization, and in some parts of the world, regionalization, have also left their mark on constitutions and the way we understand and use them. This includes 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 multilevel and contemporary forms of 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 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 (interactive) lecturing, student presentations, class discussion, debate and legal case problems. Teaching materials include both primary (constitutional texts) sources and secondary readings.
Assessment
General participation, ongoing (10%)
Constitutional debate, in small groups, weeks 1-7 (20%)
Oral presentation on the topic of the case study, weeks 2-7 (15%)
Written case study, due in week 7 (3000 words max., including footnotes, excluding bibliography) (35%)
Written examination with short/essay questions, week 8 (20%)
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
General recommended reading and research resources:
L Alexander (ed), Constitutionalism: Philosophical Foundations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998)
R Bieber and P Widmer (eds), L’espace constitutionnel europeen / Der Europäische Verfassungsraum / The European constitutional area (Zurich: Schulthess 1995)
J Bomhoff (eds), Practice and theory in comparative law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2012)
SE Finer, V Bogdanor and B Rudden, Comparing Constitutions (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1995)
G Frankenberg, ‘Comparative constitutional law’ in M Bussani and U Mattei (eds), The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2012), pp. 171-190
M Rosenfeld and A Sajó, The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2013)
M Tushnet, -Advanced Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Law_ (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar 2014)
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, European 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