• Offered by Law School
  • ANU College ANU College of Law
  • Classification Advanced
  • Course subject Laws
  • Areas of interest Development Studies, Law, Asian Studies
  • Academic career PGRD
  • Course convener
    • Prof Andrew Harding
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Offered in Autumn Session 2016
    See Future Offerings
This course introduces students to the legal systems and legal traditions of South East Asia in the context of their plural societies, and considers the relationship between law, governance and development in the region over the span of modern history, with an emphasis on current issues in law and society.
 
The course will cover key literature and pressing issues concerning law, governance and development (and the development of law) in the region, including:
 
• pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial law, including customary and religious law, and the impact of these on law and society at the present time;
• the influence of legal transplants, state-building, and development initiatives;
• critical consideration of theoretical frameworks used to make sense of a diversity of social, economic and political conditions in the region;
• key issues relating to constitutionalism and nation-building, including representative democracy, and political movements;
• domestic challenges such as ethnic and sectarian conflict;
• the role of law in bringing socio-economic change in the developmental states of the region.
 

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

By the conclusion of this course, it is intended that students who have successfully completed all of the course requirements will be able to:
  1. Analyse and explain the contemporary shape and historical evolution of the legal systems and constitutional structures of South East Asian states;
  2. Critically analyse South East Asian laws and explain the role of legal institutions in achieving justice and development in the region;
  3. Assess, distinguish and critically evaluate contemporary academic and policy debates about ‘legal pluralism’, ‘legal traditions’, ‘legal transplants’, ‘good governance’, ‘rule of law’, and ‘constitutionalism’; and
  4. Access South East Asian legal materials and employ a variety of tools and methodological approaches useful for legal research on the subject.
  5. Plan and execute complex legal research with independence in order to produce original scholarship on issues relating to law and society in South East Asia.

Other Information

This is an intensive course with a 4 day compulsory intensive (see LLM timetable for dates).

Approximately 6 weeks from the completion of the intensive your final assessment will be due. Contact with fellow students and the convenor, both prior to the intensive and after, is conducted via the Wattle course site.

Indicative Assessment

Assessment is likely to consist of:
  1. Class participation (10%)
  2. Research Essay (90%)
Students must rely on the Course Study Guide which will be posted to the Wattle course site approximately four weeks prior to the commencement of the course.

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

26 hours of face to face teaching (4 day intensive). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours.
 
Click here for the LLM Masters Program timetable

Requisite and Incompatibility

To enrol in this course you must be studying one of the following: Master of Laws (7300XLLM, MLLM) Master of Laws specialising in International Law (7300SINTL), Master of Laws specialising in Law, Governance and Development (7300SLGD), Master of Laws specialising in Environmental Law (7300SENVL), Master of Laws specialising in Government and Commercial Law (7300SGCL), Master of Laws specialising in International Security Law (7300SISL), Master of Laws in Migration (NLLML), Master of Laws in International Law (NLLIL), Master of Laws in Environmental Law (NLLEN), Master of Laws in Law, Governance & Development (NLLGD), Master of Laws in International Security Law (NLLSL), Master of Laws in Government and Regulation (NLLGR), Master of Laws (Legal Practice) (7312XLLMLP), Master of Diplomacy/Master of Laws (7883SINTL, 7883XLLM), Master of Diplomacy/Master of International Law (7893XMINTL), Master of International Law (7310XMINTL), Master of Environmental Law (7309XMENVL), Master of Law, Governance & Development (7317XMLGD), Master of International Security Law (7318XMISL), Master of Government and Commercial Law (7313XMGCL), Master of Legal Practice (MLEGP), Master of Legal Studies (7305XMLEGS). OR Must be studying a Juris Doctor (7330XJD, 7330HJD or MJD) and have completed or be completing five LAWS courses at 1000 level or 6100 level. OR Must be studying a Graduate Certificate of Law (CLAW) and have completed or are completing LAWS8586 Law and Legal Institutions. OR Must be studying a Master of Military Law (MMILL) OR Must be studying a Juris Doctor (MJDOL) and have completed the course LAWS8712 Australian Public Law & International Law B

Preliminary Reading

For preliminary reading by way of introduction of the course, see
  • A Harding, ‘Legal traditions of South East Asia’, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences, 2nd ed, James D Wright, Oxford, Elsevier, 2015, 812-17. This article may be accessed at https://nus.academia.edu/AndrewHarding

Students must rely on the approved Course Study Guide which will be posted to the Wattle course site approximately 4 weeks prior to the commencement of the course.

An e-brick will be available on the Wattle course site.

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Student Contribution Band:
3
Unit value:
6 units

If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.  Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2016 $3252
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2016 $4638
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

Autumn Session

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
5728 09 May 2016 20 May 2016 20 May 2016 24 Jun 2016 In Person N/A

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