Course Description:

Who should the judges be? How should they be appointed? Once on the bench how do they go about making decisions? What persuades judges to agree with one side of the case? What role do appellate courts play in a judicial system? What is the purpose of a constitutional or supreme court? These are some of the questions to be examined in this course. Taught by Essex University's Drs David Marrani and Richard Cornes, the former from the civilian tradition (France), the latter from the common law tradition (New Zealand, Australia and the UK), the course will draw on comparative material from Australia, Canada, the US, the UK and France to examine the judicial function. In addition to comparative analysis the course will draw on insights into the structure and operation of the judicial branch from political science and sociology. The course will be of interest both to those who seek to work in the courts as well as candidates contemplating further academic study of the judiciary.

Course Type:

Lecture

Course Registration:

Enrollment is limited to 20 participants. Prior registration is mandatory. Please register per e-mail with Grit Rother at: g.rother@fu-berlin.de.

Exam:

The assessment will be a take home examination.

Frequency:

This course will be taught at irregular intervals. It will be available in the summer term 2013. Schließen