Comparative Constitutional Law
Yvonne Tew, Georgetown Law

How do we lose and save a constitutional democracy? How can democratic backsliding be prevented? What should we consider in designing a constitution? Can constitutions exist without constitutionalism? What is an authoritarian constitution? How do constitutions transitions and change occur? What forms of judicial review do courts employ? Is it possible to have an unconstitutional constitutional amendment? How do courts across the world interpret constitutions? Can constitutions be employed abusively?

Comparative constitutional law has exploded in contemporary constitutional practice and as a field of study. Events around the world—from Asia and the Middle East to Europe and Latin America—underscore the importance of understanding how constitutional democracies are born and how they can collapse. In this course, we will explore constitutions in global perspective, examining issues of constitutional structure and rights across comparative constitutional systems. We will cover topics like constitution-making, constitutional change, constitutional amendment, judicial review, and constitutional interpretation. Drawing on examples across the world, we will also examine individual rights issues, such as freedom of religion, as well as constitutionalism in fragile democracies and in times of emergency and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2 Credits. Evaluation: Class participation (30%), Class presentation (10%), Response papers (four posts of 1,000 words each) OR Final research paper (4,000 words) (60%).

ONE-PLUS OPTION:

3 Credits. Class participation (30%), Response posts (short) (10%), Final research paper (6,000 words) (60%).

For 1 extra credit, a limited number of students who need to fulfill a graduation requirement at their home university may write a major research paper. To obtain the extra credit, the student must (a) turn in a written outline of the paper for faculty comment relatively early in the semester, (b) turn in a complete first draft for faculty comment two-thirds of the way through the semester, and (c) write a paper of 6,000 words, not including footnotes.

Please note that this course has not yet been approved as a WR course for Georgetown students.

Competition Law
Walter Stoffel, University of Fribourg

This course gives an overview of competition law. It focuses on the European system, but includes outlooks at other competition law systems, especially the one of the United States.

The course is divided into two parts. The first part analyses the institutional and procedural framework, with respect to both administrative and private enforcement. The second (and larger) part deals with substantive competition law where an increasing convergence of the systems can be observed in the last twenty years. Based on case studies, the course presents the three pillars of competition law, i.e. agreements restricting competition (both horizontal and vertical), abuse of dominance and – to a lesser extent – merger control.

Recommended course book: GERBER David, Global Competition: Law, Markets, and Globalization, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2010.

2 Credits. Evaluation: Class Participation (20%), Final take-home exam (8 hours) (80%).

Criminal Law: Theory and Comparative Perspectives
John Stanton-Ife, King’s College London

The course explores some of the principles and doctrines underlying the criminal law.  It examines selected themes in the notion of culpability, for example the role of intention, knowledge, recklessness, negligence and the legitimacy or otherwise of strict liability and constructive crime. It also looks at various defences, for example self-defence, duress, necessity and the insanity defence. Subject to time constraints it may examine inchoate offending and/or complicity.  Beyond these questions of the ‘general part it aims to examine at least one specific offence.

Throughout, the course aims to stay mindful of the fact that different legal systems face the same or similar problems.  Various comparisons will be made between the different (and sometimes similar) approaches to the relevant criminal law issues of different legal systems.

2 Credits. Evaluation: Class participation (20%), Final take-home exam (8 hours) (80%).

Cultural Appropriation: Innovation or Theft?
Madhavi Sunder, Georgetown Law

Innovation thrives on borrowing from creators, past and far-flung. When does cultural exchange cross the line into cultural misappropriation or theft decried as “cultural appropriation”? Notably, today’s culture wars increasingly turn on intellectual property claims, with calls for attending to the legal and ethical implications of dominant cultural creators taking and profiting from the innovations of disadvantaged and minority creators. From claims of copyright in dance moves sold on the blockbuster video game Fortnite and peddled on apps like TikTok, to the use of trademark law to upend registration of racist brands, to protests over cultural appropriation in fashion, diverse citizens contest ownership and authorship of our common culture. This seminar considers the particular role of intellectual property in promoting free cultural exchange, albeit on fair terms in a global marketplace of ideas marked by sharp differences in power, wealth, and knowledge. The seminar seeks to facilitate respectful and meaningful intercultural dialogue about identity, recognition, and semiotic and distributive justice.

1 Credit, short-course. Evaluation: tbc.

Intellectual Property and Popular Culture
David Tan, National University of Singapore

This course is designed to offer an interdisciplinary and transnational cultural studies perspective on the enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights with a focus on the relevance of an understanding of cultural production and semiotic consumption to legal doctrine. It discusses the application of intellectual property laws to aspects of popular culture such as movies, television, music, sports, fashion, and lifestyle. The course covers caselaw from the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Australia and Singapore.

Students will be exposed to using relevant insights from cultural studies to evaluate how an understanding of the contemporary production, circulation and consumption of such cultural products like celebrities, fictional literary characters and status symbols could ultimately assist in a more nuanced development of copyright, trademark and personality rights laws.

3 Credits. Evaluation: Class participation (20%), Final take-home exam (8 hours) (80%).

Judicial Review of Administrative Action in the EU Countries
Silvia Mirate, University of Torino

What are the features of citizens’ judicial protection towards the public administration? Is there a special protection system because of the special Courts or because of the public nature of the dispute?

The course focuses on the two questions in order to analyse the main characteristics of the judicial review of the administrative action in the EU Countries (especially in the French, Italian, German and Spanish legal systems). Traditional comparative studies generally distinguish between monist and dualist systems, depending on the attribution of disputes between public administration and citizens to the circuits of one or two Courts, ordinary and special (administrative). However, this monism-dualism alternative is not exhaustive of all possible judicial structures, as the EU legal systems show significant differences in their organizational and institutional features. The course will explore such differences, with particular reference to the topics of the access to courts and the types of judicial protection afforded to citizens. A special attention will be paid to the influence of the EU Court of Justice and of the European Court of Human Rights case law, which often play a key role in bringing convergent improvements in the effectiveness of the national judicial systems.

2 Credits. Evaluation: Class participation (20%), Class presentation of a topic discussed in the course (30%), Research paper (4,000 words) (50%).

Law and Policy of Technological Innovation
Riccardo de Caria and Cristina Poncibò, University of Torino

The course examines selected issues about the law and policy of technological innovation from a public law and private law perspectives.

Precisely, it covers the following topics:

• Freedom of expression on the Internet
• The regulation of the sharing economy
• The law of the surveillance state
• Blockchain and smart contracts

Topics will be addressed with respect to EU Law, also in comparison with other relevant jurisdictions.

Across the different topics, the course aims at going beyond the description of existing law and case-law, in order to encourage critical reflection and discussion on what is the most preferable approach that the law should follow in dealing with the current technological revolution

The main goal is to foster the ability of students to engage in a critical analysis of existing and proposed regulations in the tech field, applying what they will learn in the areas covered to all other areas of tech law. The comparative approach will help in this endeavor, helping to appreciate the relativity of regulatory approaches

2 Credits. Evaluation: Attendance & Class participation (20%), Final research paper on an approved topic, due on the deadline date for written work (4,000 words) (80%).

ONE-PLUS OPTION:

For 1 extra credit, a limited number of students who need to fulfill a graduation requirement at their home university may write a major research paper. To obtain the extra credit, the student must (a) turn in a written outline of the paper for faculty comment relatively early in the semester, (b) turn in a complete first draft for faculty comment two-thirds of the way through the semester, and (c) write a paper of 6,000 words, not including footnotes.

Please note that this course has not yet been approved as a WR course for Georgetown students.

Law meets Film
Walter Stoffel, University of Fribourg and Lucie Bader, film and media expert, Bern (Switzerland)

For further information about this course, please navigate to the University of Fribourg webpage.

The course confronts law as a form of scientific analysis of the society with film as one form of artistic expression. Participants will watch and discuss films in which law and legal protagonists play or should play a role, analyse the narration of the film as well as the legal problems involved. They will reflect on the function of the law in the society and the role of the professionals that they are about to become.

The stories of many movies have an untold background relating to the role of law and lawyers that the course shall try to uncover. The course will deal with fundamental topics of law and society in an international perspective, with a special focus on corporate social responsibility of multinational undertakings and on the international protection of fundamental rights and freedoms.

The films will include BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee, USA, 2018, 135’), Denial, (Mick Jackson, United Kingdom, 2015, 109’); The Cleaners (The Cleaners, Hans Block/Moritz Riesewieck, Germany 2018, 90’); Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (Marin McDonagh, Great Britain/USA 2017, 115‘); The People vs. Fritz Bauer (Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer, Lars Kraume, Germany 2015, 105‘); The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos, Juan José Campanella, Argentina/Spain 2009, 205’).

“Law meets film” is a 2-credit course, including an introduction into the topics and in film narration as well as a sample of cinematic and legal analysis of the films and the issues they raise. One or two special events will be organized in connection with BFI (British Film Institute) London Film Festival (6-17 October 2021).

Required textbook: David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, Jeff Smith: Film Art – An introduction. Twelfth edition, international student edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education, 2020

2 Credits. Evaluation: Class participation (33 1/3 %), Final research paper on a film and a topic & its presentation in class (3,500-4,000 words) (66 2/3 %).

ONE-PLUS OPTION:

For 1 extra credit, a limited number of students who need to fulfill a graduation requirement at their home university may write a major research paper. To obtain the extra credit, the student must (a) turn in a written outline of the paper for faculty comment relatively early in the semester, (b) turn in a complete first draft for faculty comment two-thirds of the way through the semester, and (c) write a paper of 6,000 words, not including footnotes.

Please note that this course has not yet been approved as a WR course for Georgetown students.