76003 Asian Law and Legal Systems

6cp

Requisite(s): 70105 Legal Research AND 70113 Legal Process and History

There are also course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.

Undergraduate
Subject coordinator: Jamila Hussain

Australia's close regional neighbours in East and South-East Asia are historically and culturally very different from Australia, and these differences have strongly impacted on their legal systems. Students in this subject gain a comparative overview of the legal systems of China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, with some mention of other Asian countries as appropriate.

Students have the opportunity to widen their perspectives of law and to understand how legal systems develop in the context of particular historical and cultural experiences within the East and South-East Asian region. Students also examine and evaluate the impact of introduced western legal systems in non-western countries, and the influence of Islam, Confucianism and other belief systems on the development of law within the region.

Specific discussion topics may deal with the following issues.

Why did so many East and South-East Asian countries adopt a civil law system rather than a common law system?
What is the legal basis for the execution of convicted drug smugglers in Indonesia?
Do Malaysia and Singapore have democratic political systems?
Is China's human rights record improving and have China's economic reforms led to corresponding legal reforms?
Why are crime rates so low in Japan?
Why are legal contracts considered less central to doing business in China and Japan than in many Western countries?
What is Islamic law and how has it impacted on the legal systems of many South-East Asian nations?
Are Asian legal systems becoming more 'Westernized' due to the pressures of globalization?

Note that this subject is taught online, except for one face-to-face session at the start of the semester.

Assessment: Regular contributions to an online discussion board (30 per cent), completion of two short essays during the semester (40 per cent), submission of a reflective journal with entries for each major topic (30 per cent).

Fee information

2007 contribution for post-2004 Commonwealth-supported students: $1,041.62
2007 amount for undergraduate domestic fee-paying students: $2,472.00
Subject EFTSL: 0.125
Note: The above fees are applicable in 2007 for Commonwealth-supported students who commenced after 2004 and domestic fee-paying undergraduate students only. Pre-2005 Commonwealth-supported students should consult the Student contribution charges for Commonwealth supported students webpage.
Not all students are eligible for Commonwealth supported places, and not all subjects are available to Commonwealth supported students. Domestic fee-paying students and international students should refer to the Fees webpage.

Access conditions

Note: The requisite information presented in this subject description covers only academic requisites. Full details of all enforced rules, covering both academic and admission requisites, are available at Access conditions and My Student Admin.