Undergraduate - UnitLAW4242 - Introduction to transitional justice

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Law
Offered	Not offered in 2015
Coordinator(s)	Dr Ronli Sifris

Synopsis

The term 'transitional justice' refers to the various judicial and non-judicial measures that may be implemented in order to redress a legacy of human rights abuse. Such measures include criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations and different forms of institutional reform. This unit will begin by providing an overview of transitional justice; it will consider the meaning of the term "transitional justice" and provide a framework through which the concept may be understood. The unit will then engage in a more detailed discussion of the actual transitional justice mechanisms before moving on to consider a number of case studies in order to ground students' understanding of the subject matter in concrete examples. In addition to exploring the transitional justice programs implemented in different countries, the unit will also engage in a comparative analysis of the various case studies and will examine a number of cross-cutting themes, such as gender and transitional justice.

Outcomes

At the successful completion of this unit students will be able to:

understand the meaning of "transitional justice" and its application in different contexts.
recognise the complexities and context specific nature of a comprehensive transitional justice program.
analyse a transitional justice program from an interdisciplinary perspective.
critically evaluate the use of different transitional justice mechanisms in a number of different contexts.
examine the applicability of transitional justice mechanisms within the Australian context.
communicate effectively and persuasively both verbally and in writing.
conduct comprehensive interdisciplinary research.
learn and work both autonomously and collaboratively and use feedback to improve their own capabilities and performance.

Assessment

Class Presentation: 10%
AND
Optional Assignment: 30% (1,500 words) OR
Write-up of class presentation (ungraded hurdle requirement)
AND
Take-home exam: 90% / 60%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. The unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Ronli Sifris

Prerequisites

For students who commenced their LLB (Hons) course in 2015 or later:
LAW1111; LAW1114; LAW1112; LAW1113; LAW2101; LAW2102; LAW2112; LAW2111

For students who commenced their LLB course prior to 2015:
Pre-requisites: LAW1101 Introduction to legal reasoning and LAW1104 Research and Writing

Co-requisites

None

Prohibitions