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LA400
Advanced Pacific Legal Studies - TOPICS
Introduction to Course
The purpose of this course is to provide you with a more extended knowledge, and a deeper understanding, of the legal systems of countries in the USP region.
In LA 100 Legal Systems I and LA 101 Legal Systems II you saw the main features of the legal systems that were established in colonial or protectorate times, and of the legal systems that operate today. In this post-graduate course, you will examine these in more detail. We will look in more detail at the historical development of the legal systems of countries in the region, and also at the way in which these legal systems relate to the social systems of the countries today.
But, first, what is a legal system? What do we mean when we refer to the legal system of a country. The term "system" is defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Current English, OUP, 1985, as a "complete whole, set of connected things or parts, organised body of things", and the term "legal" is defined by the same source as "of or based on law, concerned with, appointed or required or permitted by law."
The system of law in most countries of the USP region, comprises five connected parts: the constitution which is the supreme law and which establishes the main organs of central government of the country, as well as confirming the rights and freedoms which can be exercised by the individual against the government; legislation which is made by the legislative body established by the constitution; subsidiary legislation which is made by person or bodies authorised by legislation to do so; customary laws which are applied by the courts on the basis of traditional practices of indigenous people; and principles of common law and equity which are based upon what is considered by the courts to be the normal, reasonable and fair practices of people. In Tokelau, however, there is no written constitution, and in Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue and Tonga customary law is not regarded as part of the legal system, except in relation to customary land, honours and titles.
In this course we will look to see how such legal systems have developed, and how such legal systems relate to the societies and communities of countries in the USP region today. Essentially the course falls into two parts: the first part, modules 1-5, which is essentially historical; and the second part, modules 6-7, which is essentially thematic, and examines the relationship between the legal systems and the social systems to which they relate. For each Module there is a list of readings, both general and country-specific. Most of the reading materials referred to are readily available, but if you have difficulty locating any of them, you should contact your supervisor who will assist you to obtain them.
Course Coordinator
The course coordinator is Professor Bob Hughes, Head of School of Law. Contacts Phone (678) 22748 (work) or (678) 25005 (home). Email: hughes_r@vanuatu.usp.ac.fj (work) or rhughes@vanuatu.com.vu (home)
Teaching of the Course
Teaching at the masters level is not approached in the same way as it is for undergraduate studies. At the masters level the focus is on the development of your legal research skills. There are no set lectures or tutorials for students. Also you will see that there is no end of year examination. We will schedule some discussion sessions making use of video conferencing for students outside Emalus Campus.
Other students who are doing the thesis only option will be invited to participate in some of these sessions to discuss their work in progress. But the purpose of these session will largely be to enable students to discuss issues and share views on what they are doing. You are provided with guidelines for your research and reading and you are very much expected to determine your own progress.
Also there is a Discussion Group set up for this course. You should make use of it to raise problems and issues with other students and with the course coordinator. An alternative is the use of email as a means of contact.
Assessment
There are three assessment tasks in this course. There are two written assignments to be done each of a maximum of 3,000 words as well as a seminar presentation. The due dates are as follows:
Assignment 1 - 31st March 2000 - Maximum length 3000 words
Assignment 2 - 5th May 2000 - Maximum length 3000 words
Seminar presentations during week commencing on 5th June 2000.
Assignment and Seminar Topics
You need not study the modules for this course in the sequence they are set out. At the end of each module of study you will find a specified assignment or seminar topic set out. You can choose any of these as your assignment or seminar topic and submit it accordingly.
You will find that some of the module topics are related and one will help or add to an understanding of another. So it would be advisable to do some reading on other modules even though you might elect not to choose to do an assignment or seminar presentation specifically on the relevant module.
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