Good governance', 'rule of law', 'strengthening access to justice' and 'land reform' are currently high on the agenda of governments and donors in the South Pacific region. Law reform is often presented as a remedy to political instability, corruption, disappointing economic growth, and conflict.

This course introduces students to the legal systems of the independent nations of the South Pacific and examines the relationship between law, governance and development in the region. It considers:

• the general features of law and legal systems in countries of the South Pacific, including the influence of custom and tradition;
• the multiple meanings of 'law' in the social, political and legislative contexts of the South Pacific;
• constitutions, leadership and the organisation of the state;
• “state building” and “access to justice” in the “arc of instability”; and
• current debates about the status and recognition of customary law, particularly in relation to (i) land and natural resource management and (ii) human rights.

Learning Outcomes

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

1. be familiar with the general patterns of law and legal systems in countries in the independent nations of the South Pacific, including:the influence of custom and tradition; and the influence of the colonial period and contemporary state-building initiatives;
2. have a broad understanding of the multiple meanings of ‘law’ in the social, political and legislative contexts of the independent South Pacific, and be able to consider which meaning may be appropriate in different contexts;
3. be able to evaluate contemporary academic and policy debates about the status and recognition of customary law, particularly as it relates to: governance and state-building; land and natural resource management; and human rights; and
4. be able to access and analyse South Pacific legal materials and to employ a variety of tools and methodological approaches useful for legal research and practice in South Pacific contexts.

Research-Led Teaching

This course is research-led, with course content drawing on the specialist research interests of teaching staff, including both the convenor and guest lecturers. The course convenor, Rebecca Monson, has extensive experience in both research and practice in the region, and draws on this experience to situate current debates about law and development in the Pacific within broader global debates about law, development and (post)colonialism.

The course is highly interactive, with a range of group activities that emphasise inquiry-based learning in which students investigate current law and development issues in the region. Course content also emphasises the need to uncover and understand the processes by which knowledge about the Pacific is produced. Assessment tasks have been designed to enable and require students to further develop and demonstrate these skills.

Required Resources

This course will be taught online in 2021. All students will need access to Zoom, the ANU Wattle site, and Echo360.

Recommended Resources

All resources will be made available online.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• written comments
• verbal comments
• feedback to whole class, groups, individuals, focus group etc

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Other Information

Task submission times refer to Canberra time (AEST/AEDT).

Extensions late submission and penalties: https://law.anu.edu.au/current-students/policies-procedures/extensions-late-submission-and-penalties

Deferred examination: http://www.anu.edu.au/students/program-administration/assessments-exams/deferred-examinations

Special consideration: http://www.anu.edu.au/students/program-administration/assessments-exams/special-assessment-consideration

Penalties for excess word length: https://law.anu.edu.au/current-students/policies-procedures/word-length-and-excess-word-penalties

Further information about the course: is available from the course WATTLE page. Students are required to access the WATTLE site regularly throughout the course for any announcements relating to the course.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Legal systems and development issues in the Pacific: unpacking definitions of ‘law’, ‘development’ and ‘the Pacific
2	Engaging with legal pluralism: debates about custom, kastom and customary law, and introduction to sociolegal research methods
3	Debates about land and property rights (inculding climate-induced displacement and resettlement)
4	Natural resource extraction and 'cutting the network' (and implications for conservation)
5	Parliamentary democracy and customary leadership (including women in leadership
6	Conflict, state-building and dispute resolution in pluralistic legal systems
7	Gender relations, human rights and custom
8	Sovereignty, self-determination and decolonisation

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Return of assessment	Learning Outcomes
Class Participation	10 %	*	07/05/2021	1, 2, 3, 4
Reading memo	20 %	*	07/05/2021	1, 2, 3, 4
Take-home exam: Reflective Reading Journal	30 %	10/05/2021	21/05/2021	1, 2, 3, 4
Research Paper	40 %	24/05/2021	04/06/2021	1,2,3,4

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information 
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using 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. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website. In rare cases where online submission using Turnitin software is not technically possible; or where not using Turnitin software has been justified by the Course Convener and approved by the Associate Dean (Education) on the basis of the teaching model being employed; students shall submit assessment online via ‘Wattle’ outside of Turnitin, or failing that in hard copy, or through a combination of submission methods as approved by the Associate Dean (Education). The submission method is detailed below.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Participation

For all courses taught in any mode (whether face to face or online), the ANU College of Law considers participation in the classes offered to be an important part of the educational experience of the graduate program. Students are expected to attend all classes.

If circumstances arise which are beyond a student’s control and they are unable to attend a class, the student should contact the Course Convenor in advance (where possible), so that the convenor can adjust their expectations in relation to numbers for that class. If it is not possible to give advance notice, students should send the convenor an email as soon as possible with evidence to support the reason for failure to attend. 

Assessment Task 1

Class Participation

Nature of task: Class participation will be marked for contributions during the course. This assessment task provides students with an opportunity to employ the knowledge they are developing and test their ideas during the course. It will enable students to consider the multiple meanings of ‘law’ in contexts in the South Pacific; and evaluate current academic and policy debates about the nature of ‘law’ and ‘development’ in the region. Participation in class activities will also focus on specific legal materials (including case law and legislation) and enable students to develop a variety of tools and methodological approaches for engaging with legal materials from the region. Participation will also include participation in the class discussion forum.

Assessment Criteria:

(a) Preparation and understanding of the material

• evidence that pre-assigned materials have been read and consulted in advance of the seminars;

(b) Thinking critically about the material

• evidence that material between various aspects of the class and different lectures has been linked;
• evidence that the student has engaged critically with the course material, by looking at questions from different angles and questioning their assumptions;
• the use of relevant practical examples (including their own personal and professional experience) to tease out the theoretical relationship between law, governance and development; and

(c) Expressing ideas clearly

(d) Engaging with other students

• engagement and interaction with others, by encouraging others to speak, responding to what other have said, and being respectful for a range of views and opinions.

Assessment Task 2

Reading memo

This assessment task consists of a short blog post regarding course readings, which will be posted on the online forum to encourage discussion among students. The purpose is to inform your fellow students of the contents of the reading. Your memo may be written or recorded. You will summarise, review and reflect upon the prescribed readings for a given topic, which will be allocated in the first week.

Readings have been chosen with a view to profiling different views and stimulating discussion. You will need to exercise discretion in determining what aspects of the readings to cover. You need to identify and reflect upon the different positions taken on an issue (for example, you might contrast the different positions taken by different authors), and the ways in which these positions related to differing understandings of the relationship between law, culture and development. You should also consider how these concepts are linked to the histories and social landscapes of particular contexts (for example, you may wish to consider whether X and Y authors disagree because they have fundamentally different understandings of the relationship between law and development; or whether their differences are associated with the contexts they are writing about).  

Length: 1200 words

Due date: Students will be allocated readings/a specific class prior to the course starting. They are required to upload a reading memo to the course site by 5.00pm on the Friday prior to their relevant week (to enable other students to read their memo). The purpose of the memo is to provide a range of forms of 'class participation', and to encourage students to interact via a range of means.

Assessment criteria:

(a) Understanding of the issues

• the choice of the research topic or question, having regard to difficulty, originality and relevance to the course;
• evidence of literature review to identify points of debate or contention among authors in the field; and
• material chosen relates clearly to the topic and is analysed not just summarised or quoted extensively.

(b) Communication and development of argument

• the quality and coherence of the arguments made;
• the degree of complexity and insight demonstrated in dealing with the issues related to the research topic;
• extent to which competing arguments are considered and addressed
• use of case studies or examples to explore the key issues.

(c) Research

• the breadth and/or depth of research, and the choice of materials and sources;
• use of a range of resources, including primary and secondary material and theoretical literature;
• critical analysis of material, rather than simply summarising or extensively quoting material; and
• good organisation of sources and ability to synthesise all the research materials used, both in relation to the literature review and case studies or examples.

(d) Presentation, style and referencing

• the clarity of the structure and the organisation of the paper;
• appropriate referencing.

Assessment Task 3

Take-home exam: Reflective Reading Journal

This course requires students to practice a reflexive approach to the study of “law” and “development”, and to reflect on their own present or future roles as law and development practitioners. During the classes, time will be set aside for students to write brief ‘journal entries’ in which they critically reflect on the prescribed readings, discussions in class, and the implications for their own practice. Following the completion of classes, students may use one or several of these ‘journal entries’ to develop a short reflective essay which focuses on the role of law and development practitioners in the development process, and the implications for their own practice. Students choose their own topic for reflection. Students who do not have any professional experience in the law and development field will be able to draw on their experiences as a student.

Length: 1800 words

Due: 5pm Monday 10 May. This is to be treated as a take-home exam, and while late submission will be accepted, a mark penalty will be imposed (see below).

Assessment Criteria: Your review should seek to critically examine the key points, arguments and themes across each session; identify where they differ or converge; and reflect on the implications for your own practices in relation to law and development.

Your critical review will be assessed against the following criteria:

(a) Understanding of the issues

• evidence of reading, understanding and reflection on the core issues raised in the prescribed readings and in the course.
• consideration of how these ideas might apply to the student’s current or future role as a law and development practitioner.

(b) Communication and development of argument

• clear, logical and well-ordered argument that is drawn from, and builds upon, the prescribed reading and the your reflections

(c) Argument and analysis

• original, reasoned arguments, considering, contrasting and analysing competing views and articulating the aspect of the literature that you consider most important or relevant.
• demonstration of an analytic focus on the relationships between, and the interests of, the many stakeholders in law and development initiatives.
• engaging with the larger themes addressed in the course.

(d) Presentation, style and referencing

• structure, use of paragraphs and headings (if appropriate), grammar, clear and concise expression, style and full and accurate footnotes according to AGLC (4th ed).

Assessment Task 4

Research Paper

Nature of task: The research paper addresses a research topic related to the course and approved by the Course Instructor. Students may choose to pursue a topic of their choice, after consultation with the course instructors.

Note: topic proposals must be submitted to the Course Convenor in order to allow feedback on the remaining two days of the course.

This assessment will allow students to employ the skills they have developed during the course and demonstrate their understanding of a variety of research and writing methods, ability to communicate an argument, and undertake research using appropriate methodology.

Length: 2500 words

Due: 5pm Monday 24 May. Late submission will be accepted, but a mark penalty will be imposed (see below).

Assessment criteria:

(a) Understanding of the issues

• the choice of the research topic or question, having regard to difficulty, originality and relevance to the course;
• evidence of literature review to identify points of debate or contention among authors in the field; and
• material chosen relates clearly to the topic and is analysed not just summarised or quoted extensively.

(b) Communication and development of argument

• the quality and coherence of the arguments made;
• the degree of complexity and insight demonstrated in dealing with the issues related to the research topic;
• extent to which competing arguments are considered and addressed
• use of case studies or examples to explore the key issues.

(c) Research

• the breadth and/or depth of research, and the choice of materials and sources;
• use of a range of resources, including primary and secondary material and theoretical literature;
• critical analysis of material, rather than simply summarising or extensively quoting material; and
• good organisation of sources and ability to synthesise all the research materials used, both in relation to the literature review and case studies or examples.

(d) Presentation, style and referencing

• the clarity of the structure and the organisation of the paper;
• appropriate referencing.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of the ANU culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically, committing to honest and responsible scholarly practice and upholding these values with respect and fairness.

The ANU commits to assisting all members of our community to understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to be familiar with the academic integrity principle and Academic Misconduct Rule, uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with.

The Academic Misconduct Rule is in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Very minor breaches of the academic integrity principle may result in a reduction of marks of up to 10% of the total marks available for the assessment. The ANU offers a number of online and in person services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. Visit the Academic Skills website for more information about academic integrity, your responsibilities and for assistance with your assignments, writing skills and study.

Online Submission

You will be required to electronically sign a declaration as part of the submission of your assignment. Please keep a copy of the assignment for your records. Unless an exemption has been approved by the Associate Dean (Education) submission must be through Turnitin.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

Individual assessment tasks may or may not allow for late submission. Policy regarding late submission is detailed below:

• Late submission not permitted. If submission of assessment tasks without an extension after the due date is not permitted, a mark of 0 will be awarded.
• Late submission permitted. Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item. Late submission is not accepted for take-home examinations.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. Extensions may be granted for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information.
In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service – including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy.
If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes.

Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Diversity and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students