JUS2007 Western Legal Culture & Comparative History and Theory of Legal Methods

Startsemestre

• 2024 Spring

• • Number of credits
    15
  • Teaching semester
    2024 Spring
  • Language of instruction
    English
  • Campus
    Lillehammer
  • Required prerequisite knowledge

    No.

Course content

• Legal methods regulate how the law evolves and how we apply the law. Legal methods are embedded in legal culture. The course will analyze the evolution of legal methods in the two main western legal cultures, the (continental) civil law and the (English and American) common law tradition, and will examine how Norwegian law relates to these legal cultures.
• The course will explain how the civil law tradition created the private law – public law division, its function in today’s society and asks whether common law follows similar concepts.

Learning Outcome

Knowledge

• Students understand the different types of legal methods and their function within legal sources like the constitution, statutes, court cases and contracts.
• Students understand the basic elements of the research methods of comparative law, legal history and legal theory.
• Students understand how the social context influences legal systems and its methods.

Skills

• Students are able to reflect on the main differences of the civil law and common law tradition and how it affects legal reasoning in Norwegian law today.
• Students are able to analyze the function of the public law – private law division and its effects on legal methods. They are able to reflect on the impact of public and individual interests in the law.

General competence

• Students have an improved ability to discuss how the Norwegian legal culture is influenced by different western legal traditions and historical and societal contexts. In light of this, they are able to evaluate and reflect on – and discuss – today’s legal methods in Norwegian law.

Teaching and working methods

• Legal texts and textbooks – research relevant sources and literature
• Lectures
• Group tutorials
• Individual assignments
• Academic supervision

Required coursework

Deliver a written individual assignment, which must be approved by the supervisor.

Form of assessment

• Individual written home examination
• Duration: One week
• Grading scale: Letters A-F
• Language: English

Assessments

Form of assessment	Grading scale	Grouping	Duration of assessment	Support materials	Proportion	Comment
Home exam	ECTS - A-F	Individual	1 Week(s)

Reading list

No reading list available for this course

Faculty

Inland School of Business and Social Sciences

Department

Department of Law, Philosophy and International studies with history