Faculty of Law, The University of West Indies at Mona

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LA24A Comparative Law I

1. General
This is a core course to be taught in the first semester of the second and third
years.
The student must select this course or Public International Law I. However, a
student may choose both Comparative Law I and Public International Law I.

2. Course Objective
The general objective of this course is to expose students to the relationship, and
in particular, the historical relationship between different legal systems or
between the substantive and procedural rules of more than one legal system.

3. Course Content
The course includes the following topics:
i. Nature, Character and Methodology of Comparative Law
ii. Classification of Legal Systems
iii. Institutional Comparison of Legal Systems
(1) Structure of the System
(a) Basic Courts of General Jurisdiction
(b) Special Courts
(c) Judicial Functionaries
(d) Special Protections within the system
(2) Lawyers and Judicial Personnel
(a) Legal Training
(b) Basic Professional Divisions
iv. Judicial Style and Interpretation
(a) Judicial Style and the Common Law and Civil Law
(b) Approaches to Codification and Statute Law
(c) Techniques of Interpretation and Adaptation of written
materials
(i) codal law
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(ii) stare decisis
(iii) la jurisprudencia
(iv) custom
(v) doctrine
(d) Non-legal elements in the Judicial Process

4. Method of Teaching
This course will be taught as small group Seminars and meet for three hours per
week.

5. Method of Assessment
Assessment will be of two essay assignments during the semester and one two
hour examination at the end of each semester. Students will be required to
answer three questions selected from a total of six questions in each
examination.