units

LAW5455

Faculty of Law

18 September 2017 22 December 2024

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This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 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.

Monash University

6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Postgraduate - Unit

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

Faculty

Law

Quota applies

Postgraduate programs are based on a model of small group teaching and therefore class sizes need to be restricted.

Offered

Not offered in 2016

Notes

For postgraduate Law discontinuation dates, please see http://www.monash.edu/law/current-students/postgraduate/pg-jd-discontinuation-dates
For postgraduate Law unit timetables, please see http://law.monash.edu.au/current-students/course-unit-information/timetables/postgraduate/index.html

Synopsis

This course aims to equip future cross-cultural lawyers and regional policy-makers with the ability to understand the relationship between business law and issues of civil society. In this subject we will focus on high profile topics namely China's internet laws and environmental policies.

Cross-cultural thinking is crucial for foreign lawyers to advise effectively on transnational deals and for policy-makers to create strategic international and regional policy solutions.

This unit will introduce an approach to comparative legal practice and provide students with:

  • insight into the interplay between the law, culture, politics, economics and institutional design;
  • knowledge of the connection between the rule of law, civil society and commercial legal practice with insight into navigational methods for effective practice; and
  • multiple opportunities to apply theoretical concepts to practical legal examples. In particular, students must create a collaborative research project (a mock business venture or social enterprise) that evaluates whether Chinese laws and regulations are effective, responsive and coherent. Contentious issues such as China's internet laws and environmental laws will be considered.

Legal systems are a reflection of the culture and societies in which they operate. This unit provides a targeted look at China's legal system, its complexity and dynamic nature and provides the tools to stay abreast of key changes.

It is recommended but not required that students with an interest in Chinese law also complete the unit, China's legal system.

Outcomes

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

  • describe how the institutions and culture of the Chinese legal system shape the content and administration of the law;
  • articulate the connection between the rule of law, civil society and commercial legal practice;
  • demonstrate a developing awareness of the role of law in facilitating the formation, operation and regulation of private legal entities, and the commercial significance of law's role in this respect;
  • observe the associated challenges to civil society caused by China's rapid development and appraise how the legal system responds to civil society issues;
  • evaluate Chinese laws and regulations as to whether they are effective, responsive and coherent;
  • efficiently locate the current law on Chinese legal issues to critically evaluate the relevance, quality, authority and currency of the materials, using online resources;
  • select the appropriate online research tools and utilise them to design and implement an efficient research strategy in answer to a legal research question; and
  • utilise their developing skills of cross-cultural legal analysis to find objectivity in analysing a foreign legal environment.

Assessment

Students must create a collaborative research project (a mock business venture or social enterprise) that evaluates whether Chinese laws and regulations are effective, responsive and coherent (5,250 words): 70%
One take-home examination (2,250 words): 30%

Workload requirements

24 contact hours per semester (either intensive, semi-intensive or semester long, depending on the Faculty resources, timetabling and requirements)

Chief examiner(s)

Mr Max Parasol Personal ProfilePersonal Profile (http://www.monash.edu/law/current-students/resources/course-unit-information/postgraduate/max-parasol)